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Reports generated by ResponseWeb impressed us with their presentation and graphic detail. But reports on exceptions and grouping by TopN or sorts on top application users, TopN slowest response time and the like were nowhere to be found. ResponseWeb says TopN reporting tools will be included in the next release.

ResponseWeb, $10,000, Response Networks, (800) 677-7638, (703) 739-7770; fax (703) 739-9198. www.responsenetworks.com

Exact Solutions Iwatch
Iwatch v1.1.2.4,from Exact Solutions might be a useful system management tool for monitoring application performance, if what your looking for is specific transaction performance. It is a trending tool, with canned reports, but it is very efficient at tracking SQL and HTTP. . However, this product monitors only TCP/IP based SQL server and HTTP server right out of the box.

IWatch monitors traffic traveling towards the application server it is set to monitor. At first, iWatch will trap all packets on its segment, but after it has "learned" the monitored packets, it can filter the packets accordingly. Iwatch doesn't require any agents to calculate response time over the LAN or WAN segment. Instead it relies on the functioning of TCP/IP SYN packets to calculate the response time.

We found Iwatch to be above average for in-depth analysis and monitoring of our TCP/IP based Sybase SQL server. IWatch did a good job in capturing packets and providing a thorough analysis of traffic bound forour Sybase SQL server.

This product lacks any out-of-the-box reporting, a major oversight. Exact Solutions provides areporting utility as an add-on. The next release is scheduled to contain basic reports right out-of-the-box. Iwatch also doesn't have any out of the box support for know TCP and UDP ports as do the other products.

iWatch, starts at $10,000. Available: Now. Exact Solutions, (212) 707-8630; fax (212) 707-8632. www.exact-solutions.com