Computers are the backbone of the communications infrastructure in modern companies. The transmission of voice, video, and other media content places heavy demands on networks in terms of data transmission rates and reliability. At the same time, network complexity is increasing with the rising number of participants and services. Network administrators however are still confronted with the challenge of quickly localizing malfunctions and providing a permanent correction. They depend on reliable information on the status of individual network services.
With caplon® NETWORK MONITORING (NM), consistec GmbH provides a centralized SNMP probe that enables administrators to keep an eye on all business-critical network services.
The newest member of the caplon® product family can even monitor virtualized services – and without having to install additional software components on the affected systems.
This is made possible by the underlying caplon® technology, which can record network traffic – in the case of caplon® NM – at up to 4 Gbit/s loss-free. From the network traffic, the software extracts specific statistical data on any services in real time. The data obtained either can be evaluated in the caplon® NM web-based graphical user interface, or linked via SNMP into an existing monitoring solution. This enables administrators to detect irregularities and patterns indicating errors or hacking attempts in a timely manner.
The integrated alarm informs administrators of deviations from the defined normal state of a network service. Problems are noted as they form, and countermeasures can then be initiated quickly to prevent failures. However should a failure occur, the long-term statistics of the SNMP probe help in the cause analysis and troubleshooting.
The user determines which key data of a service are to be monitored via individually-configurable packet filters. caplon® NM provides templates for numerous services. The templates enable a short learning curve and can be adapted to individual requirements accordingly. The packaging as an appliance that brings together coordinated, high-performance hardware components with preinstalled caplon® NM software also reduces the learning curve.
Summary:
with caplon® NM, the Saarbrucken-based experts in high-performance network protocol analysis tools have delivered an easy-to-integrate monitoring solution that is a match for high data transmission rates. Through the continuous evaluation of network traffic, administrators now have a tool that provides a complete picture of the state of network services that are running. User-defined filters and alarms, as well as the generation of long-term statistics, help to identify anomalies and counteract malfunctions in a timely manner.
A summary of the caplon® NETWORK MONITORING Appliance performance features:
- Four 1GE Trace Ports, SFP (for 10/100/1000 BaseSX or 1000 BaseLX)
• Network traffic monitoring at data transmission rates of up to 4 GBit/s - User-defined packet filters for individual analyses (Berkeley Packet Filter Syntax)
• Filtering e.g. by host address, subnetworks, Ethernet, port ranges, VLAN, etc. - Short learning curve using templates for typical use cases (e.g. HTTP, E-Mail, etc.)
• Minimal effort required for configuration - Web-based interface for graphical statistical evaluation
- Preparation of collected data via SNMP
• MIB included for integration into existing monitoring solution with SNMP Manager
• Alternative to NetFlow – bandwidth-intensive services and subnetworks can be identified by analyzing network traffic and queried via SNMP (Top Talkers) - Anomaly detection using prescribed thresholds or through self-learning analysis of the network traffic, with e-mail alarms and SNMP traps