Quick question: How’s your network? Typically, people don’t think about their company network until something goes wrong, and at that point, it’s already costing them time, money, and productivity. With network monitoring, on the other hand, organizations can proactively watch their network for issues or suspicious activity, helping keep productivity high and security strong.
Network monitoring is a critical tool for reliable, secure, and high-performing network operations, especially in today’s interconnected business environment. But what is network monitoring, what makes it so important, and how does it work? Let’s explore…
What is Network Monitoring?
Network monitoring is the process of observing an organization’s computer network, assessing and optimizing performance, and reporting any issues that arise. These issues could be anything from slow connection speeds to constant crashes, as any disruption is worth investigating and repairing.
The most common form of network monitoring is via network monitoring tools that constantly scan networks and notify administrators whenever there’s a problem. Many network monitoring solutions can also proactively address potential issues, preventing outages before they occur.
Why is Network Monitoring Critical for Network Performance and Security?
Network monitoring is vital for ensuring network reliability, security, and performance. Any network disruption can significantly reduce productivity, so detecting and mitigating potential issues before they cause disruptions helps improve business continuity.
Imagine you’re working in an IT department, and your server is being stretched to its limit. It begins to slow down as users demand more resources, and your network just can’t keep up. Without network monitoring, you wouldn’t realize there’s an issue until it’s too late – the server crashes and everyone connected loses their work, costing the company hours of productivity. With network monitoring, however, you can quickly identify the problem and take steps to mitigate it before anything crashes.
Similarly, if a device on the network is infected with malware, you’ll want to know before it accesses sensitive files or programs. Network monitoring software can spot the malware and alert you to it before anything of value is lost.
What are the Types of Network Monitoring?
Network monitoring is not a monolith. There are several different types of network monitoring, each focused on a different aspect of a business network. These include:
Network performance monitoring: tracking and monitoring latency, traffic, bandwidth, and other elements that impact network performance to reduce downtime and troubleshoot issues.
Fault monitoring: identifying faults in a computer network to reduce downtime and keep the network running smoothly.
Log monitoring: analyzing logs from network resources (such as servers and applications) to gain insights into activity and incidents.
Configuration monitoring: monitoring network configurations, including the software used in the network, to watch for inconsistencies and vulnerabilities.
Availability monitoring: monitoring the IT infrastructure for potential outages and unplanned downtime.
Access management monitoring: monitoring user access to watch for potential intruders trying to connect to network resources.
Application and services monitoring: monitoring the devices used to maintain network integrity to ensure they work properly.
How Does Network Monitoring Work?
Network monitoring is a process designed to collect and analyze network data in real-time. Typically, network monitoring follows these steps:
Identify devices: The first step is to determine what devices and networks should be monitored, as well as performance metrics to watch for.
Collect data: Use network monitoring tools, such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), to collect data, including the network metrics you need to track.
Monitor: A centralized monitoring system lets administrators track performance metrics and provides notifications for potential issues.
Troubleshoot: If the network monitoring system identifies a problem, it notifies the administrators so they can resolve issues before they arise.
Common Network Devices to Monitor
Step 1 raises an important question: what devices should you monitor? Every network features a wide array of devices and endpoints, so it helps to know which ones take priority.
Key components to monitor include:
Routers
Switches
Firewalls
Load balancers
Wireless access points
Servers
Network interface cards
Monitoring these enables you to identify potential issues and prevent disruptions before they occur, thus ensuring optimal network performance, security, and uptime.
Key Metrics and Protocols in Network Monitoring
Tracking metrics is an essential part of network monitoring, but it’s also important to know what metrics to track and why. Identifying key metrics will help ensure that you’re gaining accurate insights into your network’s performance and can spot any irregularities as they appear.
Network Monitoring Metrics
With that in mind, what are the network metrics you’ll want to monitor? The critical metrics for network monitoring include:
Bandwidth utilization: How much data is transmitted over a network in a given time? If data usage goes over a bandwidth threshold, the network will begin to suffer.
Uptime and availability: Does the network suffer from frequent, unexpected outages? Limited network availability will make it difficult for employees to work efficiently as they struggle with frequent disconnections.
Throughput: How many data packets make it through the network, and how many must be retransmitted? A low throughput rate indicates poor network connectivity and can slow down work significantly.
Latency: Is there any lag when transmitting data? High latency can slow business operations, disrupt communication, and even cause applications to crash.
Jitters: How long does it take for packets of data to be delivered across a network? Jitters are variations in delivery time, as smaller packets can encounter different issues that impact their delivery, and reducing jitters helps enable smooth data transfer and communications.
