Network Instruments
Vendor Profile - Network Instruments provides in-depth network intelligence and continuous network availability through innovative analysis solutions. Enterprise network professionals depend on Network Instruments’ Observer product line for unparalleled network visibility to efficiently solve network problems and manage deployments. By combining a powerful management console with high-performance analysis appliances, Observer simplifies problem resolution and optimizes network and application performance. The company continues to lead the industry in ROI with its advanced Distributed Network Analysis (NI-DNA™) architecture, which successfully integrates comprehensive analysis functionality across heterogeneous networks through a single monitoring interface. Network Instruments is headquartered in Minneapolis with sales offices worldwide and distributors in over 50 countries.
May 06, 2008
Monitoring and Managing VoIP (by Charles Thompson)
As with most new technologies, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) brings new challenges along with the benefits. The main challenge is VoIP’s extreme sensitivity to delay and packet loss compared with other network applications such as web and e-mail services. A basic understanding of VoIP traffic and of the quality metrics provided by VoIP monitoring tools will help you keep your VoIP network running smoothly.
Managing VoIP is similar to managing any other network application; VoIP differs only in its level of sensitivity to network delay. By keeping close tabs on delay, jitter, and packet loss, you can prevent network problems from becoming phone problems. Having a network analyzer that includes sophisticated VoIP analysis in your toolbox will makes this essential task much more manageable for the already overworked IT administrator.
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May 05, 2008
Network Intruments @ Interop Vegas 2008
Sam Wang is the Central Region Territory Manager for Network Instruments.
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March 31, 2008
Troubleshooting Hogs Bandwidth (by Steve Brown)
Between January and February 2008, we have communicated with 592 network engineers, IT directors, and CIOs scattered around North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America. In addition to being geographically diverse, the population was also evenly distributed among different sized networks. This study was a follow-up of a similar exercise we performed a year ago and the goal is to gauge the changing attitudes and concerns of network professionals, to calculate the average time spent by an IT staff troubleshooting network problems, and to determine adoption rates of new technologies and topologies.
What we have learned from this global survey is that despite the many new tools for monitoring and optimizing application performance, almost 75 percent of network professionals continue to cite “identifying the source of a problem” as their primary troubleshooting concern, marking a 25 percent increase from 2007. Performance problems are also on the rise with over two-thirds of respondents spending at least 25 days per year determining the cause of these issues.
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March 28, 2008
Fallon Clinic on Network Instruments
"I have been able to cut troubleshooting down from about five hours ... to merely minutes."-- Hamid Ali, Network Engineer, Fallon Clinic
Customer Profile - Founded in 1929 by Dr. John Fallon and a team of local physicians, Fallon Clinic was central Massachusetts’ first group practice. As one of the most dynamic and progressive health care organizations in the country today, Fallon Clinic continues to achieve some of the highest quality of care ratings in the country. They are leaders in health care delivery innovation, transforming patient care paradigms, and establishing a new “gold standard” in patient care service. With more than 250 physicians practicing in nearly 30 locations, Fallon Clinic provides comprehensive care for more than one million patient visits a year, and is the largest private, multi-specialty group in central Massachusetts.
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March 24, 2008
Network Analysis, Going Retro (by William McClain)
While network complexity and bandwidth demands continue to increase, applications such as VoIP increase performance requirements. Now more than ever, network administrators require versatile monitoring and analysis tools to quickly troubleshoot business-critical operations and monitor security and compliance. In this environment, Retrospective Network Analysis (RNA) tools that let you go “back in time” to reconstruct a failure or attack can offer distinct advantages over analysis tools that only operate in real time.
Whereas traditional protocol analyzers have evolved over time, adding features and capabilities in a natural progression, RNA has proved a different type of innovation: it is a true paradigm shift in network monitoring, security, and analysis technology. Many organizations currently use RNA technology to provide better service and improved security to their customers and employees in a way that saves both time and money.
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March 12, 2008
Managing Application Performance (by Charles Thompson)
Ensuring timely access to business-critical application servers is what justifies having a network (and an IT staff) in the first place. To effectively manage application performance means measuring how well key components of the IT infrastructure are performing over time, and identifying and efficiently correcting deficiencies before they affect your business.
This paper defines application analysis, discusses the different categories of tools on the market, and concludes that a network analyzer with built-in application analysis features is the most flexible, cost-effective solution. Even if your organization has already invested in expensive, dedicated application performance management frameworks, a network analyzer with expert application analysis capabilities remains a must-have item in the administrator’s toolbox. For many organizations it is the only tool required. This is because no other tool presents the level of detail about individual transactions that is often necessary for solving problems.
