ClearSight offers both stand-alone and distributed versions of its Analyzer product. The distributed version allows for multiple sites to be simultaneously monitored, either individually or in aggregate, a condition that earned it high marks in the deployment category.
Analyzer’s interface is intuitive and unique, displaying more network activity in one place by default than any other product tested. In addition, it is designed for drilling down to greater detail, without opening multiple separate windows in a desktop-type interface. The tool’s default interface displays a summary graphic view of all active and nonactive protocol sessions on the network.
The VoIP protocols tracked by ClearSight include Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Skinny Call Control Protocol (SCCP), H.323, Megaco, Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), to name a few. Unknown protocols are displayed in a generic traffic category. The default navigation tabs include summary, detailed and combined-flow views.
Its reporting for monitoring and threshold responses is generally very good. We did have difficulty in detecting a duplex mismatch between sites at the router/switch level. That aside, Analyzer excelled in its ability to monitor our test network and was able to perform all the diagnostic tasks we required of it.
What distinguished the performance of this product was its ability to provide the administrator with the top-level information and then to drill down into and fix a reported problem. For example, in a summary view, the RTP traffic report can be used to display the detail of the RTP stream, playback any captured file, codec and/or call-quality detail without losing the visual or logical context of the tool navigation.
ClearSight Analyzer stands very strong on the scope of the audio and video codecs it can recognize and analyze, and also the ability to assess mean opinion scores through generated, simulated traffic and by monitoring actual user traffic.
In addition, Clearsight’s Real Time ladder-view with TCP/IP and application-anomaly detection makes it easy to make changes and see the effect of the change without recapturing and recomparing traffic.
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