Cloud-based monitoring and security will integrate with the WebSmart series of switches from D-Link (News - Alert), the company announced recently. Enhancements will form the new D-Link Insight platform, which combines D-Link Cloud services with the WebSmart switch architecture to form an accessible, portal-based administration system.

D-Link's standards-based unified networking solutions are tailored to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB), and the latest enhancement addresses the increasing demand for mobility solutions.

According to Gartner (News - Alert), sales of open OS devices will surpass one billion by 2015 and account for 47 percent of the total mobile device market.

The mobility trend toward tablets and smartphones has created complications for administrators who want to stay on top of who and what connect to their networks while ensuring security and compliance.

This creates an exceptional burden for SMB network administrators – concerns that the D-Link Insight addresses by offering network device discovery, tracking and compliance monitoring within the WebSmart series of switches at no additional cost.

The enhanced switches may be monitored from the cloud-based portal, which offers a snapshot of serial numbers, firmware versions and locations. Connectivity status is readily available, in addition to a logged history of backups and reboots as well as a table view of all devices on the network, offering basic information at a glance. Devices may also be ordered into SmartLists, and the system can send out email alerts when new devices are joined to the network.

The new services are provided with no license fee per additional user, so administrators may invite as many users as necessary to help manage and monitor the network.

The D-LInk Insight is available now on the DES-1210 and DGS (News - Alert)-1210 series switches through a firmware update on the company's Website. When installed, the switch may be configured through a streamlined registration process via web GUI. Administrators may configure the IP address, gateway and DNS server and then proceed with switch registration to the Insight portal.

Users will also receive a free one-year trial of the Insight Plus premium service, which uses the Microsoft (News - Alert) NAP architecture to obtain a health status report of clients' computers and generate lists and alerts when clients are not in compliance with network security policies.

"D-Link is the first vendor to offer this kind of integrated cloud-based solution to customers," said David Nguyen, director product management, ethernet switching and security, D-Link. "In the past, dedicated hardware would have been required to carry out these functions, not to mention the extensive expertise needed to configure and maintain such a system. D-Link Insight makes these functions available directly on the WebSmart switch itself, without additional hardware, and everything is conveniently accessible from a friendly Web-based portal in the cloud."