Net Optics Taps Into Remote Monitoring

A specialist in network monitoring, Net Optics is expanding its reach with what it calls the industry's first purpose-built integrated network and application monitoring tap for branch and remote offices. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., the company has more than 7,000 customers, including 85 of the Fortune 100.

A plug-and-play remote-access solution that can be up and running in minutes, appTap is intended for remote branch sites with up to 100MByte Internet connections. It captures and analyzes network traffic and application activity, and monitors voice over IP (VoIP) calls, enabling users to proactively detect and resolve problems in real time before the problems affect business continuity, competitiveness and revenue.

Net Optics says that it can save customers tens of thousands of dollars a year just for two or three incidents per year. Simply sending a network engineer on site can cost thousands of dollars, and that doesn't take into consideration identifying and resolving the problem, the company says.

There are three levels of monitoring available. The basic level, network monitoring, captures network data, generates and consumes NetFlow records and exports NetFlow records for use by third-party flow analysis tools. Next up is application monitoring, which adds flow monitoring and analysis and report tools that break down network use by layer, protocol and application. At the top end, session monitoring also provides the ability to troubleshoot VoIP calls.

Due out in the second quarter, appTap will include access to all three levels on a trial basis, with customers able to order the higher levels when and as desired. Final pricing is not available, but Net Optics says that the starting price will be about $3,000 and up to a couple of thousand more for the complete set of monitoring capabilities.Jim Frey, research director, network management, Enterprise Management Associates, cautions that return on investment will depend upon the particular customer setting. "Payback by saving three visits may hold true for organizations that are far-flung, with little or no resident/nearby technical support, but not all companies face such situations. Still, the ability for a central technician to do preliminary assessment remotely will always be both more cost-effective and timely than any 'truck roll' dispatching of personnel to a site."

He adds that appTap represents a practical means of establishing remote management visibility in a manner that mimics proven approaches often used in larger organizations. "These types of capabilities are table-stakes for application-aware network monitoring solutions built for larger enterprises, but those solutions have rarely been packaged in a way that fit the lost cost/price points required to fit budgets for deploying to a large number of small sites. Others who have targeted this type of solution gap include CACE Technologies [now part of Riverbed] with its Pilot and TurboCap products, iTrinegy, with its AppQoS software tool, and Apparent Networks, with its PathView solution."

Overall, Frey says, Net Optics has done well to produce a self-contained appliance that includes tap, on-board historical storage and substantial troubleshooting tool functionality in an easily-deployed package. Its key strengths are the breadth of functionality and ease of deployment, combined with the Net Optics heritage and depth of expertise with network monitoring solutions.

The only potential weak spot is the fact that this is a brand new product, hence there may be some rough edges. There is also the likelihood this could cause competitive friction with some of Net Optics's partners--at least the ones who resell their tap products as part of enterprise-class solutions of the same ilk. "The former is a reason to conduct a proof-of-concept prior to purpose. The latter may actually be an advantage to network operations practitioners, in the form of more cost-effective options for application-aware network monitoring."

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