Network monitoring is one of the irreplaceable components in the world of Information Technology. One of its main functions is to detect problems occurring within the network so that they can be prevented before they escalate. How to use network monitoring tools effectively? Check out the complete explanation below.
What is a Network Monitoring Tool?
Network monitoring tools are software applications that collect and analyze data from company network devices such as routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and workstations. These tools can help IT teams measure the network, such as bandwidth, latency, packet loss, availability, and utilization.
Additionally, if there are anomalies, errors, or failures within the network, the network monitoring tool will notify its users. Therefore, this tool can help companies prevent network issues by providing real-time visibility into network performance, identifying potential problems before they affect users, and enabling proactive troubleshooting.
A quality and reliable monitoring tool provides alert and notification features, capacity planning, and performance optimization for security monitoring. In addition to real-time information, this tool displays historical analysis, providing insights and accurate data to proactively optimize network performance, ensuring that the infrastructure is reliable and efficient.
Why is a Network Monitoring Tool Important?
Network monitoring tools are very important for businesses in various industrial sectors that want to remain competitive. What are the advantages of using this tool, especially in detecting network issues? Here are some of them:
1. Be Aware of Disruptions
What causes disruptions in the network? There are many causes, ranging from human error, to configuration issues, and environmental factors. implementing network monitoring is one of the most fundamental and straightforward ways to prevent these disruptions from occurring in the first place. This tool offers the visibility that companies need to stay one step ahead of potential problems.
By displaying real-time network performance data in an easy-to-read interface, network monitoring software helps IT teams identify disruptions that could cause bottlenecks. This tool can maintain uptime and monitor potential disruptions. It’s better to be vigilant than to let problems suddenly escalate and become more difficult to handle.
2. Fixing Problems Faster
In difficult situations when there are network issues, time is money. Network monitoring tools make troubleshooting easier and faster for network professionals who need to address problems very quickly.
Whether facing configuration issues or abnormal traffic fluctuations, network monitoring software will help identify the root of the problem, allowing it to be addressed at its source. The network map will directly guide the IT team to the source of the problem, and the status window will provide performance metrics over time.
Moreover, network automation tools help the IT team to take it a step further. Not only does it identify problems, but network monitoring tools can also fix them automatically without manual intervention.
3. Managing a Continuously Evolving and Changing Network
With technological innovations and the increasing number of connected devices, the current IT environment is becoming more and more dynamic. According to a study conducted by IoT Analytics, the number of connected IoT devices is expected to exceed 29 billion by 2027. Whether it’s internet-supporting sensors, wireless devices, or cloud technology, everything needs to be continuously monitored.
The network is also becoming increasingly complex, which allows for the occurrence of unwanted problems. Therefore, network monitoring tools play a crucial role in an increasingly digital world. Moreover, in the future, technological advancements will accelerate, and the problems that arise may become even greater.
4. Reminding the Need for Device Upgrades
Outdated or obsolete devices can certainly become a source of problems in the network. To know when a company needs to upgrade its devices, monitoring tools are required. Especially for growing companies, some devices may need to be replaced once they reach a certain threshold.
How to Use Network Monitoring Tools to Detect Network Issues
Before using network monitoring tools to prevent network issues, the company must first determine its goals and objectives. Then, choose the tool that best fits the company’s needs and install it. Configure and adjust to monitor devices and network metrics, and set up alerts and notifications for each event.
Analyzing and interpreting the data generated by the tool is crucial for taking actions aimed at fixing or preventing detected network issues. Each network has different thresholds and tolerances. After monitoring the network for some time, the IT team will find the balance of these metrics. But this is a repetitive process and must be carried out by the IT team.
Not only that, new requirements always emerge. It is very important to pay attention to notifications and the media used. To resolve issues more quickly, the person responsible from the IT team must be notified immediately to address the problem. So that the network monitoring tools can work effectively, 3 steps need to be taken, namely:
1. Continuous Monitoring
Prepare network monitoring tools to continuously monitor the network infrastructure. What is monitored includes routers, switches, servers, and applications. Real-time monitoring allows the IT team to detect issues as soon as they occur, preventing them from escalating and endangering the network.
2. Enable Alerts and Notifications
Configure alerts and notifications on the network monitoring tools used by the company to immediately inform the IT team when the established thresholds are exceeded or when specific issues are detected on the network. By enabling these two features, it will allow for a quick response to potential issues.
3. Performance Metrics
Continuously monitor the most needed performance metrics in the network. Starting from bandwidth utilization, latency, packet loss, and CPU/memory usage. These metrics can help the IT team identify bottlenecks and resource constraints before they cause network issues that risk congesting or even crippling the network.
Choose the network monitoring tool that best fits the company’s needs, as each company may have different requirements and focuses. Some very important features are real-time monitoring, historical data analysis, alerting capabilities, and scalability.
As a provider of network monitoring applications in Indonesia, Netmonk offers products that can comprehensively monitor networks. Trusted by more than 1000 companies in Indonesia, such as TVRI, Diskominfo, Bank Indonesia, and many more, demonstrating the reliability of its services. Check out the complete information on the Netmonk website!
