* NetQoS, CA separately add traffic analysis
More traditional management vendors are looking to add traffic analysis components to their monitoring tools, touting the benefits of knowing application flows and digging into packet-level details.
Performance management vendor NetQoS recently acquired RedPoint Network Systems in a private deal and last week re-introduced its product, NetVoyant, now branded as a NetQoS product. NetQoS executives say the software will complement their current SuperAgent application performance analysis tool and ReporterAnalyzer packet-capture product. NetVoyant competes with products from HP, Concord, Lucent and InfoVista, according to John Catalano, former CEO of RedPoint and now senior product manager at NetQoS.
“The value we bring to NetQoS is the capability to really demonstrate network capacity and trend growth,” Catalano says. “Network operations staff can very quickly see where they stand using our baselines.”
NetVoyant uses polling software to collect performance data from network elements and application services and generate historical and trend reports. The software can determine network and device usage, prioritize problem resolution and help manage capacity growth for routers, servers and interfaces.
Available now, NetQoS’ NetVoyant starts at $40,000.
Meanwhile, Computer Associates, which recently acquired Concord to supposedly beef up its network management offerings (although increasing its customer base was probably another motive), will integrate with Allot Communications’ NetEnforcer AC-1040 appliance to give customers a picture of WAN application traffic via the Unicenter console.
“CA has always had a lot of vendors it has used to enhance its network management capabilities,” and this will let IT managers view WAN traffic analysis on applications such as voice over IP, CRM and Oracle, according to Dennis Drogseth, vice president at Enterprise Management Associates and co-author of Network World’s Network/Systems Management Newsletter.
NetEnforcer will also help Unicenter users better determine application usage among WAN users by drilling down through details on the Unicenter management console, CA says. The integration points between the two products will be available in the next release of Unicenter, which has yet to be announced.
Allot’s NetEnforcer AC-1040 is an appliance that sits in front of a router and monitors traffic leaving the local net and traversing the WAN. The new device will help large enterprise IT managers monitor all Internet and WAN traffic going out to branch offices and remote locations to determine the source of performance degradations, the company says. The product provides statistics on the top application talkers, targets bandwidth hogs and offers insight into unauthorized applications, such as peer-to-peer traffic, that might be causing bottlenecks on the links.
Set to be available later this month, the AC-1040 is priced at about $42,000.
