Network failures can significantly affect overall IT performance and cause availability issues across an organization. Implementing monitoring offers several key benefits, including:
- Cost savings: By reducing downtime and expediting remediation processes through root cause analysis or by identifying over- or under-utilized network elements. This allows network resources to focus on productive tasks instead of continuously troubleshooting issues.
- Proactive issue detection: Performance problems can be identified before they impact business operations or lead to a degraded customer experience, enabling timely intervention.
- Enhanced network security: It can detect unexpected traffic or unknown devices connecting to the network, serving as early indicators of potential cyberattacks or ransomware attempts.
- Early detection of usage spikes: It can identify usage spikes, such as login storms or seasonal traffic increases, enabling administrators to take remedial action to prevent any impact on usage.
- Monitoring rogue application usage: It helps track which applications and users are using the network, ensuring that only approved applications are being utilized by each business unit.
There are various types of network monitoring methods. For example, email monitoring may involve sending test emails and measuring response times, while web server testing could include sending an HTTP request to access a specific page and recording the time until it is served.
Initially, devices and network connections are identified, along with their associated performance metrics. Subsequently, the organization determines the frequency of monitoring for each function. For instance, client laptops and printers, which are not considered “network critical,” may have longer monitoring intervals compared to routers, switches, and servers that form the network backbone.
Most network monitoring tools utilize the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to manage and monitor network elements. SNMP agents, present in most network components, can reconfigure devices, take them offline if they are performing erratically, or collect information about the device’s performance. Network monitoring systems regularly “ping” system ports, and if a device reports a parameter outside the established threshold, an alert is automatically generated for remediation before device failure. Typically, network components are pinged between once a minute and once an hour.
Some network devices, like routers and switches, use the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) to communicate information regarding Internet Protocol (IP) operations and to generate error messages when devices fail.
What are the types of Monitoring?
