Real Time Network Monitoring

This month, we’re digging deeper into the issues large organisations face when trying to manage an ever-expanding network, looking at real-time network monitoring. Increasingly network monitoring is being used to assist in the detection of unauthorised or malicious attacks, a direct result of cyber crime.

Every minute counts in business, and we established in our previous posts that wireless networks are great for boosting productivity and encouraging information sharing. With untethered access to documents, emails, applications and other network resources, employees roam where they need to and have constant access to the tools required to do their jobs…  But how much do you really know about the network they’re all depending on?

With the rise of any new technology, abusers of this technology are born – not necessarily hackers or malicious intruders, they are often legitimate network users but put the system at risk by using it for purposes other than those originally intended. Servers can also experience unstable activity due to undetected services running on the network, which causes the system to run very slowly or even stop working altogether. This ‘downtime’ is obviously quite costly financially.

As companies increasingly rely on large, wireless, remotely managed networks to carry out their daily duties, real-time network monitoring should be an integral part of all network management systems in order to ensure that all business processes can be completed efficiently.

Of course, every enterprise already has some network monitoring system in place. If you’re not thinking about buying, renting, or building a new monitoring solution for your organisation, there is one question you need to ask: is my monitoring good enough?

An introduction to real-time network monitoring

Real-time network monitoring helps operators be proactive and maintain control of their ever-expanding networks, as well as troubleshoot and solve network problems as they arise.

We’ve all heard it before… “Why is the network so slow? Why can’t I access e-mail?” The list goes on and on. Without visibility into the real-time status of the network and all of its connected elements, it can be nearly impossible for IT staff to diagnose, repair, and prevent such nagging issues.

A real-time network monitoring system can alert the IT department to technical difficulties before the phones start ringing. For many years now, real-time network monitoring has been a vital tool for operators to manage and troubleshoot problems with networks and services.

Traditionally, real-time network monitoring systems were mainly designed around SS7 signalling, but today there is a need to handle more complex multi-technology networks with increased bandwidth requirements. New systems should have the ability to analyse payload and monitor signalling, creating previously unimagined levels of insight into network service quality.

Real-time network monitoring enables reactive fixes and proactive improvements – if you want a bulletproof business, you need the right service setup.

Basic functions of real-time network monitoring

Real time network monitoring helps IT personnel to:

• Record network traffic
• See how much bandwidth is being used and by whom
• Ensure almost 100% network availability
• Proactively react to all network issues
• Improve network performance and user experience