- Is the Cisco MARS mission going to abort?
- First iPhone worm spreads Rick Astley wallpaper
- 10 stunning 3D buildings made with Google SketchUp
- Open source software ready for big business
- Four reasons to buy (and one reason to avoid) the Droid
Unless you lived it, it sounds a lot like a fable. But once upon a time, under IBM's System Network Architecture, IT systems had real end-to-end visibility and traffic control. If you listen to the vendor claims, it would seem as if we've regained that ability in today's IP-based networks.
While application performance management (APM) point products certainly are getting better, the reality is that there is no single end-to-end solution today. Furthermore, there are no products that operate at Layer 7, the application layer. Lack of industry cooperation leaves customers struggling to piece together a comprehensive solution.
Still, there are technologies that bring immediate value and therefore are worth the effort. Here's a sampling of some of the more interesting and effective application management products on the market.
The foundation for application performance starts in the data center, where an organization must have a solid application infrastructure. This includes operational and performance management, which can be challenging in a multi-tiered application environment.
There are many point products focused on elements of the application infrastructure, but the requirement today is to manage the multiplexed dependencies between hardware, network, operating systems and applications.
To help customers understand the interdependencies associated with these complex application infrastructures, companies such as Collation and Relicore have introduced products that assist in organizing resources logically in relation to the applications they support.
Taking this to the next level, Vieo addresses information gathering, problem resolution and control of application performance in one appliance. The company collects data on the physical and logical resources needed to develop not only a logical view of resource relationships, but also how various applications consume resources.
Vieo's instrumentation also provides an in-depth view of how the interaction of services within resources enable or impede system vs. element performance. The system also can make real-time adjustments to align resources to meet performance goals based on defined polices.
Many vendors have found that companies don't have the basic information to understand what problem needs to be solved or how to stay in step with the fast-changing dynamics of the network environment.
Many companies obtain broad system information from alternative sources, but then need to analyze it and convert that knowledge into specific configurations for their management tools. control products.To fill the gap, Corvil has a network performance appliance that obtains detailed network flow information and conveys it to users in a context that helps let network managers adjust their control settings. The product's initial focus is on Cisco quality-of-service configurations to help companies analyze their networks, make specific configuration recommendations, then analyze those changes and make further recommendations. The next step would be to automate this process. While many IT groups are quite reluctant to allow unattended or automated configuration changes, the dynamics of system behavior eventually will make this standard operating procedure.
Partner Content
Blue Stripe Software
www.bluestripe.com/
Improving Application Performance Troubleshooting
Diagnosing why an application is slow is hard, at times taking days or weeks to isolate and resolve. This paper explains the challenges involved using current management tools, provides a 'wish list' for application management and analysis, and explains the need for an application system-wide approach that monitors entire applications, not components.
Download Whitepaper
Virtual Vigilance: Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments
This paper highlights the impact of virtualization on application performance. "Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments" states: "Best-in-Class organizations are predominately taking actions around improving visibility across both physical and virtual systems, assessing the business impact of application performance and understanding interdependencies of applications in virtualized environments."
Download Whitepaper
Application Service Requests: The Missing Link for Pragmatic ITSM
Forrester Research analyst Glenn O'Donnell and BlueStripe co-founder Vic Nyman discuss a breakthrough approach to application problem management. Learn the new approach for ITSM problem management, which provides: Rapid isolation of application slow-downs to specific components for quick problem resolution, 24/7 monitoring for proactive notification of potential issues before end users are impacted and much more.
Register for Webcast
Comment