Top Network Performance Monitoring Tools - 2015 Edition

Network Monitoring Software is important for companies because: -It helps ensure the smooth functioning of the company's network infrastructure. -It allows companies to proactively identify and resolve network issues before they impact business operations. -It helps in optimizing network performance and improving overall efficiency. -It provides real-time visibility into network traffic, allowing companies to monitor and analyze network usage patterns. -It helps detect and prevent security breaches and unauthorized access to the network. -It enables companies to track and manage network devices, such as routers, switches, and servers. -It assists in capacity planning by monitoring network bandwidth and identifying potential bottlenecks. -It helps comply with industry regulations and maintain data privacy and security. -It provides valuable insights and analytics for making informed decisions regarding network upgrades and investments. -It helps reduce network downtime and minimizes the impact of network outages on business operations.

Let me describe with Example: E-commerce Website A network monitoring software is crucial for an e-commerce company: 1. Detecting Issues: It alerts IT about slow website response or errors, so they fix them before customers notice. 2. Optimizing Performance: By tracking popular products and traffic patterns, the company ensures smooth browsing even during high demand. 3. Enhancing Security: Unusual traffic patterns trigger alerts, helping stop unauthorized access attempts and safeguard customer data. 4. Planning for Growth: Monitoring predicts resource needs as the company expands, ensuring smooth scaling. 5. Allocating Resources: It identifies resource-hungry sections, enabling balanced resource distribution for consistent performance. 6. Troubleshooting: Detailed logs aid in identifying and fixing downtime causes quickly. 7. Meeting SLAs: Historical data ensures the company fulfills uptime and performance promises in customer agreements. In all, the software maintains a secure, high-performing, and reliable online shopping experience, fostering customer trust and business growth.

The most important aspects to look for when evaluating Network Monitoring Software solutions are: -Comprehensive monitoring capabilities: The software should provide a wide range of monitoring features to track network performance, including real-time monitoring, bandwidth usage, device health, application performance, and security monitoring. -Scalability: The solution should be able to handle the size and complexity of your network, whether it is a small office or a large enterprise network. -Ease of use: The software should have a user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation, allowing network administrators to configure and manage the monitoring system easily. -Alerting and notification system: The software should have robust alerting capabilities to notify administrators of network issues or anomalies via email, SMS, or other communication channels. -Customization and flexibility: The solution should offer customization options to tailor the monitoring system to your specific network requirements and allow integration with other tools or systems. -Reporting and analytics: The software should provide detailed reports and analytics on network performance, allowing administrators to identify trends, troubleshoot issues, and make informed decisions. -Compatibility and integration: The solution should be compatible with a wide range of network devices, protocols, and operating systems and offer integration with other IT management tools. -Security features: The software should have built-in security measures to protect sensitive network data and provide features like user authentication, access controls, and encryption. -Vendor support and community: It is essential to consider the reputation and support provided by the software vendor, including documentation, training resources, and an active user community for troubleshooting and knowledge sharing.

Collecting as many metrics, statuses, and logs about the servers is indeed the first step, you never know what data you will need to solve a particular problem. The second step is to process and correctly pinpoint where the network performance/behavior differs from the expected range/baseline.  Can your network monitoring software automate the obvious (execute remote corrective actions in response to alerts) and notify the IT person about only critical situations where the human needs to make a decision about the resolution options? We expect the network monitoring software today to do just that.  I would say NetCrunch can do it, but do you have any experience with other monitoring products that provide a similar type of monitoring experience for IT teams?