Network Monitoring and Management software
tools
A "Word of Caution": -
since this page was first written (in March of 1999) a 'sea-change' has
happened in the world of Network Monitoring and Management
tools... That sea-change has resulted in these 'changes' in
the software-tools that you can obtain, sometimes pay-cash-for, and use
to evaluate your network issues
Things 'Used to be' like this:
- Manual collection of 'packets'
(the basic 'package' of information on a network')
- Manual 'assembly' of those
packets into 'conversations' (exactly what this sounds like
- Manual 'analysis' of those
conversations, with no GUI-interface
- Manual 'development' (by an
experienced network professional (or group of these people) of a 'plan
of action' to resolve problems and conflicts, sometimes requiring
multiple 'passes' to 'get it right.
- ON networks who's speed of
traffic was rarely more than 10,000,000 bits per second
In today's (circa 2005 - network) environment:
- Automated
collection of packets (sometimes number in the 100's of Megabytes
- Automated assembly of those
packets into 'conversations'
- Automated
"semi-artifically-intelligent" analysis WITH a GUI interface
- Automated development of a
plan of attack
- ALL WITHOUT the
intervention of a 'network professional'
- At staggering network speeds of easily up-to
1,000,000,000 bits / second
- ALL Displayed, in a GUI to the
un-initiated, in full color, to someone who:
Hasn't a CLUE what the data represents
AND - you can do most of it with 'free-tools'
today...
WHERE does that leave the 'small business owner'
with a 'network problem'?
Like almost any other arena in your (small) business
- you have two choices:
- Learn the skills yourself,
apply them, hope that you've learned well, and 'act'
- Pay someone else to do the job
on your behalf
Both require a certain investment
of man-hours of the business owner, however, the second is likely to
yield more 'productive' results...
Now, having said all that - here's
some 'products' that might be used to evaluate your network and/or it's
health (or sickness), and what to do about it...
Here's the 'deal' - this information has been
updated for 2005, and it's valid:
AND/OR if you'd rather see things in more of a 'table-form' - try this link.
Back to: Main_VANC_Home_Page
Last updated: Monday, 28Feb05
revID
2j:___________Originally created on: 3_March_1999 rev 1.0