Vendors plan to use Interop this week to launch new and upgraded products designed to show how networks and applications affect each other.

Click here for the latest Interop 2005 news

Companies such as Allot Communications, Computer Associates and WildPackets are expected to showcase products that perform packet analysis, monitor traffic and measure end-user experience with Web applications. The announcements could be considered part of a growing trend, industry watchers say, as IT managers demand tools that help them understand how the network enables application performance.

"The whole notion of understanding the application flow is directly related to performance over the network, which is different than traditional application management tools that took a systems-centric approach," says Dennis Drogseth, a vice president with Enterprise Management Associates. "Factors such as modular applications on distributed networks, Web services and services-oriented architectures are driving the network and application performance to become more and more intertwined."

For its part, Allot is introducing the NetEnforcer AC-1040, an appliance that sits in front of a router and monitors traffic leaving the LAN and traversing the WAN.

The device will help companies monitor all Internet and WAN traffic going out to remote locations to determine the source of performance degradations, the company says. The product provides statistics on the top application talkers, identifies unnecessary bandwidth hogs and offers insight into unauthorized applications, such as peer-to-peer traffic, which can cause network bottlenecks. Set to be available later this month, the AC-1040 is priced at about $42,000.

Allot also will be showcasing the AC-1040's integration with Computer Associates' Unicenter systems management software (see graphic). CA, which recently beefed up its network management offerings by acquiring Concord Communications, will use the integration with Allot's appliance to help customers better analyze VoIP, CRM and other such WAN application traffic via Unicenter. The integration points between the two products will be available in the next release of Unicenter, which has yet to be announced.

Also at Interop, WildPackets plans to unveil OmniPeek Voice, software that incorporates distributed VoIP analysis into its LAN and WAN packet-sniffing troubleshooting and analysis tool. The voice component works with WildPackets' Omni3 offering, which includes console software, as well as distributed software engines on other servers across a network.