New Challenges
The size of networks and the challenges in monitoring them share a linear relationship. As more devices and access points are added, monitoring their performance becomes increasingly challenging. This is because as more devices are connected, network visibility becomes harder to achieve. While Packet Brokers and Network TAPs provide visibility, they are often insufficient for vast, complex networks.
As a result of the pandemic, pre-existing trends such as flexible working and working from home have gained widespread adoption. People are now using personal devices and internet connections to access corporate resources, resulting in more unsecured equipment and network access points to monitor. Therefore, more and more high-value information is flowing across various networks/WANs. Moreover, disruptive technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) mean the number of devices connected to the enterprise WAN is increasing exponentially. These factors make monitoring performance and security a tricky proposition however centralized monitoring and the use of proper tools can make the problem easier to tackle.
How to Achieve Network Visibility
Firstly, to take advantage of the benefits associated with a centralized server, you must deploy not only the correct tools but effective ones. Network TAPs and Packet Brokers are great monitoring tools that provide visibility into your network. When used correctly, not only do they provide a window into your network, they also aid any other tools. Devices such as IPS monitoring systems benefit as they feed them the data they need to operate effectively.
The question is, what TAPs and Packet Brokers should you use? "Network Critical's solutions allow you to receive 100% accurate traffic visibility on vital links", said a network engineer at Vodafone. They offer flexible and robust systems to cover your current and future needs, with more specifics covered below. Anyway, what is a centralized server and how can it help your business?
Centralized network management systems refer to a network built around a single central server. From one location, you can monitor, manage, and control your entire network. Perhaps the most significant advantage to this is improved visibility, as you can visualize the whole network at once. Network security is enhanced as a result, in part due to threats being easier to detect. Generally, they are spotted earlier in centralized models when compared to decentralized ones, consequently reducing the damage caused by them.
The Benefits of a Centralized Network
Improved network performance results from better monitoring capabilities and is further enhanced by early issue detection. Performance monitoring for large enterprises is a vital activity to ensure the business can run smoothly and efficiently. Doing this in one central location saves time and money as you don’t need to set up performance probes at each node. You also don’t need to have dedicated performance management teams in each server location.
Network performance is optimized further as with greater visibility comes an improved understanding of how traffic moves and behaves on your network. You gain a better understanding of what your critical traffic is and how it behaves. Your network can then be optimized around this understanding, therefore improving efficiency and performance.
Other advantages center around ease of use; for example, when adding elements, changing permissions, or upgrading the server, you only have to do these things once. With a distributed network, you must do all of these things across the various distributed servers, wasting time and money. If you have remote server locations with limited access, you can upgrade/update these remotely with a centralized system. Finally, with improved network visibility and understanding, you can better predict how upgrades/updates will impact performance.
Network Critical Solutions
Network Critical’s TAP’s and Packet Brokers ensure you have all the relevant data to achieve 100% network visibility. Their flexible solutions guarantee that they can meet the needs of the most complex enterprise WANs. From Passive Optical TAPs that don’t require a power source to their revolutionary SmartNA-PortPlus HyperCore™ 400Gb packet broker, Network Critical has you and your network covered. In case network failure is a concern, use their Bypass TAPs with heartbeat technology, which monitors tools to ensure the entire network does not fail if one goes down. However, if maximizing network performance is your goal, select ANY of their solutions as they impose ZERO latency on the network.
Set up and management of their tools is made easy by their Drag-n-Vu GUI. It uses drag and drop functionality to visualize maps between ports. On these maps, you can create filters and policies that match your requirements. When your needs change, perhaps you have gained a better understanding of the flow of traffic in your network, due to improved visibility, then you can update policies accordingly.
Whether you work with complex networks or not, Click here to get in touch with the specialists at Network Critical to have a proper assessment of your network's visibility, monitoring, and security.
They have years of experience and are dedicated to meeting your needs 24/7.
