3Com today announced the next generation of its DynamicAccess software for network interface cards.
3Com's new DynamicAccess Network Performance Manager (NPM) is a stand-alone network management tool that lets IS managers identify and resolve network, systems and application issues in client/server environments and high-speed switched networks.
NPM works with another new 3Com product called DynamicAccess LAN Agent 2.0. LAN Agent 2.0 can be remotely installed on PCs and servers to collect performance data for networked applications. NPM then aggregates and analyzes this data from all clients and servers across the enterprise.
DynamicAccess NPM features a Web-based interface that lets IS managers graphically look at the network, track the performance of applications and pinpoint bottlenecks.
NPM delivers real-time application response time monitoring, RMON/RMON2 management, system health monitoring and quality-of-service (QoS) traffic prioritization, 3Com says. It tracks end-to-end response times without requiring modifications to the actual application; delivers PC and server data, such as CPU utilization, hard disk space, system errors and available memory; and assigns priority tags to applications based on the application's executable name.
The latter capability is vital to managing applications that use dynamic port assignments, 3Com says.
NPM can function as a standard RMON/RMON2 probe for a variety of management applications, including 3Com's Transcend Traffix Manager, NetScout Manager and HP's NetMetrix. It also works with 3Com NICs, including those from 3Com rival Intel.
NPM 2.0 and DynamicAccess LAN Agent 2.0 are scheduled to ship in the third quarter. NPM runs on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and is priced at $10,995 per management server, which can support up to 3,000 clients/servers and 128 subnets, 3Com says.
DynamicAccess LAN Agent 2.0 supports clients and servers running Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.0 and is priced at $50 per seat.
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