NimBUS Interface Traffic Probe

Summary:
The NimBUS Interface Traffic Probe auto-discovers all device interfaces; once discovered the solution monitors interface traffic and performs bandwidth utilization calculations. Additionally, each device interface is scrutinized for error conditions that may degrade data throughput and performance. Status and utilization data is analyzed and displayed in graphical enterprise consoles, performance reports and SLA reports.

Due to the complexity and rapid expansion of network intensive applications that are being deployed across today's business infrastructures, there is a need to understand the capacity of circuits and traffic flow across critical network interfaces.

Primary Features:

Proactive monitoring for interface/port status and bandwidth utilization
Self-contained GUI provides realtime status and interface traffic views
Integrates with the NimBUS Alarm, Performance and SLA Reporting solutions

Additional Features:

Broad device/interface support
Interface Traffic Probe monitors interfaces for the following:

Operational status
"Dead" lines (no traffic)
Discarded packets
Error packets
Queue length
Average traffic in/out
Average errors in/out

Interface Traffic Probe GUI equipped with Admin and Operations utilities

Routing table query
SNMP MIB object query
Interface auto discovery
"Profile-based" poll and alarm definition
Customizable alert messages

Interface Traffic Probe

Interface bandwidth calculation

The Interface Traffic Probe utilizes SNMP to measure and report on inbound, outbound and aggregate bandwidth utilization. For each interface the following utilization is calculated: current, average, total and percent. Interface MIB objects are queried and analyzed both in real time and over time for alert generation and trend reporting. The probe may be configured to monitor the network interfaces on PCs, Windows and Unix Servers, routers, switches, and other SNMP enabled devices.

Interface status monitoring

The Interface Traffic Probe provides "profile-based" monitoring where each interface can be configured to poll unique data variables at defined polling intervals, with unique alert severities and alert messages.

The probe monitors and reports on the following interface parameters:

Traffic

Monitors the number of octets transmitted over the interface including framing characters
Alerts when traffic exceeds % utilization or bytes/sec over a defined period of time
Alerts when interface has 'no' traffic on inbound, outbound, or both interfaces over a defined period of time

Errors

Monitors the number of packets that could not be transmitted because of errors
Alerts when the number of packets (with errors) per second exceeds a defined threshold

Discards

Monitors the number of discarded packets
Alerts when the number of discarded packets/sec exceeds a defined threshold

Queue Length

Monitors the length of the output packet queue (in packets)
Alerts when the number of packets in the queue exceeds a defined threshold

State

Monitors the current operational state of the interface. A 'down' state indicates that no packets can be passed.
Alerts when interface is 'expected to be up', but instead is in down state
Alerts when interface is 'expected to be down', but instead is in an up state

Strategic Interface Traffic Probe Deployment

To minimize management traffic on the network, the light weight interface traffic probe can be placed strategically throughout the network in locations that are in close proximity to the managed devices.

Interface Traffic - Realtime Enterprise Console

The web-based NimBUS Enterprise Console can be combined with the Interface Traffic Probe to create and customize user specific network monitoring "dashboards". Alarm dashboards can graphically depict up to the minute status of critical network interfaces and bandwidth utilization.

Interface Traffic - Performance Trend Reporting

All interface data collected by the Interface Traffic Probe can be utilized for Quality of Service and Performance report generation. The NimBUS reporting solution allows users to track and trend interface parameters such as bandwidth utilization and capacity, error rates, and interface status.

Interface Traffic - SLA Creation, Monitoring and Reporting

Quality of Service and performance data collected by the Interface Traffic Probe can be leveraged by the NimBUS SLA reporting solution to calculate and report on service level compliance and breaches. All SLA and performance reports are viewable in HTML format via web-browser.