Why application flow management matters

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DENNIS DROGSETH ON NETWORK/SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT
07/11/05
Today's focus: Why application flow management matters

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* The rise of application flow management
* Links related to Network/Systems Management
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Why application flow management matters

By Dennis Drogseth

Enterprise Management Associates is finally wrapping up our
definition of a taxonomy for application flow management to
follow a report on NetFlow adoption.

Application flow management, as we define it, includes
pair-based flow management such as that in RMON and NetFlow, as
well as protocol and packet analysis - from Layers 2 through 7
and beyond, potentially. The common definer is a focus on
"bloodstream" vs. component or device-centric management.

EMA deliberately took this broader view because we're seeing the
virtually hundreds of vendors in this market begin to cross over
into network and application performance management,
service-level management and service discovery, capacity
planning, optimization, application prioritization, accounting
and chargeback, route analytics, VoIP and security. Application
flows are enabling a whole host of disciplines, and the
technology is evolving far beyond traditional handheld packet
analyzers at one end, and grand but expensive RMON investments
on the other. In effect, this class of application-flow vendors
is emerging from being quietly interesting, to becoming one of
the most innovative areas within enterprise and service provider
management.

Here's why:

* Capturing application flows is more real-time than polling,
  and often more contextual. Many of these products can provide
  good "first warnings" to activate and focus device-centric
  polling.
* Awareness of traffic volume can be key in planning and
  optimizing infrastructure for application behavior - whether
  it's for capacity planning, traffic engineering, accounting and
  chargeback, or QoS and application prioritization.
* Understanding anomalous behavior can be valuable in
  troubleshooting and in security. The flipside of "anomalous" is
  "normal," and understanding what's normal may be challenging
  since it often varies by time of day or day of the week, but it
  can also be enormously useful in performance management and
  "on-demand" strategies.
* Capturing application traffic flows in terms of consumption
  patterns reveals a lot about the infrastructure, but it can also
  reveal a lot about the human beings consuming the IT services in
  terms of both their appetites and their disaffections. Once you
  can summarize insights such as "cost," "quality" and "hunger,"
  you've gone a long way toward getting the information you need
  to really take control of your IT service requirements.

Cost and deployment requirements vary almost as widely as
functionality across the application flow management
marketplace. Products may be probe- or appliance-centric, or
they may leverage network instrumentation such as NetFlow and
sFlow. Placements of agents, probes, or collectors may be
centralized around the data center, may be at the WAN edge, or
may require localized attention in many branch locations.

Charting your way through the jungle of hundreds of offerings
will take you from low-cost entrants (several thousand dollars
and less) to deployments that begin well into the six figures.
Integration strategies with other management software vary
greatly by vendor - and there are of course many good reasons
why you should favor application flow products with a rich sense
of industry "citizenship" over those that are more focused as
stand-alone or niche values. All this richness is good for you,
the buyer, if you're willing to take some time in shopping and
planning your requirements.

In the end, there are no generic right or wrong answers - the
right answers are what will fit your particular requirements the
best. EMA's goal has been to develop something of a roadmap (or
perhaps to keep the analogy more accurate, a "path map") through
this fertile wilderness of hundreds of vendors.

RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

Microsoft encroaching on storage territories
Network World, 07/11/05
http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm3139

Many minds, one goal: Curb bad traffic
Network World, 07/11/05
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/071105-sruti.html?rl
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dennis Drogseth

Dennis Drogseth is a vice president with Enterprise Management
Associates <http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/>, a leading
analyst, market research and IT consulting firm based in
Boulder, Colorado, focusing exclusively on all aspects of
enterprise management. Dennis has extensive experience in
service level management and network management platforms and
products. He is actively researching trends in management
software and changing IT roles internationally. His 22-plus
years of experience in high-tech includes positions at IBM and
Cabletron. He is widely quoted in the press and is a speaker at
many industry events. He can be reached via e-mail
<mailto:drogseth@enterprisemanagement.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Oracle
Boost the quantity and quality of customer interactions!

How can companies get a fuller, sharper picture of their
customers to boost the quantity and quality of customer
interactions? By creating a standardized customer-data model via
an "information grid." IDC analyst Stephen Hendrick explains how
to achieve a "360-degree view" of customers for better selling
and marketing.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107499
_______________________________________________________________
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