The Daily Network Monitor

Here is a useful list of tips that network administrators can leverage in their everyday travails.

1. Assume nothing. Where does the real fault lie? Is it really the network or something else? Go to #10…

2. Is IP addressing correct? Proper subnetting and VLANs?

3. Conduct a visual inspection of the equipment.

4. Validate proper device power-up after a power failure.

5. RTM or Read The Manual (polite version); believe it not, the manufacturer release notes have valuable information.

6. Configuration of equipment. More often than not a change, that is either managed or not, has a cascade effect. Check settings for auto negotiation, for example.

7. Check MTU settings. This is the cause of most black holes.

8. Are the router tables correct? Is the gateway correct? show iproute is a useful tool.

9. If using a service provider/telco. Are your PE routers setup correctly and with the right MTU for WAN links?

10. Leverage network management and monitoring tools to rapidly and preemptively locate issues and to get 360^o visibility into, actionable intelligence about and complete control of your IT infrastructure.

There has been a lot of buzz around WAN optimization over the past few months, with numerous mentions of what WAN optimization is and what it brings to the table. On the surface, it is certainly a cool technology, but it is a technology that requires some additional thought before implementing. It is certainly another great tool in the network managers arsenal.

WAN optimization should be considered as another component of an overall network management strategy. Why do I say this? Well there are several reasons, first of all, WAN optimization only provides a capability for a small subset of the network, WAN links. Certainly organizations want to use their bandwidth more efficiently and cost effectively, but if the links were not properly engineered and provisioned in the first place, WAN optimization will not help.

If anything, WAN optimization actually builds the case for more effective management of local networks connected by WAN links. Since WAN optimization only looks between edge routers, a more complete and consolidated end-to-end perspective is required and network management and monitoring provides that holistic view. No only does a network manager need to look at device status, but also the infrastructure as a whole; including devices, applications, and bandwidth. Network management and monitoring is the elemental solution that brings it all together in one place. For those organizations that are thinking about implementing WAN optimization, be sure that you have an overall network management and monitoring strategy or even better, a solution in place to get the whole picture and not just pieces of it.

Ipswitch has been working hard on a new release of their network monitoring software and it is finally here. So without any further delay, let me highlight a few of the 20 new features of Whats Up Gold v12.0 that bring 360^o visibility, actionable intelligence and complete control to network managers.

• Split Second Graphs – bring real-time information to network managers with 13 new reports that can be configured and added to any of the Top 10 or full reports. With Split Seconds Graphs network managers can simply enable Split Second Graphs on any monitor and can now have up-to-the-second data to quickly pinpoint an issue.
• InstantInfo - presents instantaneous access to utilization data on a highlighted interface. InstantInfo is enabled in WhatsUp Gold by default. Data is presented to the network manager by simply hovering the cursor over the enabled interface description. This is especially valuable when trying to locate intermittent issues without having to access reports. Similar to SSG embedded in reports, the data is transient and is not stored in the WhatsUp Gold database.
• New SNMP MIB Tools: MIB Explorer, MIB Manager and MIB Walker – MIB Explorer simplifies the chore of identifying and figuring out what MIB variables are available to be monitored directly on the device. MIB Manager enables drag and drop addition and validation of MIBs, all before you enable a monitor and then find out that the MIB is incorrect. And finally, with MIB Walker directly view the variables in a MIB to understand what parameters the MIB contains.
• Upgraded WhatsUp SQL database and Vista Support.

As a limited time offer, try WhatsUp Gold and you’ll be entered to win a Nintendo® Wii Fit & Wii Game System Console ($550 Value).

Also, if you haven’t already, please take the time to visit www.whatsupgold.com and download a v12.0 product demo. While you’re there you might notice that the site is completely new, providing in-depth information about the whole WhatsUp  product family and associated technologies.