Ensuring optimal network performance 24/7 is critical to business success, irrespective of whether it's a small- or medium-sized enterprise (SME). This paper examines the basic functionalities any network management solution should have to achieve optimal network performance. It will also focus on how ManageEngine OpManager, a network monitoring solution, provides these essential functionalities at a low cost.
Investing in a proficient network management solution can yield significant benefits across various aspects, with ROI being a critical factor. It's crucial for the chosen network management solution to have a proven track record of providing better results. Enterprises leverage ROI calculations to bolster confidence in investment profitability and efficiency. ROI facilitates informed resource allocation by evaluating investment outcomes and assessing associated risks, ultimately leading to optimized profits. Picking the right solution decides the fate of an organization.
Further, network management solutions are getting more expensive and complex, and simultaneously, network management challenges are becoming more demanding and complicated. In such a scenario, what the IT managers of SMEs should do is prioritize their network management needs and implement solutions that offer basic functions exceptionally well. Some of the basic network management functions that are critical for SMEs are:
Proactive network monitoring is crucial for anticipating and addressing potential issues, protecting infrastructure from disruptions, and preventing revenue loss due to downtime. A comprehensive network solution should effortlessly monitor resource availability, threshold violations, host resource utilization, service availability, and response times. While vendors provide management tools with hardware purchases, deploying multiple tools can lead to confusion.
To enhance your monitoring capabilities, seek a network monitoring tool that guarantees the availability of network devices, offers proactive monitoring, and enables comprehensive monitoring of all infrastructure components. Since organizations have varied network components, start by creating a checklist of devices that require monitoring.
Having a prepared list of critical devices and relevant KPIs is crucial for maintaining control over the network and to prevent network downtime. Some critical network devices include routers, servers, switches, wireless components, and virtual devices. Additionally, prioritize software that supports custom device monitoring, such as for uninterrupted power supplies or other IP-based equipment.
Visual representations of networks aid in quickly comprehending the intricate relationships and interactions across network devices. When managing a network, it is crucial to initially identify and categorize network elements into different views that reflect your deployment. For instance, for someone who oversees the network infrastructure of your organization, your ideal management tool should include:
Automated network discovery: Automating the identification and inclusion of each manageable element in your network is a fundamental feature provided by every network monitoring software. However, it is crucial to assess the depth of information gathered during this process. Does your network monitoring tool merely recognize your critical server as another IP device, or does it provide detailed insights, such as identifying it as a Dell server on switch 2's port 21, situated on the second floor? Does it specify running applications like Oracle and HTTP, report the temperature, indicate a CPU utilization of 70%, disclose free disk space of 30%, and convey data transmission at a specific rate, like x Kbps per second? Understanding these details offers enhanced visibility into the underlying causes of problems when they arise.
Grouping of devices: The second important aspect of discovery is grouping the discovered devices into routers, switches, servers, etc. separately. This helps network engineers quickly access relevant groups while troubleshooting.
Custom maps: Maps or custom views help you see the big picture of your network. For example, imagine a small business has headquarters in California with branch offices in Texas and Atlanta. The graphic below illustrates how a network management tool helps in visualizing this layout. The icons as well as the links shown here reveal real-time statuses and provide instant information on what is currently up and what is down. Moreover, these icons and links can be clicked to drill down for more details.
Layer 2 maps: Using Layer 2 mapping is essential for a comprehensive network monitoring solution. With this functionality, users can access a real-time visual representation of network topology, expediting the troubleshooting process significantly. This capability enables the efficient allocation of resources, as the detailed performance metrics provided facilitate the analysis of network traffic patterns and bandwidth utilization. Moreover, it aids in preventing the occurrence of multiple and false network monitoring alerts.
Virtualization mapping: Advanced virtualization mapping swiftly delineates the intricate interconnections within virtual networks, seamlessly highlighting the host-to-VM, host-to-network, VM-to-network, VM-to-datastore, and host-to-datastore links, obviating the need for exhaustive data analysis. This cutting-edge feature facilitates real-time monitoring and offers exporting capabilities for enhanced efficiency.
In the realm of fault management, certain critical features are essential for ensuring network reliability and to reduce network downtime. Some of them include effective alarm severity management, adaptive thresholds, and dependency mapping. While alarm severity and color coding may seem trivial, they offer administrators a clear overview of issues with high criticality requiring immediate attention, as well as alerts that are less urgent and can be addressed later, thus optimizing resource allocation.
Adaptive thresholds dynamically adjust to evolving network conditions, facilitating proactive monitoring and early anomaly detection while preventing alarm flooding that could lead to critical failures. Dependency mapping provides detailed insights into the relationships among network components, enabling administrators to visualize dependencies and anticipate the domino effects of potential failures or issues. Collectively, these features empower IT administrators to swiftly identify, prioritize, and address network issues, ultimately enhancing overall resilience, performance, and business continuity.
Ensuring optimal network performance not only depends on how quickly you identify a failure but also on how quickly you resolve it. A good monitoring solution should allow you to respond to a failure in any of the following ways:
To achieve optimal network performance 24/7, you should continuously measure key parameters through reports. Ask questions to identify trends and plan for optimization, such as:
In the ever-evolving landscape of dynamic networks, organizations continuously adjust their scale to meet changing demands. With a network monitoring solution, businesses can effortlessly achieve this flexibility, have ample room to scale their networks, and seamlessly oversee network environments to accommodate escalating complexities and expanding device counts. A fully equipped solution facilitates monitoring of distributed networks and hierarchical device grouping, empowering network administrators to manage large-scale networks efficiently.
It's also equally important to have smooth integrations with an extensive array of third-party applications and tools, IT service management platforms, and more. These integrations empower organizations to consolidate monitoring and management tasks, streamline workflows, and bolster overall operational efficiency. Resilient scalability and integration capabilities empower organizations to respond to evolving network demands and proficiently oversee their IT infrastructure.
To manage your network, you must first monitor it. Network monitoring is key to ensuring high availability for your networks and applications. Comprehensive network monitoring software such as ManageEngine OpManager could save you from network outages and significantly reduce IT spending.
OpManager boasts AI capabilities that empower administrators and business stakeholders to streamline operational efficiency and reduce network downtime. These AI functionalities facilitate the rapid identification and resolution of issues by helping admins delve into the root of an issue right away.