* NetQoS, Nexvu release application performance management appliances
NetQoS last week upgraded its application performance management software just in time to compete with Nexvu Technologies’ offering, which performs similar functions.
NetQoS announced SuperAgent 5, which the company says can monitor application and transaction response times from an end-user perspective. The product first sets baselines of how network managers want applications to perform for end users, helping them to establish more accurate service-level agreements (SLA). And then it checks actual performance against that specified in the SLAs.
“We are working to take the network out of the picture to see how is the data center performing, the applications, the servers, and so on,” says Michael Magri, SuperAgent product manager. “We already track transaction time, but this new feature helps us measure it and develop accurate averages.”
SuperAgent comes packaged as an appliance with embedded software. Network managers install the appliance to collect traffic flow and packet data on or near a switch. NetQoS also includes a management console from which network managers can administer multiple appliances. The centralized console correlates data collected from disparate appliances to help speed problem identification and time to repair.
NetQoS’ SuperAgent 5 is available now, and pricing starts around $35,000.
Separately, Nexvu last week updated its Application Performance Analyzer 2.1. The company says its product does more than monitor application availability.
“We measure the usability of an application,” says Rory Herriman, Nexvu CTO. “Usability comprises availability, along with performance and consistency of that performance.”
The company’s appliance, also embedded with software, uses flow-based packet interrogation to recognize what applications are running in an environment and how the environment affects application performance. The appliance is typically deployed between a router and a switch via a tap or a span port.
The software installed on the appliance uses rules-based metrics to identify potential problems with application performance. The product sees all information in multiple protocols traversing the network, which Herriman says is why the data traveling in and out of the box is fully encrypted with a two-stage authentication process. The appliance acts as a collecting agent and feeds data to the Nexvu Command Center, centralized server software.
Available now, pricing for Nexvu Application Performance Analyzer 2.1 begins around $14,000 for the average user, depending on network configuration.