Packet loss: Are data packets lost or corrupted during transmission? Faulty software and congested networks can result in packet loss, where data is damaged while being transmitted, which is detrimental to efficiency, communication, and client satisfaction.
Tracking these metrics helps provide valuable insights into network health and performance. If any begin to fluctuate or show poor performance, that’s a sign that something’s gone wrong and must be addressed before it can cause too much damage.
Network Monitoring Protocols
Of course, these metrics don’t monitor themselves. Fortunately, there are key protocols used for monitoring metrics. These can help you track and gather data so you can monitor network devices and performance.
These protocols include:
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP): An Internet Standard protocol for managing and monitoring devices connected to IP networks.
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP): an Internet protocol suite used for reporting errors and management queries, typically utilized by network devices like routers to send error messages and information on operations.
NetFlow: a protocol that collects IP traffic statistics from interfaces going to and from enabled routers and switches.
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI): a subsystem that IT admins can use to manage data and operations on Windows operating systems, including automating administrative tasks and supplying data management to operating systems and products.
Each of these protocols is useful for monitoring networks and devices, as they gather data on performance, errors, and traffic to provide valuable insights.
Top Benefits of Network Performance Monitoring
With all the different devices, metrics, and protocols to consider, one might wonder why network monitoring is even worth the effort. Are the benefits truly worth it?
The answer is an emphatic “yes.” Network performance monitoring provides many benefits that can lead to better overall performance and cost savings, as it enables more efficient work, reduces downtime, and keeps business moving smoothly.
Benefits include:
Minimized downtime: Network monitoring helps IT teams identify potential interruptions and issues that could cause networks to crash. This keeps downtime at a minimum and ensures business continuity is uninterrupted.
Improved security: Network monitoring also helps organizations ensure their networks are secure. Network monitoring tools can identify potential threats and suspicious activity, helping cybersecurity teams spot bad actors and protect networks.
Enhanced network efficiency: Monitoring networks allows IT teams to spot and address issues causing slowdowns and crashes. This helps create a more efficient network environment, so employees can seamlessly work, collaborate, and access all the tools and information they need without interruption.
What to Look for in a Network Monitoring Tool?
Not all network monitoring tools provide the same features and uses, especially given the various types of monitoring. With that in mind, what should you look for in a network monitoring tool?
It helps to consider your business needs – what specific metrics will you need to track and what threats will you need to watch out for? Of course, while organizations will have different business needs, there are some features that are universally useful. These features will help organizations effectively manage their network performance:
Real-time alerts are essential for letting IT teams know when an issue needs to be addressed. They allow teams to be proactive, rather than reactive, and fix problems before they cause disruptions or stop attacks at their source.
Scalability is important for growing businesses. A scalable network monitoring solution will let companies add and remove users as needed without jumping through hoops.
Ease of use should never be overlooked. No matter how powerful a network monitoring tool is, it won’t be helpful if it’s too complex to use. The most effective solutions are the ones built with ease of use in mind, so IT teams can quickly and efficiently monitor networks and address issues.
Comprehensive reporting is a vital part of any network monitoring solution, as it provides detailed, actionable insights into a network environment so IT teams can efficiently address issues, block threats, and ensure uptime.
Optimize Network Performance with Splashtop AEM for Complete Endpoint Visibility and Control
While network monitoring can seem like a large and complex task, there are solutions designed to make it easy to monitor, manage, and support large networks. However, you still need to be able to access and manage the many endpoints across your network, especially in remote and hybrid environments and BYOD workspaces.
That’s where Splashtop Remote Support and Splashtop AEM (Autonomous Endpoint Management) come in. Splashtop AEM complements any network monitoring solution, providing visibility and control over endpoints to ensure security, performance, and optimization. It enables administrators to view, access, and manage all of their company’s endpoints from a single dashboard, so they can enforce security policies across the company network, roll out patches, and quickly address issues with real-time alerts and automated fixes.
With Splashtop AEM, you can:
Gain unprecedented visibility into each of your endpoints to monitor their status and performance
Monitor and manage devices across your network, including on-site and remote devices alike
Automate IT maintenance tasks, including updates, security patches, and policy enforcement
Receive real-time alerts for potential problems and suspicious activity
Roll out automated fixes with smart actions
Seamlessly access endpoints remotely to manage security, maintenance, and alerts
Schedule and execute tasks across multiple endpoints at once
These features help maintain security and efficiency across your entire IT infrastructure so you can easily manage large-scale, distributed environments.
Want to experience Splashtop and see how easy endpoint management can be? Get started today!
