Network Instruments Introduces Newest Version of Observer®
Observer 10.1 offers greater insight in the areas of performance measurement, reporting,
packet capture, probe data protection and remote analysis
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – December 14, 2004 – Network Instruments, LLC, the industry leading developer of distributed, user-friendly and affordable network management, analysis and troubleshooting solutions, announces the release of Observer 10.1. This new version provides administrators with greater insight for distributed networks with additional metrics for reporting overall network performance, capabilities for automatic report delivery and packet scheduling, enhancements for remote network analysis and additional monitors for 802.11a/b/g networks.
Observer 10.1 expands reporting capabilities with the new Report Scheduler, which enables administrators to configure any Ready-Made or Custom Report to be delivered at pre-determined times or time intervals to Observer and non-Observer users alike. The Report Scheduler offers a quick and easy way to update others on network health, bandwidth utilization, Web traffic, top talkers and more. Delivery options include email attachments, Web links or automatically saving reports to selected directories.
“For hands-on engineers interested in monitoring network health over time the Report Scheduler is an excellent addition to Observer,” said Douglas Smith, president of Network Instruments. “You can offer regular updates to colleagues, service providers and managers on network performance. For example, setup Observer to automatically send a report on this week’s Top Talkers to your inbox. The key benefit is providing non-Observer users an inside look into network operations.”
For a deeper understanding of network performance, Observer’s Expert Analysis now reports Network Delay as a separate metric. Network delay provides an indication of the actual time spent on the wire from point A to point B, independent of client or server delay. Measuring network delay helps determine what portion of total delay is due specifically to the network and not resulting from operating systems or individual applications.
“Understanding overall network performance can be a challenge,” said Smith. “The Network Delay metric offers another method of monitoring network slowdown. Showing the ‘best case’ roundtrip time in the current environment helps determine what portion of the total delay is due to the network. Network engineers can uncover inefficient routes or failing equipment by viewing network delay separately from client or server delay.”
In order to relieve concerns with providing access to confidential data through a decode screen, Expert Observer can now password protect and limit captures to a set number of bytes. This feature can be set at the company, department or individual level. Setup is manageable via the Expert Observer interface or through the Network Instruments Authentication Server (NIAS™).
“One of our larger European customers deploys Network Instruments Probes to financial institutions across the continent,” said Ian Cummins, European sales director for Network Instruments. “To solve network issues, the IT Department needed access to decode data but could not allow access to the entire packet. By reconfiguring our Packet Slicing abilities in Observer, this option is now managed at the console, probe, user or department level. We have given our users the capability to control a deeper layer of packet analysis, ensuring their data is protected and secure.”
Additional features in Observer 10.1 include:
• Packet Capture Scheduling
Administrators can choose to automatically start a packet capture anytime a probe is engaged or select a specific time of day and/or day of week
to schedule routine captures. Pre-programming packet captures can assist in solving recurring network issues or more elusive network problems.
• Remote Probe Post-Capture Analysis
The Advanced Expert Probe has historically performed real-time Expert Analysis and Expert Processing at the individual probe level. Now this extends
to post-capture analysis. With the ability to capture, decode, load, save and analyze data at the remote Probe, only screen updates are transferred to
the console reducing network traffic and allowing for faster troubleshooting of remote issues.
• Wireless Analysis Enhancements
Observer continues to lead the industry as the most comprehensive wired/wireless analyzer for LAN, 802.11a/b/g, WAN and Gigabit networks.
Observer 10.1 adds numerous Expert Conditions to monitor for problems such as access point interference or denial of service attacks to wireless
networks.
In addition, new decodes were added such as Financial Info Exchange (FIX), as well as new extensions for Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
Observer 10.1 remains cost competitive with pricing beginning at $995.00. Expert Observer 10.1 includes Application Analysis, over 500 Real-Time Experts and the industry’s largest 4GB Memory Buffer at $2895.00. The Observer Suite 10.1 package includes Expert Analysis, an SNMP console and Web Reporting for $3995.00. The Advanced Expert Probe, with real-time and post-capture remote analysis can also operate as a local console for $2895.00. A free product evaluation and additional information about Observer and Network Instruments is available at the company’s Web site at www.networkinstruments.com.
About Network Instruments
Network Instruments is the industry leading developer of distributed, user-friendly, and affordable network management, analysis and troubleshooting solutions. The award-winning Observer family of products combines a comprehensive management and analysis console with high-performance remote Probes to provide integrated monitoring and management for the entire network (LAN, 802.11 a/b/g, Gigabit, WAN). All Network Instruments products are designed utilizing our Distributed Network Analysis (NI-DNA™) architecture. With NI-DNA, the Observer solution set simplifies network troubleshooting and management, optimizes network and application performance and scales to meet the needs of any organization. Founded in 1994, Network Instruments is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with offices in London, Paris, throughout the USA and distributors in 50 countries. More information about the company, products, innovation, technology, NI-DNA, becoming a partner and NI University can be found at www.networkinstruments.com.
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