Response to RFP: Ipswitch

Network World Fusion, 08/23/99

Ipswitch, Inc is pleased to propose a comprehensive network monitoring and alerting solution that will meet all of Centralization Corporation’s needs—now and well into the future. The Ipswitch solution is based on our WhatsUp Gold product, which is currently available and which provides functionality that addresses each of the specific RFP requirements outlined below. For only $695 (regardless or how many devices or services are monitored), WhatsUp Gold provides an exceptional value when compared to its competition.

The rise of 24-hour dependence on the Internet and intranets for critical business services has created a need for near-perfect uptime, so more and more companies—like Centralization Corporation—are demanding greater accountability from their IT departments. Network Administrators need to know that their networks are "up and running," and that’s where a highly effective point solution like WhatsUp Gold - with its immediate notification and comprehensive reporting features - is unmatched. With over 5,000 units installed, we believe that your network administration staff will realize the same productivity gains that all of our customers enjoy.

 

How WhatsUp Gold Meets Centralization Corporation’s Requirements:

The following paragraphs provide a point-by-point response that indicates how WhatsUp Gold addresses each of Centralization Corporation’s specific requirements contained in the RFP

• Requirement 1: The solution must be capable of monitoring both the company's Intranet and Internet servers and devices on a 24-hour basis.

WhatsUp Gold provides 24 x 7 monitoring of servers and devices connected to TCP/IP networks found on the Internet and in corporate intranets. In fact, WhatsUp Gold supports a broad range of protocols commonly used in today’s networks. These include ICMP, TCP/IP, Net BIOS, IPX, and SNMP. ICMP provides the basic WhatsUp Gold mechanism for most Internet/intranet monitoring, while TCP/IP is used to monitor systems outside of firewalls that will not pass ICMP packets. NetBIOS support is provided for tracking the status of local Microsoft Windows networks, and IPX is used to monitor the critical file servers, print servers, and job servers at the heart of Novell NetWare LANs. For SNMP, WhatsUp Gold can be used to monitor whether SNMP is currently running on a network, receive and log SNMP traps, generate SNMP trap-related notifications, view SNMP information on network elements and graph selected SNMP values in real time.

• Requirement 2: 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.

WhatsUp Gold will monitor any server or device that is recognized on a TCP/IP network. These specifically include the routers, switches, and firewalls mentioned above in addition to other elements such as hosts, servers, workstations, bridges, hubs, LAN concentrators, printers and other devices. It will also monitor the RADIUS servers, web servers, SMTP/POP3 (email) servers, and DNS servers mentioned in the requirement through a combination of using standard, predefined service monitoring definitions and custom service monitoring capabilities that are built into the product. In addition, a special plug-in module provides extensive NT services monitoring with optional NT service restart capabilities.

• Requirement 3: 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.

WhatsUp Gold devices are arranged on graphical maps, and the user can define a basic polling frequency on a per-map basis. Individual device polling may then be specified in units or "multiples" of the basic polling period to provide the configurability needed. For example, the basic polling frequency for a map could be defined as once every 60 seconds, and the polling frequency for a specific device could be set to 5, which would result in a polling that device every 5 minutes.

• Requirement 4: The software should check to make sure each device or resource is functioning correctly, if a device fails, an alert should be sent immediately.

WhatsUp Gold normally polls each device by sending an ICMP packet to the device and waiting for a response. If a response is received before the user-specified timeout period, the device is considered to be "up and running." Monitoring of services is normally done using a more elaborate "handshaking" mechanism to ensure that the service is actually alive and functioning. In either case, if a device or service resource stops responding, WhatsUp Gold will immediately send out alerts.

• Requirement 5: 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.

When a device or service resource stops responding, WhatsUp Gold will immediately send out alerts to notify the necessary individuals remotely by beeper, pager, e-mail, or pre-recorded voice message. In addition, facilities are provided for specifying "Group Notifications," to ease the definition of response team members for specific situations. WhatsUp Gold also provides local alerts in the form of visual and audible alarms at the WhatsUp Gold console.

• Requirement 6: A nice feature for future expansion would be the ability to launch a custom application that could restart a service or execute a soft reboot of a device.

WhatsUp Gold presently provides a "Program Notification" feature that enables users to start up a custom application, restart a service, or execute a soft reboot of a device.

• Requirement 7: A detailed log file containing all device failures and alerts is required.
  

WhatsUp Gold provides extensive log file information and even lets users create reports based on the event data. WhatsUp Gold logs both application-level events (such as opening or closing a map) and device-specific events, such as a device or service down. Users can generate reports on the data or save the data to a tab-delimited format that can be imported to another application. In addition, detailed statistics reports for tracking device and service downtime and key performance data are also available.

 

Other Things That WhatsUp Gold Has To Offer:

• Ability to scale from small flat networks to large hierarchical networks with many subnets;
• Remote administration via the Web;
• Ability to run as an NT system service (for added security and improved availability;
• Multiple monitoring views of core network database with Web access to live network information from any browser, anytime;
• Sophisticated, object-oriented drawing tools for creating new network maps (including user-defined device types and icons for adding specialized devices);
• Extensible interface for implementing custom monitoring solutions based on Microsoft’s Component Object Model (COM) plug-in technology.

 

Ordering Information:

To Purchase Contact Ipswitch at:

Phone:(781) 676-5700
Fax:(781) 676-5710
e-mail: sales@ipswitch.com

Ipswitch, Inc.

81 Hartwell Avenue

Lexington, MA 02421-3127

Or visit our Web site: www.ipswitch.com

RFP and responses from other vendors

The RFP - See the RFP to which the vendors responded.

The responses:

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

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