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  VitalSigns' VitalAnalysis Brings Network Bliss |
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By Richard Hoffman
About six months ago, VitalSigns Software re-leased Net.Medic, its excellent "browser companion" software for monitoring end-user Inter-net/intranet performance (see "Net.Medic: It's Just What the Doctor Ordered," www.Network Computing.com/810/810sp2.html). For individual users, Net.Medic is an invaluable tool for determining the cause of network slowdowns and poor Internet/intranet performance. From the enterprise IS manager's perspective, it has one critical flaw--all of this extremely useful, QoS (quality-of-service) information is inaccessible because it's locked away on the user's machine.
I tested VitalAnalysis 1.0 on an IBM PC Server system with a 166-MHz Pentium Pro processor and 256 MB of RAM, running Windows NT Server 4.0. On the client side, I used 133-MHz IBM ThinkPad 760ED laptops on both token-ring and dial-up connections, with T1, 28.8-Kbps modem and 38.4-Kbps connections to the Internet and Netscape Navigator and Communicator. Tell Me About Your Network As a standalone package, VitalAnalysis isn't to o flashy. All of its important work--uploading and processing statistical data from Net.Medic clients, compiling a database of the uploaded information and producing reports that you can print from the NT Server or access via a common Web browser--is done behind the scenes. The results of that statistical analysis will excite any network manager. It's easy to collect ongoing, solid statistical information about Internet/intranet performance and responsiveness from the perspective of the end users, instead of having to identify and eliminate problems from the top down. The VitalAnalysis server also handles routine tasks, such as providing a location for users to download the Net.Medic client and automatically upgrading clients. The standard list of VitalAnalysis reports includes an array of useful information--"overall health" of clients, server response times, causes of network slowdowns, modem call summaries, intranet performance factors and ISP response summaries--all extracted from the local data collec ted by Net.Medic clients. The reports are available on a weekly or daily basis. If you need custom reports, a data-export feature creates custom Excel spreadsheets. However, you must obtain the VitalAnalysis database schema to understand the data. The report designs are clear and concise, and full of well-thought-out features. In the lab, the VitalAnalysis-Net.Medic pair identified problems with server throughput and response time for specific servers and sites, modem misconfigurations and excessive CPU load on individual clients. This type of data will become more valuable as it is collected over time, and managers monitor usage and problem trends as they occur. Richard Hoffman is the Webmaster for the www.DisasterRelief.org Web site. He can be reached at hoffmanr@usa.redcross.org. |
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VitalSigns' new product, VitalAnalysis, takes the
diagnostic wizardry of Net.Medic to its next logical level by automatically collecting and processing the raw data from individual Net.Medic clients. It produces a variety of reports, from server load and router congestion to individual and aggregate network performance. The Net.Medic clients and VitalAnalysis server combo is a must-have for any mid-to-large-sized IS organization with deployed Internet/intranet applications. No other product automatically collects the depth and breadth of user-centric Internet/intranet-related diagnostic information that VitalAnalysis does.
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