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10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

Today’s Presenter

Technical Solutions ConsultantHelpSystems

Kevin Jackson

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

• True tales of frightening network failures• 10 steps to avoid network monitoring nightmares • How can network monitoring reduce the scare factor?• Q&A

Agenda

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True Tales of Frightening Network Failures

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

Southwest Airlines

“Glitch Takes Down Southwest Website, Delays Flights.”

Duration: 3 hours

Impact: More than 900 flights were cancelled; thousands delayed

What happened? • Failure of a router started “a cascade of problems”• Outage affected multiple technology systems, including

computer equipment and backup systems• Officials blamed aging technology

True Tales of Frightening Network Failures

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

Telstra

“Telstra Has Worldwide Service Outage.”

Duration: At least 4 hours (longer for some users)

Impact: 50% of Telstra’s 16 million customers were affected

What happened? • Network and bandwidth congestion • As compensation for the outage, the company offered

free data to affected customers

True Tales of Frightening Network Failures

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

Typical hourly cost of downtime by industry (in U.S. dollars):

• Brokerage service --- 6.48 million• Energy --------------- 2.8 million• Telecom -------------- 2.0 million• Manufacturing ------- 1.6 million• Retail ----------------- 1.1 million• Healthcare ----------- 636,000 • Media ----------------- 90,000

SMB loss based on IT failure is about $55,000 per year in revenueMid-sized companies lose about $91,000 per year in revenueLarge companies lose about $1 Million per year in revenue

The Financial Impact of IT Downtime

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10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #1: Map out your architecture and ensure its accuracy.

What type of devices are in your network?

How many of each device do you have?

Where is each device physically located?

How do devices connect to the rest of the network?

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #2: Determine what information is most critical to monitor.

Which devices—if they failed—would cause major operational bottlenecks?

Monitor the metrics that would signal when those devices go off the grid.

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #3: Configure exception-based notifications with a clear escalation plan.

Don’t let false positives fill your inbox.

Set up exception-based notifications to help you solve real problems quickly.

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #4: Identify and monitor networkperformance baselines.

Monitoring baselines helps you: • Know what normal device

performance looks like• Be aware of scheduled exceptions to

normal traffic levels (e.g. nightly backups)

• Set appropriate traffic thresholds

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #5:Configure SNMP on network devices.

Why? So you can monitor metrics beyond simply “up” or “down” status.

EXPERT TIP: Use SNMPv3 to ensure network security.

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #6: Make upgrades to your core hardware to support performance monitoring

protocols.

Replace outdated hardware (instead of wasting your time optimizing it).

EXPERT TIP: Make sure core network devices support modern performance monitoring protocols.

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #7: Use NetFlow to capture and monitor bandwidth utilization on routers and switches.

Analyzing flows data can help you:

• Identify the source of bottlenecks

• Plan how much bandwidth capacity you’ll need

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #8: Use protocols to support Windows and Linux servers.

Use these protocols to ensure secure connections on remote machines:

• WMI (Windows)

• PowerShell (Windows)

• SSH (Linux)

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #9: Keep probe and MIB architecture updated to ensure monitoring of all

devices.

Networks with a variety of standard and non-standard equipment require probe and MIB architecture that is constantly up-to-date.

EXPERT TIPS: • Use industry SNMP MIBS to

capture performance data for standard network components.

• Use vendor-provided MIBs to monitor non-standard devices

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

STEP #10: Implement continuous monitoring (24/7).

Ongoing monitoring helps ensure healthy network operations and 24/7 access to your products and services.

EXPERT TIP: Mobile capabilities make it easy to keep tabs on real-time network performance from anywhere.

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How Can Network Monitoring Reduce Downtime’s Scare Factor?

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

• Enable network visibility and outreach– Layer 2 and 3 maps

• Arm you with details about end-to-end network discovery (including new devices added to your network… NEW in Intermapper 6.1!)

• Ensure reliable network and performance monitoring• Provide you with remote management/monitoring capabilities• Supply views of critical availability for devices, applications, and interfaces• Set your mind at ease with custom alerts and notification management• Assist with current or future capacity planning

How Intermapper Can Help Powerful, user-friendly mapping, monitoring, and alerting

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

Salary/staff time savings Minimizing or avoiding outages Reducing support calls Reducing time to fix Guaranteeing and managing SLAs Reducing downtime

Improve the Bottom Line with Network MonitoringWhy monitor your network?

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Q&A

10 Steps to Avoid Network Monitoring Nightmares

Thank you for attending!

Learn more about IntermapperHere’s everything you need to know:

https://www.helpsystems.com/products/network-monitoring-software

Try Intermapper FREE Start your 30-day trial:

https://www.helpsystems.com/cta/start-your-free-intermapper-trial

Contact me with questionsKevin Jackson

Technical Solutions ConsultantT: +1 952-486-6847 | E: kevin.jackson@helpsystems.com

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