Keeping on top of the performance metrics for your servers and network is important for the maintenance and operation of your IT infrastructure. You want your organization’s users to have little or no downtime in using their applications and retrieving their e-mail, and for your company‘s customers to easily access their cloud-based applications and data.

What Does Network Monitoring  Report On?

There are a number of things you can monitor with Network Monitoring. The most popular areas include application and system performance, bandwidth usage, and server status. You can also set up monitoring of additional areas, for instance: server load, ink levels in printers, time left on software license agreements, which devices are connected to the network, their data usage, and more. This is all done 24/7.

What is important to note that the one thing Network Monitoring does not normally monitor is unauthorized access to networks. It can be set up to look for unauthorized access, but this is normally taken care of by another system.

How Does Network Monitoring Help Me?

In these days of server farms and server ranches, the number of servers you have to administer and monitor is growing, and they are not necessarily confined to one data center. Networking monitoring solutions can automate the gathering of availability and performance metrics, even when the servers are physically located on multiple continents.

What Should I Monitor? In an ideal world, you would monitor each and every network. Over time, you can get there, but if you’re like most Small Business owners or managers, you have neither the time nor the budget to implement a full system. As with most projects, it’s suggested that you implement a system like this in stages. The most common areas to start with are:

Local Area Network (LAN) Data
Internet data usage
server status
alerts to existing networks

If you’re unsure of where to start or other ways to improve business value, please contact us.