Visualizer provides different vantage points to analyze and monitor a given application's communications and provides historical analysis, baselining and long-term trending views. A topological view indicated server/client communications, with context-sensitive pop-ups tracking the number of communications between the given client/server pair and the amount of data transferred. Over time this data, combined with built-in algorithms, helps the Visualizer identify critical entities, including servers and applications, as well as the core network infrastructure that has a significant influence over the performance of applications.
The Visualizer has self-learning algorithms, used to update the list of identified critical entities and renew baseline data. Identification of critical entities and generation of baseline data occurs at fixed weekly intervals. This may be restrictive in highly dynamic environments, where network topology and traffic may be in flux due to unscheduled migration and maintenance.
When we drilled down, we reached a stage where we wanted to examine the transport layer to analyze network header information. This data existed in the Sniffer, but not the Visualizer. IT should be able to jump to the data from the Sniffer, but when we clicked the menu item, a message appeared indicating that the feature is yet to be implemented. This was disappointing because the correlation between network and application data is important in troubleshooting performance issues.
| ROLLING REVIEW DETAILS: |
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FEATURED PRODUCT: Sniffer InfiniStream Platform with AppIntel Intelligence Module & Visualizer Sniffer Platform; Starts at $17,000, $67,000 as tested ABOUT THIS ROLLING REVIEW: Application performance management products are being tested at our Real-World Labs at Windward Consulting Group. We're assessing the breadth of support for existing applications, how well the product detects and reports on performance problems, how well the architecture supports distributed application performance monitoring, and whether the software supports a tiered architecture with native high-availability and failover capabilities. We'll also explore how well the offering detects the true performance issue and how seamlessly it integrates with the surrounding environment. ALREADY TESTED: Indicative. NetIQ, NetQoS, Compuware, Nimsoft, Quest See all the APM Rolling Reviews here. NEXT UP: Next on deck will be BMC's ProactiveNet, followed by Symantec OTHER VENDORS INVITED: CA/Wily, HP/Mercury, EMC/SMARTS, IBM, Infovista, NetScout, Oracle and ProactiveNet |
Michael Biddick and Kundan Bapat are with Windward Consulting Group, a firm that helps organizations improve it operational efficiency. Biddick is also a contributing editor for Network Computing/InformationWeek. Write to him at [email protected].
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