Hardware

Hardware failure adds another dimension to the quagmire of risks associated with the use of technology. This risk can be mitigated by introducing redundancy, but redundancy translates to increased costs beyond just the purchasing of physical hardware: storage space, additional power requirements, additional support, warrantees, licensing and technical expertise also add to the bottom line. The result is that redundancy is often sacrificed in the face of budget restraints. When this occurs, any single network component becomes a company's single point of failure. A network with 10 servers, 2 routers and 2 switches effectively has 14 individual points of failure.

IASP currently supports hardware from major vendors, such as Compaq, Cisco, HP, Nortel, Nokia and Dell. In order to ensure the highest level of quality for its services, IASP will not support any off-brand hardware in its facility. If a client requires a particular piece of hardware outside of the norm, IASP will make every effort to fulfill that requirement, and every effort will be made to ensure the same level of service for such custom implementations as would be expected on a standard hardware platform.

Key hardware components for the IASP platform are the Cisco Secure ASA and PIX firewalls.