Hi, we are using ACE to solve all kind of problems in distributed, multi-tier environments.
Not only that analyzing transactions with ACE is much easier and faster compared to other tools, but the visualization capabilities are a great communication media to bring "networkers", application developers, server maintainers etc. to one round table to discuss the matter with pictures that everybody can understand.
Regards Frank

We are piloting Ace Live at the minute and are unsure yet as to whether it will do what we need it to do. We have an application on the network that has a history of intermittant performance issues. We need to know if it is something on the network that is causing the issues or if it is the application itself. The pilot has already proved that Ace Live can identify network issues quickly. I am not yet convinced of its ability to pinpoint application issues. If all it can tell me is, you have an application problem without actually steering me towards the source of the problem in the application then I would not be convinced to buy it. Any one have any experience or views in this area?

Working in a large regulated enterprise environment with a variety of Network Tools, we started using ACE Analyst a few years ago for profiling applications. The value that the product demonstrated resulted in quick expansion of the number of users due to it's superior troubleshooting capabilities. The ability to perform both a deep dive analysis, as well as generating high level reports (easily customizable) from the same tool has proved to be extremely valuable. ACE Analyst also is one of those rare applications that requires only a little bit of training and familiarity to get some value out of (with the use of Wizards and the aforementioned canned reports), but with some dedicated time and effort (and experience), you can unlock some of the amazing depth the program has.

We've only been using ACE-Live for less than a year, but it has proven far superior to the competetive product that it replaced that had been in our environment for 6+ years prior. We evaluated several different products, and ACE-Live stood out in not only it's technical capabilities, and ease of deployment (finding previously unknown problems within hours of going on the wire), but the flexibility and customizability of the tool as far as reporting and alerting (especially in the VoIP arena) is something that really is an enormous value add.

Any discussion of the value of ACE Analyst and ACE-Live is not complete without talking about the support that Opnet provides, which is truly what separates them from other vendors. In the years that we've been using their products, we've never had anything less than excellent support from their engineers, both in troubleshooting issues that arise during the usage of the tools, as well as in handling enhancement requests, and finding workarounds to our needs until the enhancements can make their way into the development cycle for the product. In addition, the training that Opnet provides for their products, both in person and online, is as good as any tech vendors we've used. The fact that this training is provided free for customers with active maintenance is a major plus in these tight budget times.

Regards,

A happy customer.

ACE live is okay, but not great. While it can dissect network performance from app performance, it stops there. It can't tell me if it's a DB issue or app server or web server issue. It works on an 'aggregate' basis, i.e. all transactions within 1 minute or 5 minute, but can't tell you "Betsy's order update request" transaction and why that is slow vs her print request transaction which worked fine. Ace Live gets you only so far but is limited. As to network problems, it can tell you "there was 15ms network transmission delay, and due to retransmissions" but it can't tell me on which network segment the retransmission were occurring. So at the end of the day, it identifies 'main source' of error, but stops there...I have to go to other tools to get to the final answer. Good at eliminating the finger-pointing between my server guys and app guys, but I can't put the blame squarely on the problem. So expect to spend more $$ for other tools to get the job done, and expect that you'll be hand-feeding data from one screen to another to correlate the information.

As to working with WAN acceleration devices, forget it. The devices render the metrics not very meaningful, as spoofing and packaging of the TCP connections by the optimization appliances render the ACE Live metrics not very usable. Unless you deploy live everywhere at the remote site, which costs more then just putting out another optimization box or upgrading the link, then you get client-side metrics but not the complete 'end-to-end' story that OpNet touts. Live for remote should be free - you pay enough for the product at the core data center. All in all I seem to have to revert back to my sniffers to get the job done.

Another product we use is NetQoS which we've used quite successfully, as it ties together all metrics, and is able to get to the source problem in an integrated format. The metrics NetQoS has for WAN optimization appliances are far more useful then ACE Live. Since NetQoS is backed by Cisco - you see close cooperation in network performance and we like the support NetQoS provides. They seem to be best-in-class in this category.

I am unable to get ACE live netflow monitoring software from anywhere.Please someone kindly guide me how to get the software.

Thanks and regards.
Sinthia.