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Response-time measurements are not yet part of the mix, though Apptitude claims they are in the works. What is here is a gathering of every matrix from physical layer through application layer on top users, and consequently great diagnostics.

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The Reporter module offers strong enterprise security features, including access control, separate group rights, scheduling with priorities and push publishing. It seemed like a nuisance to load the required extensions, but the fact that reports can be output in indexed HTML is a saving grace.

Besides the missing response-time measurements, the selection of canned reports in the Reporter was lacking, particularly when compared with those in NextPoint's S3 and Compuware's EcoScope. The Reporter environment allows you to develop the reports, but we think they should have more predefined. We tested version 1.0, but Apptitude says that by the time you read this, a new version with more reports will be available.

Apptitude Analyzer, $4,995, Apptitude Reporter, $29,995, Apptitude Visualizer, $15,995, Apptitude, (800) 474-7888, (408) 574-2300; fax (408) 629-8300. www.apptitude.com

Ganymede Software Pegasus 1.2
Ganymede's Pegasus does one thing well: It measures the network for application performance. No client, no server or database monitoring--just performance.

Its approach is simple. A PC running a Pegasus end point sends a predefined transaction to a second Pegasus end point. The transaction is a scripted send and receive and packets are the same size as an actual client/server interaction. The results are sent to a central repository for reporting and baselining. End-point agents run on everything from MVS, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, Linux and NetWare to Win32, Win16 and OS/2. And these end points run over more protocols than any other agent we tested, including TCP/IP, UDP, SNA, IPX and SPX.

The best thing we can say about the interface is no wizards, thank God! It's straightforward enough to get up and running, and the Java configurator is snappy enough to run remotely without raising your blood pressure.

Pegasus comes with 30 application scripts that we edited to our hearts' content. These scripts emulate actual network applications. If you're familiar with Ganymede's Chariot, the scripts are the same, except each transaction is run only once. All variables are easily edited, and thoroughly explained and annotated online in the script editor and in the documentation. There is no guessing, or poorly written documentation to slog through.

Connection filtering is supported in a characteristically straightforward manner. The end-point processes are lightweight, so they can be widely deployed. The filtering is designed to reduce the reporting to a meaningful trickle. We created simple nested 'AND' and 'OR' filters, then applied them to the defined connections in a matter of minutes.

Unfortunately, the service measurements in Pegasus are not very granular. Support is only for a single service level for each application script. This means that the chosen service level has to apply to all the test connections using that script regardless of network connectivity.

Pegasus 1.2, starts at $25,000, Ganymede Software, (800) GANYMEDE, (919) 469-0997; fax (919) 469-5553. www.ganymede.com