Centralization Corp. is looking for a comprehensive network monitoring and alerting solution. The current network is run by a team of very busy network administrators and troubleshooters. A solution is needed that will help free up some of their personnel resources. One of the primary things that would save a lot of time is an automated system for checking the status of every device on the network and sending alerts via page or email if something isn't working correctly.
INS is pleased to respond to Centralization Corporation's request for proposal. Our comprehensive network and application performance monitoring solution, VitalSuite, provides superior visibility into the performance and availability of business transactions and applications as well as network elements.
VitalSuite helps network managers save time and work smarter by focusing attention on problems that affect the mission of the business. By helping network managers prioritize problems based on the affected business processes, VitalSuite can help ensure that Centralization Corp. is spending its time wisely.
VitalAnalysis, the business transaction and application performance monitoring component of the VitalSuite product family, provides at-a-glance SLA violation reports for all monitored applications and business transactions. By providing highly condensed information about the health of business transactions and applications, VitalAnalysis makes it easy to identify and focus in on problem areas that may be consuming valuable time and resources. (VitalAnalysis prices start at $16,000 for a 100 seat license)
VitalHelp, the real-time event monitoring component of the VitalSuite family, generates alerts when a business transaction or application fails or experiences performance degradation. These alerts are sent to a central server where events are correlated and displayed. This server can then forward a filtered or unfiltered list of alerts via SMTP mail, via SNMP, or via a two-way gateway into Remedy ARS. The help desk gets advance warning of network and application problems, allowing them to respond proactively and resolve events before a complaint is ever logged. (VitalHelp prices start at $19,000 for a 100 seat license)
Unlike VitalAnalysis and VitalHelp, which focus on business transaction and application monitoring, the EnterprisePRO component of VitalSuite focuses on the health of the network and its physical elements. EnterprisePRO monitors physical layer network devices and links via SNMP, RMON, and RMON II, generating SNMP alarms when a monitored device violates a user-defined performance SLA. (EnterprisePRO prices start at $41,000 for 100 devices)
However, there are several requirements that must be met before such a system can be implemented. The solution must be capable of monitoring both the company's Intranet and Internet servers and devices on a 24-hour basis.
The VitalSuite solutions monitor business transactions, applications, and network elements and links from the end user's perspective. Lightweight, intelligent software agents running on every Win32-compliant desktop report historical trending information to the VitalAnalysis server and real time alarms to the VitalHelp server.
EnterprisePRO monitors network elements and links via SNMP, RMON, and RMON II. Intelligent links between the various VitalSuite components ¾ VitalAnalysis, VitalHelp and EnterprisePRO ¾ provide an efficient work flow for diagnosing and resolving problems from the Application layer down to the Physical layer.
The software should be able to continuously monitor the company's routers, switches, firewalls, remote access servers, RADIUS servers, web servers, SMTP/POP3 (email) servers, DNS servers and Microsoft Windows NT server functions.
EnterprisePRO continuously monitors network elements and links and reports performance issues immediately. VitalAnalysis and VitalHelp monitor business transactions, applications, and the end-to-end path(s) that applications use. Performance problems and failures are reported immediately, while trending information is captured to help identify potential issues before they occur.
The software's polling interval for each device should be configurable by the administrators, as some devices are critical to the network and should be checked on a very regular basis. Other devices need to be checked much less frequently.
VitalAnalysis and VitalHelp passively monitor business transactions and applications on a continuous basis. There is no polling involved. By passively monitoring the TCP/IP flows (using INS' patented passive flow analysis technology) and applying intelligent fault detection and alarming (using INS' patented root cause analysis technology), VitalSuite provides a continuous measure of business transaction, application, and end-to-end path health on a per-client basis.
EnterprisePRO periodically polls SNMP, RMON, and RMON-II elements in the network infrastructure. This polling interval is user configurable down to a two-minute period.
The software should check to make sure each device or resource is functioning correctly, if a device fails, an alert should be sent immediately. At a minimum, the alerts should consist of a page being sent, either in alphanumeric or simple numeric format as well as an email being forwarded to the IT team.
The VitalSuite components monitor business transaction, application and network element performance and reports immediately when a monitored parameter exceeds a user-defined threshold. Alerts are sent in real time via SNMP or SMTP mail. The mail system or fault management system may then send a page.
A detailed log file containing all device failures and alerts is required.
VitalHelp keeps a continuous log of all network and application failures. The failure log may be purged automatically, or logged events may be retained indefinitely. In addition to providing a simple log, VitalHelp appends the results of real-time diagnostic tests to the log entry. Detailed descriptions of the reported problem and suggested solutions are also linked to the log entry. The log of failures provides a dynamic link to a real time test facility that allows help desk personnel to run tests from any monitored desktop. The test results are returned to the help desk console, eliminating the need to dispatch personnel to the user site.
RFP and responses from other vendors
The RFP - See the RFP to which the vendors responded.
The responses:
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Avtech Dartmouth INS Ipswitch Knozall |
Loran MediaHouse NextPoint RGE Ripple |
RiverSoft (in Word format) Tally Systems Tavve Tessler |
RELATED LINKS
The RFP and responses from other vendors
Review and buyer's guide: Network monitoring and alerting
An in-depth look at several apps; database of detailed specs on 46 tools; and a forum on the technology.
