Network Instruments Sets New Performance Management Standards With Observer 14

Management platform ensures application uptime with auto-baselining, solution-centric workflows; expands NetFlow visibility with new GigaStor NetFlow Agent

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Network Instruments®, a worldwide leader in network and application performance management, today announced the release of Observer® 14, its upgraded performance management platform.

Developed in response to customer demand, the release focuses on the most challenging problems network teams face in quickly identifying and resolving application issues before they impact users. Observer redefines the way engineers manage performance by greatly reducing investigation time and providing a more intuitive approach to problem solving.

The platform also recognizes the growing role network teams play in ensuring application uptime by increasing its in-depth support of critical applications, as well as allowing companies to maximize the value of their NetFlow monitoring applications by expanding their visibility.

Observer 14 features include:

• Auto-Baselining: baseline for all performance and time-based metrics
• New Solution-Focused Workflows: reduce mean time to repair with user-defined investigations
• Expanded Application Transaction Analysis: in-depth application details for troubleshooting
• New GigaStor(TM) NetFlow Agent: export NetFlow data from any point on the network
• Unified Communications: robust support and analysis for secure VoIP (SRTP)
  

"The largest challenge network teams face is identifying the cause of performance problems," said Jim Frey, research director of Enterprise Management Associates. "With every minute that the network or applications are down, businesses can lose millions of dollars. Key to ensuring that application uptime and quality of experience are meeting expectations is the ability to detect problems before they impact users. Solutions like Observer that provide high-level performance monitoring together with a seamless path to problem resolution are essential to a proactive performance management strategy."

Auto-Baselining for Performance Management

Observer's auto-baselining enables engineers to identify and respond to performance problems before they impact the user. The platform automatically establishes baselines for all performance and time-based metrics. Network teams can quickly determine if application delivery and performance is acceptable based on current and past network's traffic patterns.

"Our clients are often consumed by user calls reporting perceived network problems," said Jeff Parker, president of OpenWater Solutions. "Being able to auto-baseline performance to identify critical deviations allows us to take a more proactive approach to network management. Rather than waiting on a call, we can resolve the problem as soon as the performance graphs turn yellow. This saves us time and, more important, minimizes business interruptions."

Solution-Focused Workflows

Observer 14 offers a new approach to tracking and investigating performance problems. Traditionally, for every network or application issue the network engineer is forced to navigate through the same investigation path as dictated by their analysis software. Rather than having to follow a set process to find relevant data, the network team can use Observer Reporting Server to take the shortest route to resolution.

Application Transaction Analysis

In managing application performance, network engineers need to determine whether application delivery occurred on time and if the content was delivered successfully. Observer's Application Transaction Analysis does both. Engineers can verify delivery and diagnose specific application failures.

In Observer 14, all application protocols provide greater error and transaction details. In addition, greater support and analysis for Citrix, DHCP, LDAP, and VoIP (H.323/225, H.323/245, H323/RAS, Megaco H.248, SCCP (Cisco Skinny), and SIP) have been added.

GigaStor NetFlow Agent

Although leveraging NetFlow is popular for performance management, most NetFlow agents are limited to routed traffic. The new GigaStor NetFlow Agent allows engineers to utilize NetFlow data about any device in any environment. GigaStor captures and converts packets into NetFlow data flows, pushing it out to multiple destinations simultaneously. This is especially valuable for Network Behavior Anomaly Detection (NBAD) and compliance monitoring applications.

Managing Unified Communications

"A substantial portion of our customers depend upon Observer for monitoring and optimizing VoIP and unified communications," said Douglas Smith, president and co-founder of Network Instruments. "The newest release provides several new features that make managing and troubleshooting these applications even easier."

To protect against unauthorized review of corporate phone conversations, many organizations have implemented VoIP with secure RTP streams. However, encrypting VoIP severely limits the monitoring and troubleshooting of call problems. Observer 14 now provides call quality metrics on SRTP without impacting the security of the traffic.

Another difficulty engineers can have is analyzing and troubleshooting VoIP issues when call components are split among multiple captures. Observer solves this issue by combining separate independent captures into a single view for analysis. The latest version also expanded in-depth, application-specific support and analysis for a variety of VoIP protocols.

Product Pricing

Observer Expert, with expanded application analysis and robust VoIP support, is available for $2,895. Observer Suite, with SNMP console and Web reporting, is available for $3,995. The Observer Reporting Server appliance begins at $25,000. The GigaStor begins at $16,995 for the 2 TB two-port configuration. Additional product information and more details on Observer 14 is available at www.networkinstruments.com.

About Network Instruments

Network Instruments, a leading provider of performance management and troubleshooting for fifteen years, helps organizations ensure the delivery of business-critical applications. The company's platform of management and reporting products provides comprehensive visibility into networks and applications to optimize performance, speed troubleshooting, and assist long-term capacity planning. Network Instruments achieved profitability in its first quarter and posted double-digit growth every year since its founding - without any external funding. Headquartered in Minneapolis, the company has sales offices worldwide and distributors in over 50 countries. For more information, please visit www.networkinstruments.com.

SOURCE Network Instruments