Concord tool reports net errors, snags

MARLBOROUGH, MASS. - Trying to zero in on problem spots in networks and systems isn't always easy, but Concord Communications this week will try to give network managers a hand when it unveils a new reporting capability.

The Top N Reports function for Concord's Network Health monitoring software shows which servers, routers or other networked elements have the highest utilization rates or the most errors. Previously, Network Health reported only on trends for individual pieces of equipment.

In the past, exception reports were the only way to find problem areas through Network Health, says Reinhard Pfaffinger, principal operations engineer at USWeb. "Now I've got a snapshot of who's using the most bandwidth and generating the most errors," he says.

USWeb is beta-testing Top N and uses it internally to isolate which of the firm's frame relay links are most heavily used. USWeb plans to provide this in-formation to its customers through daily e-mail reports or updates to a Web site.

Top N lets network managers measure a host of variables, including indicators such as disk activity on servers, CPU utilization on routers, or discarded frames per second on WAN ports.

The customization is key, says Kathrin Winkler, principal consultant at Renaissance Worldwide. The network manager responsible for watching disk space could be different from the one whose job it is to track overall server availability. "Each operator has his own perspective," she says.

Concord also responded to a report issued last month by The Tolly Group and commissioned by rival Tavve Software. The report said that Network Health was unable to detect a brief server outage or determine the root cause of a network failure, while Tavve's product did both.

Concord's software isn't intended to issue alarms when servers go down, points out Kevin Conklin, vice president of marketing at Concord. Network Health should be used to measure server uptime over a longer period, while tools from Hewlett-Packard, Micromuse or Systems Management Arts should be used to pinpoint specific problems, he says.

Top N Reports will be part of Network Health 4.5, scheduled to ship next month. Network Health runs on Solaris, HP-UX and Windows NT.