* Network General’s Sniffer Portable 4.8
Network General last week released an upgraded version of its Sniffer Portable network protocol analysis tool that the company says offers network managers more protocol decodes and packet-filtering options.
Sniffer Portable 4.8 is a software troubleshooting tool that when loaded onto a laptop and connected to a network “sniffs” traffic for IP and application protocols and inspects packets to determine the cause of network and application performance problems. Sniffer Portable can be toted to a location to search for specific problems quickly or connected to a network and left for a period of time to collect data.
The company added real-time decode capabilities that Network General says will allow network managers to see a summary or detailed view of data while continuing to capture data.
“The real-time decodes can let customer see what is affecting critical business applications now, not only after the fact,” says Nina Seth, product marketing manager.
Portable 4.8 includes Network General’s Expert Analysis technology, which Seth explains enables the software to watch for certain events to happen and then determine if the events are a symptom of a bigger problem. If the software identifies the events to be symptoms, it triggers an alarm and can help explain to network managers what caused the alarm and suggest potential fixes.
Network General also added filtering capabilities to let network managers search for problems based on more specific criteria. For example, Seth says often network managers need to search for problems that occurred on a specific day or at a specific time. Enhanced filtering capabilities in Version 4.8 address that need. This release can also analyze converged voice-data networks and wireless traffic that uses IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b or 802.11g.
Network General competes with Network Instruments and Wild Packets with its Sniffer products.
Sniffer Portable comes in three flavors: Sniffer Portable LAN, Sniffer Portable WAN and Sniffer Portable Field Service Suite. Available now, Sniffer Portable 4.8 starts at about $9,000 and ranges up to $20,000.
