Top-Down Performance Management

Observer Reporting Server (ORS) offers a top-down approach that combines enterprise-wide views, macro- and micro-level reporting, and deep drill-down for problem resolution.

ORS serves as your performance management center by combining packet-based analytics along with NetFlow, SNMP, WMI, IP SLA, WAAS, NBAR, and sFlow® metrics to provide an overall view of network, system, application, and infrastructure health. Using solution-centric workflows, navigate quickly from high-level performance reports to the root-cause.

• Baseline and quickly assess performance of systems, applications, and servers
• Drill from performance dashboards into link, user, and connection details
• Pinpoint root cause with in-depth application metrics
• Monitor trends to prepare for the future

ORS is a stand-alone appliance which simultaneously collects and aggregates data from Observer Probes, NetFlow devices, Observer Infrastructure, and other collection agents.

Real-Time Visibility Through NetLive and Performance Dashboards

Don’t settle for simple static reports. ORS provides high-level, real-time visibility of your critical application services. Use performance dashboards to quickly assess the health of systems, applications, and servers. Set alarms to be immediately alerted when performance metrics have reached marginal or critical thresholds. This allows the network team to tackle issues before they impact the user. Once optimal baselines are established, lock baselines to eliminate issues of drift.

Couple the high-level dashboard view with NetLive, for greater performance details that update in 20-second increments. Because NetLive views are customizable, you’re seeing the most critical and relevant live data feeds. Gain a bird’s eye view of your network to see which issues need attention and what area of the business they’re affecting.

Seamless Reporting and Problem Solving

Only ORS fully integrates high-level monitoring with detailed problem-solving capabilities on a single platform.

Track performance in real-time and retrospectively. Features like NetLive ensure you keep tabs on application and network performance and witness important changes as they happen. Combine ORS with GigaStor and Observer Infrastructure to gain long-term views of network activities and to correlate network and infrastructure performance.

Application Performance and Baselining

Use baselining to establish benchmarks for any performance or time-based metrics. This includes application response time, MOS, or network utilization. Quickly determine if application delivery and performance is acceptable based on your network’s traffic patterns, or compare performance from different periods of time. Compare application performance of every Wednesday for the last six weeks, or the 15th of every month for the last 4 months. Set alarms to be immediately notified when performance metrics have reached a marginal or critical level.

Custom Business Groups

Shape reports around your business.

Does the call center have enough bandwidth to run VoIP? How does current WAN configuration affect your Just-In-Time inventory system? What business processes have the greatest impact on systems?

The Observer Reporting Server allows you to accurately assess the impact of mission-critical applications on your business through extensive reports.

Customizable Security Options

Since the Observer Reporting Server provides a wealth of business intelligence, you may wish to limit report access. To protect data, the reporting server requires secure authentication that is manageable via the reporting server interface.

Implement user-based or role-based permissions as necessary to protect your intellectual property.

For example, you might give your manager the ability to view and modify reports as needed for planning tasks but restrict the ability to view underlying data for outside consultants.

The Observer Reporting Server can also limit report availability by department or silo. For example, ensure VoIP call quality reports are shared with the communications and IT teams, but limit access to WAN usage reports to only the infrastructure department.

Technical Specifications

Platform: 2U 19-in. rack-mountable probe appliance

Dimensions: Standard: 16.75 in. (W) x 3.5 in. (H) x 25.88 in. (Mounting Depth)
[Full probe depth with handles: 26.75 in.]
Metric: 42.5 cm (W) x 8.9 cm (H) x 65.7 cm (Mounting Depth)
[Full probe depth with handles 67.9 cm]

Weight: 44 lbs (20 kg) / Mounting rails: 9 lbs (4.1kg)

Power Consumption:
1 link (2 port) Copper
0.16 A in 'off' state Power consumption = 20W
5 A Max at startup Power consumption <= 240W
3.8 A at full load Power consumption <= 190W