One Observer customer, Sussex Health Informatics (HIS), with a network of 200 remote sites and 25,000 users, needed to upgrade its network to support an image archiving system and replace their existing WAN with a newer, more resilient one. In making this multi-million dollar investment, HIS needed to be able to troubleshoot future roll outs and guarantee delivery of network services.
The new image archival system would replace its client's traditional X-ray machines. The system vendor told the team they would need to invest in Gigabit WAN links to ensure performance. However, using Observer they were able to test the network and determined that the existing 100 Mb links were sufficient.
“Analysis showed that the need for more Gigabit WAN links was only necessary on rare occasions,” explained Mark Walker, IT consultant for HIS. “Observer has given us immediate ROI by proving we don’t need to go and invest in these huge links.”
Simple Bandwidth Projections
Use Observer to monitor daily network activity and establish bandwidth utilization benchmarks. After baselining network activities, IT staff should be able to obtain application performance specifications from the vendor and project the amount of bandwidth new applications will consume. From this the organization can estimate future bandwidth use and evaluate whether network upgrade is necessary.
Using What-If Analysis
Observer's What-If Analysis is a modeling program that forecasts the impact of adding applications and users to the network or expanding capacity. In a test lab or limited deployment, use Observer to capture application traffic and connections. Then analyze the capture using What-If Analysis to forecast whether an upgrade is necessary.
For example, with the Utilization vs. Bandwidth graph, a company can forecast graphically at what point the network reaches capacity. Read more.
The HIS approach to monitoring and understanding network behavior and demand with an analyzer allowed them to evaluate their needs, and more importantly stay on budget. Before making a decision to upgrade network capacity, use an analyzer to accurately assess network demand and demonstrate the need to upgrade.
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