Network Monitoring Definition and Solutions
Network monitoring is far more strategic than its name implies. It involves watching for problems 24/7, but it's also about optimizing data flow and access in a complex and changing environment. Tools and services are as numerous and varied as the environments they guard and analyze.
- What is network monitoring?
- How important is network monitoring?
- What can network monitoring systems monitor?
- What kind of networks can they monitor?
- What strategic tasks can network monitoring systems do?
- What questions can network monitoring answer?
- What can network monitoring do for me?
- What tools will I find in network monitoring systems?
- What kinds of network monitoring systems are available?
- What do they cost?
What questions can network monitoring answer?
While an NMS will map your network topology, for instance, it's up to managers to examine and decide the fate of each piece of the topology. A comprehensive monitoring report will help you answer tough questions:
• Simplicity in the form of homogenous systems can deliver savings, but can segments be replaced at an acceptable cost?
• Which operating systems and apps are on which servers, and are they necessary?
• Who are the power users, and what are they sending?
• How close to capacity are servers?
• What remote devices being used, and what are they being used for?
• How and where are remote devices entering the system?
• Who and what resources are managing the system?
Of course, stocked with this information and clean status reports, a budget-pressured exec might conclude that no problems mean no reason to change things. That's usually the wrong conclusion because businesses don't exist in a steady state.
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