Network Performance Monitoring Tools

Network performance monitoring tools are important to anyone that works on a system whether it is a home-based set-up or a business based system. In a business, network performance monitoring tools are strongly recommended in determining system functionality as well as help to determine why the network is running slow if that may be the case. Network performance monitoring tools in the business environment include a range of important programs. Packet sniffing is not something a person would initially think would help in any application, but in a system packet sniffing it is probably one of the best tools to use. A packet sniffer, also known as a network analyzer or protocol analyzer, will scan the set-up and intercept or spy on all traffic on the system. Some of this traffic includes the supervision of programs that someone is knowingly or unknowingly running on their computer. Based on the information that this tool pulls up a person can see if someone is listening to music online, chatting with someone online, downloading using a P2P program, and various other information. Because of the traffic supervision capabilities of this program it is also great server performance monitoring software as it can help a system admin to understand the amount that his system is being utilized.

Bandwidth supervision has great uses as well. As a server performance monitoring software a person can use the bandwidth supervision to gauge how much someone is using the program as it shows the user what is being sent out to the Internet and what is being received. In a business environment with servers a person typically will see the bandwidth leaving the net more than what is coming in. Network performance monitoring tools will typically include a bandwidth monitor, as it is probably the first indicator of a problem. The first symptom that network users typically describe in a system problem is that the Internet is running slow. For a bandwidth monitor to successfully work a person needs to remove as much hardware between the router provided by the Internet service provider (ISP) and the box or wall jack that the user plugs the computer into. In most cases if a person has a computer whether it be a laptop or desktop that needs to have that computer close to the ISP router and a special cable in most cases this would be what is called a cross-over cable. At this point having the ISP on the phone maybe very helpful if the user doesn't know entirely what is being done. Once the user is successfully able to get the Internet on the computer that is directly connected to the ISP router, the user can start a bandwidth monitor. If the user is having a problem finding a good bandwidth tester the can go a government Network performance monitoring tools site called Argonne NDT. At this site the user can test their bandwidth with the push of a button.

CPU, disk and memory tools will perform a range of services for a user such as monitoring event log messages, SNMP, file analysis, system processes and more. Looking at system processes alone will help a person to keep the server in good working order. Similar to a home based computer a server can have viruses and other forms of malware running in the background and without monitoring software the user could look right past the exact problem that is bringing the server down. Once the hardware monitoring is taken care of, the user will want to take a look at the software applications. There is a range of services that the server can run so a careful choice of monitoring software that encompasses as much of the user is running to reduce the amount of time and money spent on this software. Server performance monitoring software typically will involve many tools like the packet sniffer and bandwidth monitor, but will go one step further to include tools to keep the server in good working order. The software that a person should look for is dependent on what is being run on the server. The purchasing of this software should be made or encouraged by a trusted network administrator. The software that is available on the Internet can range from being useless to useful as well as free to costly. "And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." (Matthew 8:26)

Having a trusted network administrator will help a person to elevate any wasted time and or money. Even if the user is running just a web server he or she has to have an idea of what the user is running as they have the option of the operating system and the hardware accounted for. For example if the user knows the operating system and having two 64-bit processors they still have to know the version of the operating system and the manufacturer or the processor. Most server services such as web, sql, email, etc. can run on various operating systems creating more options as well as an easier time for service. For example, if a user has IIS and Apache that run as a web server, where Apache can run on just about any operating system and IIS is limited. Then the user also has SQL, also known as SEQUEL, that was originally developed by IBM in the early 1970s but now has its own variants such as MS-SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Oracle to name a few. Once a person has a good idea of what the server has then the user can start to look at server performance monitoring software in a more intelligent way.

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