Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

IAM Policies: Good, Bad & Ugly

In my last post we looked at the structure of AWS IAM policies and looked at an example of a policy that was too broad. Let's look at a few more examples to explore how broad permissions can lead to security concerns. By far the most common form of broad permissions occurs when policies are scoped to a service but not to specific actions.

What is an ARP Table?

ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is the protocol that bridges Layer 2 and Layer 3 of the OSI model, which in the typical TCP/IP stack is effectively gluing together the Ethernet and Internet Protocol layers. This critical function allows for the discovery of a devices’ MAC (media access control) address based on its known IP address. By extension, an ARP table is simply the method for storing the information discovered through ARP.

Three Ways MSPs Can Benefit From Dynamic Thresholds

People around the world depend on Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to keep their businesses running like clockwork, even as their IT infrastructure evolves. Keeping workflows efficient leads to higher profits, but this can be a challenge due to a mix of on-premise infrastructures, public and private cloud, and other complex customer environments. The shift to remote work in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic has only made this more challenging for MSPs.

What is YAML? A Beginner's Guide

YAML is a digestible data serialization language that is often utilized to create configuration files and works in concurrence with any programming language. YAML is a data serialization language designed for human interaction. It’s a strict superset of JSON, another data serialization language. But because it’s a strict superset, it can do everything that JSON can and more.

5 Customer Service Tips For Professional Services Firms

Customer service is by no means easy. Managing this part of your operation can be immensely challenging. Your team must strike a balance between solid technical knowledge and perfect communication skills to deliver the very best customer experience. At StartingPoint, we believe customer experience is something that should be continuously refined. Exceptional customer experiences are the fuel driving the growth of your business.

6 Best Bandwidth Monitoring Tools

Your network relies on reliable data transmission. Not only could troublesome connections yield negative results for customers, but connectivity issues could also indicate deeper problems within your network. However, if you monitor your bandwidth consistently and carefully, you can maintain your network’s health and solve issues as they arise.

Troubleshooting Firewall Issues in DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean is a cost-effective virtual private server (VPS) provider popular among the developer community. The platform also offers services for rapid development, deployment, testing, and maintaining modern distributed applications. One of these services is a managed firewall solution that allows blocking unwanted traffic. It’s relatively easy to manage and deploy as an infrastructure component. Sometimes, however, operations teams need to dig deeper when the firewall blocks network traffic.