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A typical NOC services provider offers services like:

Server and workstation monitoring and management of alarms

Network device (SNMP) monitoring

Server and workstation patch management

Backup management

IT security services, such as antivirus/anitmalware (AV/AM) deployment and management

IT project-based services, such as new customer onboarding

NOC vs. SOC

As shown in the list above, a NOC services provider concerns itself with monitoring and managing endpoints. This can include some security-related services such as AV/AM management and software patch management. However, a security operations center (SOC) goes much deeper into the business of protecting its clients’ infrastructure and data from cybersecurity threats. This can include everything from basic security tools like firewalls to SIEM solutions. The SOC provider looks for potential threats, such as anomalous activity on the network, and investigates them. It then takes action to prevent or contain the threat.

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Companies, of course, need NOC and SOC technicians working together, as they are both vital for business continuity.

The Internet of Things (IoT), is a term coined two decades ago to describe sensors that would automatically gather data that could be shared with a company"s network to raise efficiency and continuous improvement. With the expansion of the internet virtually any “thing” can now be part of IoT, and functions can include actuation as well as sensing.

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We are already living with many IoT enabled devices, at home, at work and in our environment; such as autonomous transport and smart home appliances. This has revolutionised our lives, allowing us to stay connected and flexible, which has proved immensely valuable during Covid-19. Rapidly developing digital technologies, together with social and business trends, are providing huge opportunities for innovation in product and service markets, and in government processes.

However, the type of disruptive events we are now facing also highlight the challenges of the invisible “things” of IoT, such as networks and infrastructure, relating to cybersecurity. Trends that are challenging now and will increasingly challenge society, include developments in technologies on the outskirts of the Internet. These include Artificial Intelligence (AI), not just in the cloud but in Edge computing, and in IoT devices and networks.

Consider you want to send a birthday gift to your friend on their birthday, where will you send it? To their street address right?

Same is the case here. The early computer scientists wanted to identify computers on the internet with a unique number, something like a telephone numbers today. So, they came up with the concept of TCP/IP.

An IP of a computer device is the address of that device in a computer network. Technically, it is a 32-bit number used which identifies devices in a network. All the communication to and fro from the device in that network will be done in terms of its IP address.

Read more about the cloud network engineer salary.

Consider that you are uploading a file to any site or say to Google drive.

Talking at the lowest level of network communication, your file is converted to packets and each packet has the destination node address with it which is nothing but the IP address.

On a higher level, IP addresses are classified into two types:

IPv4: IPv4 addresses are 32 bits (four bytes) as explained in the definition. An example of the IPv4 address would be 104.244.42.129 which is the IPv4 address of twitter.com. They are stable to use and hence are used today to identify machines in the world.

IPv6: IPv6 addresses are pretty new to the world and are basically eight hexadecimal numbers separated by “:”. An example of IPv6 address would be 2001:0cb8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334. They are unstable and hence not used widely yet. The web is still using IPv4 due to its stability and there is no estimate when we will start to use IPv6 since it is not stable for now.

Although 2019 was dubbed a breakout year for the SD-WAN industry, a fourth-quarter decline resulted in 1 percent year-over-year growth for the worldwide Service Provider Router and Carrier Ethernet Switch market. That"s much less than similar studies of the SD-WAN market, such as last year"s SD-WAN Infrastructure Forecast from research firm IDC, which indicated that the market will grow at a 30.8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2018 to 2023 to reach $5.25 billion.

And an October 2019 report from IHS Markit attributed a Q2 23 percent gain in the SD-WAN market -- including appliances and control and management software -- to an enterprise router replacement surge . "In our discussions with vendors, it has become apparent that most recognize SD-WAN as a mainstream technology," said IHS Markit analyst Josh Bancroft at the time. "As a result, larger enterprises have begun to refresh their legacy, router-centric WANs with SD-WAN. Vendors are capitalizing on the refresh opportunities with customers that have large bases of aging router equipment."

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Dell"Oro this week said that for the full year 2019, the global SD-WAN market grew 64 percent to surpass the $1 billion level. 

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). MANs connect two or more local area networks or campus area networks by connecting routers, switches and hubs (will be defined in hardware section), within the area of a single town or city.

Campus Area Network (CAN). A CAN is a connection of LANs within a limited area such as a public school or college campus. This type of network often links academic buildings, the university/school library, or student dorms. It is similar to a MAN because it connects multiple LANs but the difference is that a CAN is usually smaller than a MAN and is specific to an academic setting.

Wide Area Network (WAN). A WAN is a network that covers a broad area; any network that crosses, metropolitan, regional or national boundaries is considered a WAN. A WAN operates by connecting multiple routers and public communications links, such as telephone lines. The most commonly known WAN is the internet, which most of the other computer networks also connect to.

SD-WAN networks allow users to install virtual WAN architecture that allows users, be they clients or internal users from other branches, to access virtual appliances through the internet.