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March 10, 2008
AAA East Central on Network Instruments
“Observer is like having an employee on site at all hours to manage the network. We’ve been very satisfied with its capabilities. So far Observer has prevented us from experiencing any downtime.”-- Portia Ulinski, CIO, AAA East Central
Customer Profile - Since its founding in 1902 as the American Automobile Association, AAA is an association of independent clubs that serve as an advocate for the motorist and traveler. It has fought motorists’ legislative battles, protected them against unduly restrictive legislation, and worked against harsh and unjust prosecutions. With more than 48 million members, AAA is well respected for its credibility and integrity and known primarily for providing emergency road service, maps and travel publications. AAA East Central has 56 local offices and 1,500 employees serving the combined area of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York.
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February 14, 2008
Monitoring for Compliance and Troubleshooting (by Steve Brown)
Stephen Brown is the Product Marketing Manager for Network Instruments with nearly a decade of experience in network management and security. Steve is also the head geek in charge of their company blog, Network Observations. Steve likes to "get his geek on" anything network security related, VoIP stuff, and anything music and biking related (the kind that requires push power).
The primary tasks of troubleshooting and compliance investigations are: 1) identifying a problem or violation, and 2) drilling down on the issue to determine what happened and why. The job of problem identification has been complicated by increased traffic and applications running on the network.
Investigations are often like finding a needle in a haystack. The aforementioned added traffic only increases the haystack’s size. And, monitoring large amounts of traffic over multiple locations means the organization has to search multiple haystacks. Once the problem location is identified, network professionals need to investigate at a granular level within a specific haystack to identify the needle. For compliance this means identifying all details around the violation, and in the case of troubleshooting being able to review specific performance metrics and run packet-level analysis.
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February 11, 2008
CBOE on Network Instruments
"In the financial industry, losing any data is a big deal. That's why we use Observer Expert and GigaStor to ensure we see everything."-- John Rittner, Network Manager, CBOE
Customer Profile - The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) is one of the world's largest options exchanges with an annual trade of over 450 million options contracts, covering more than 1200 companies, 50 stock indexes, and 50 exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The exchange was established in 1973, when it created and listed the first exchange-listed standardized stock options. The CBOE is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its options contracts are cleared by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). As of 2007 the Wall Street Journal estimates that, globally, the market capitalization of the derivatives markets exceeds 450 trillion dollars.
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February 01, 2008
CI Travel on Network Instruments
“So far, Observer's VoIP capabilities has helped cut CI Travel's phone bill by about 25 to 30 percent.”-- Paul Ingram, IT Director, CI Travel
Customer Profile - CI Travel is an employee-owned $170 million travel service company with over thirty-five years of experience providing high quality travel service to government agencies, corporations, and leisure travelers. CI Travel is by far the areaâs number one agency for tours, cruises, and custom travel packaging and has been recognized by both Travel Weekly and Business Travel News as one of the top travel companies in the country. The company has 212 employee/owners at 32 branch offices in 10 states and the District of Columbia.
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January 17, 2008
Alstom on Network Instruments
“Observer is in a league of its own. Its combined distributed architecture, remote analysis capabilities, powerful features and functionality provide for a more comprehensive tool than any other product--all for a very sensible cost.”-- Chris Reynolds, Network Manager, ALSTOM
Customer Profile - ALSTOM (formerly GEC-Alsthom) is a large French multinational conglomerate whose businesses are power generation, railway signalling; and manufacturing trains (e.g. the TGV and Eurostar as well as Citadis trams) and the world's largest ships (e.g. Normandie and the Queen Mary 2). In the years 2006/07, Alstom had annual sales of over €14 billion, and employed more than 69,000 people in over 70 countries. Its headquarters are located in Levallois-Perret, near Paris.
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December 17, 2007
Select Comfort on Network Instruments
“The knowledge and insight provided by Observer is priceless. How can I quantify how much money and time we’ve potentially saved by locating rogue access points? Observer ensured our data wasn’t susceptible to hackers - I can’t tell you how much that is worth.”-- Christian Wilson, Network Administrator, Select Comfort
Customer Profile - Creators of the revolutionary Sleep Number® bed, the Select Comfort Corporation is the nation’s leading bed retailer, holding 26 U.S. issued or pending patents for its personalized sleep products. The company designs, manufactures and markets a line of adjustable firmness mattresses featuring air-chamber technology, as well as foundations and sleep accessories. Select Comfort products are sold through its 368 retail stores nationwide, including 13 leased departments in Bed Bath & Beyond stores, through selected bedding retailers and through its national direct marketing operations.
