Ensuring Business Continuity: Opengear

The ubiquity of the internet has resulted in an explosion in the usage of smartphones and the popularity of web-based services. Furthermore, with the growing influence of cloud computing, traditional software services may be in for a rough time. The global interconnectedness and exchange of data require a robust infrastructure that is not only capable of handling all the traffic but one that can also continue operations after a system failure. With the explosion of the IoT, the need for smarter real-time decision-making, deeper data analysis, more robust data storage, always-on connectivity, and network resilience becomes even more critical. Enter Opengear, with next-generation intelligent solutions for managing critical infrastructure and increasing network resilience.

Opengear provides the automation, network resilience and security necessary to efficiently manage and protect critical IT, communications, network and power infrastructure and ensure business continuity, globally. The company’s data center and remote site solutions enable technical staff to provision, maintain and repair infrastructure from anywhere at any time, drastically reducing operational costs and downtime. Opengear has raised infrastructure management to a new level with our Smart OOB™ solutions, equipping customers with smart automation and bulletproof resilience. Additionally, it also integrates true out-of-band management, always-available wired and wireless secure remote access, proactive monitoring, automated response and Failover to Cellular™ for uninterrupted remote site connectivity, even when the network is down. Founded in 2004, Opengear is headquartered in New Jersey, with a manufacturing facility in Utah, R&D operations in Australia and Silicon Valley, and sales offices in Europe, Asia, and the USA. In 2017, Opengear was named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list.

Failover to Cellular

Opengear Failover to Cellular™ (F2C) provides continued internet connectivity for remote LANs and equipment over high-speed 4G LTE or 3G networks when the primary link is unavailable. Ensuring speed to keep the network running smoothly and link diversity for true WAN resilience, Failover to Cellular is built on robust IP Passthrough technology. This allows for easy integration into existing installs or can be rapidly deployed for instant-on connectivity for new networks and branch locations.

This feature is useful for an SD-WAN deployment. SD-WAN enables organizations to reduce costs and maintain secure network connections. However, the high bandwidth internet connections, routers and constant firmware updates associated with this can introduce a single point of failure. If the network goes down during a deployment, Smart OOB™ and Failover to Cellular ensures secondary access to the routers to easily re-flash or power cycle. NetOps staff is able to remotely get the network back up and running without an onsite visit.

Network Resilience

SmartOOB enables remote setup, ongoing maintenance and disaster recovery of mission-critical IT, power and network infrastructure. By moving computation to the data, as opposed to moving data to the computation, Opengear gives businesses unmatched speed and effectiveness in managing remote devices. The ability to manage network devices of any make, run custom scripts for notifications and responses, support environmental monitoring devices and pivot between GUI and command line interfaces is what makes it smarter than other competing solutions.

Data Center Management

Today’s data centers have a wide array of network, server and power infrastructures from a variety of vendors. The scope and complexity of managing these environments continue to grow, and traditional out-of-band management solutions with basic serial console access no longer support these evolved demands. Opengear provides the technology needed to effectively monitor, diagnose and troubleshoot critical data center equipment from a centralized management solution, supported by power and connection redundancies.

Industry-leading SmartOOB™ solutions streamline the remote management of the network, IT and power infrastructure in data centers, ensuring efficient and secure access, monitoring and control for both local and remote operations teams. SmartOOB raises infrastructure management to a new level, monitoring and controlling virtually everything that affects uptime, including the physical environment. Proactive problem identification, quick notification, and automated remediation reduce operating and downtime costs. IT teams can monitor and troubleshoot all their equipment from a centralized management station on a single pane of glass. All Opengear devices are equipped with SmartOOB and enable remote setup, ongoing maintenance and disaster recovery of mission-critical infrastructure — even when the network is down.

Meet The Visionary behind Opengear’s Success

Gary Marks is CEO of Opengear and he also serves as a member of the company’s board of directors. He is a 30-year veteran of the technology, storage, and telecommunications industries, with a track record of successfully guiding major expansion efforts, turnarounds and strategic partnerships at both public and private companies. Prior to joining Opengear, he was the SVP Global Sales and Marketing for Raritan, a power and infrastructure management provider for data centers. His leadership enabled a successful turnaround that expanded Raritan’s portfolio of new products and technologies.

An accomplished senior executive, Gary has held senior leadership positions with Dialogic (acquired by Intel), Conner Peripherals (acquired by Seagate), Western Digital and AT&T. Gary holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Miami and an MBA in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“We provide enterprise customers with the security, automation and resilience necessary to operate efficiently, reduce costs and ensure business continuity.”