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November 29, 2007
NEC Unified Solutions on Network Instruments
“After looking at three other vendors, I determined that the Network Instruments GigaStor Portable and GOSS appliances were the best solutions for NEC.”-- Ivan McDuffie, Area Engineering Manager, NEC Unified Solutions
Customer Profile - NEC Unified Solutions is a subsidiary of NEC Corporation of America and a global leader in VoIP, data, and unified communications solutions. For the last two years, Gartner has ranked NEC No. 1 in worldwide enterprise telephony market share. The company offers wireless, unified communications, voice, and data management services for enterprise and small to medium businesses with additional emphasis on the healthcare, hospitality, education, and government markets. NEC Unified has approximately 1,400 employees in 32 offices around the United States. NEC Corporation in Japan is a Global 500 company with more than 100 years of history and over 150,000 employees. The company has annual revenues of $40 billion.
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November 9, 2007
Central DuPage Hospital on Network Instruments
“Being without GigaStor and Observer Expert and trying to locate the cause of a problem would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack in the dark.”-- Jack King, Director of IT, Central DuPage Hospital
Customer Profile - Central DuPage Hospital (CDH) is a nationally recognized 361-bed facility located in Winfield, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. It is the third most active hospital in Illinois performing total joint replacements. CDH is a leading center for surgical innovations and was one of the first institutions in the nation to offer robotic-assisted surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery with bio-engineered bone protein and was the first Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in DuPage County. Recently, CDH was recognized by U.S. News & World Report on the list of Best Hospitals in the orthopaedics category. CDU is part of an interdependent network of health-care organizations and services, including convenient care centers, occupational health services and a full range of options for senior living, home health and hospice care.
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November 8, 2007
How to Start a Company Blog with No Money Down (by Steve Brown)
Stephen Brown is the Product Marketing Manager for Network Instruments with nearly a decade of experience in network management and security. Steve is also the head geek in charge of their company blog, Network Observations. Steve likes to "get his geek on" anything network security related, VoIP stuff, and anything music and biking related (the kind that requires push power).
Being a marketing guy for a medium-sized IT company (although I’d like to think we are a major player – no one is going to confuse us for Cisco or Symantec), blogging gets us out there in front of new readers. Having a smaller budget than an IT giant, blogging allows me to be more nimble for less money. I can also get in touch with my inner-geek. I like to think of myself as a PR ninja with really thick nerd glasses (you can just hear the ladies beating down my door).
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September 26, 2007
Aardman Animations on Network Instruments
“No other vendor could touch Network Instruments Observer software for its combination of breadth of functionality and affordability.”-- Howard Arnault-Ham, Head of IT, Aardman Animations
Customer Profile - Aardman Animation has a thriving CGI department and has produced Oscar®-winning films, T.V. commercials, and even music videos, such as Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer. The company, based in Bristol (UK) and co-founded and run by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is a world leader in animation. It produces feature films, television series and television commercials for both the domestic and international market. Their multi-award winning productions are novel, entertaining, brilliantly characterized and full of charm that reflects the unique talent, energy and personal commitment of the very special people who make up the Aardman team. The studio’s work is often imitated, yet the company continues to lead the field producing its rare brand of visually stunning and amusing independent and commercial productions.
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August 27, 2007
Weather Services on Network Instruments
“All I have to do is pull up the response times and follow the conversation to see if the problem is on our end or whether the customer just has a slow Internet connection. Many times the problem is on the customer’s end. [Network Instruments'] Observer helps me immediately address the situation and provide superior service to our clients.”-- Jeff Larkham, Senior Communications Specialist, Weather Services International
Customer Profile - Weather Services International (WSI) is the leading weather service provider in the world. Many industries depend on WSI for weather reports in order to protect consumers and help re-align business practices. The network supports hundreds of users across the United States and the United Kingdom, many of whom are meteorologists.
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August 1, 2007
Jack-in-the-Box on Network Instruments
“With [Network Instruments'] Observer, instead of throwing bandwidth at our network every time we had congestion problems, we’ve been able to take our existing capacity and make it more efficient.”-- Jim Antoshak, Manager Network Support, Jack in the Box, Inc.
Customer Profile - With over 44,000 employees and serving over half a billion customers in 30 states, Jack in the Box, Inc. is among the nation’s leading fast-food hamburger chains. Founded in 1951, the company operates and franchises over 1,900 Jack in the Box restaurants, over 100 Qdoba Mexican Grill restaurants and also owns about a dozen proprietary Quick Stuff convenience stores.
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