Network General: More than Sniffer

Network/Systems Management This newsletter is sponsored by SolarWinds The Shortcut Guide to Network Management for the Mid-Market This guide outlines real-world technologies and processes to implement centralized management of your network infrastructure. Using the OSI FCAPS model as a framework, this eBook explains the critical components of fault, performance, configuration and security management, as well as network troubleshooting and diagnostics. Network World's Network/Systems Management Newsletter, 05/09/07 Network General: More than Sniffer By Denise Dubie For most people, when they need to blow their nose, they say to themselves, "I need to get a Kleenex.," but maybe fewer folks say, "Boy I could use a facial tissue." That's because Kleenex somehow became the go-to term for facial tissues, and most companies seek such brand recognition. And it's hard to believe brand recognition can be perceived as a bad thing, but companies suffering from it say it can pigeonhole them and limit customer perception of their capabilities. Take, for example, Network General, the company that gave the network industry its Sniffer protocol analysis technology -- which has become the generic term for all types of protocol analysis tools. Often when I am speaking with network managers, they mention putting a sniffer on their networks to troubleshoot problems, and many times they are not talking about Network General's product specifically, but they don't use the term protocol analyzer when referencing the tool they use. Network Pros' Favorite Freeware Tools Get your copy of Network World's latest Executive Guide "Management's Many Faces" and see which free management tools are rated tops by your peers. Also, find case studies and expert information on the technology and techniques network IT executives are using to address today's management challenges. Click Here to download! Dubbed the "grand old man of protocol analysis" by industry watchers, Network General has been working for the past couple of years on broadening its product suite to do a lot more than sniff network traffic and analyze packets. "We have the ability to correlate business services performance down the packet," a company spokeswoman says. "We have the products in place and we need to get the word out that Sniffer is more than it used to be." While the company began overhauling its products in 2005 and last year acquired Fidelia, Network General this week shared details around new capabilities the vendor says will showcase its strengths beyond Sniffer. The company is offering an add-on to its Visualizer appliance that will help network managers better track Cisco's NetFlow on their networks. The NetFlow Collector is a software-only product that would install on a server and perform an auto-baselining function. The baseline would enable the software to later alert network staff to anomalies in known performance. A second software add-on also to Visualizer is Network General's Virtualization Forensics, which gives network managers visibility into applications running in virtualized environments. And lastly, the company's Network Intelligence Suite now includes end-user monitoring alongside its other collected performance metrics. "We can give customers an end-to-end view of what is going on with the applications in their network," the spokeswoman says.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Senior Editor Denise Dubie covers the technologies, products and services that address network, systems, application and IT service management for Network World. E-mail Denise. This newsletter is sponsored by SolarWinds The Shortcut Guide to Network Management for the Mid-Market This guide outlines real-world technologies and processes to implement centralized management of your network infrastructure. Using the OSI FCAPS model as a framework, this eBook explains the critical components of fault, performance, configuration and security management, as well as network troubleshooting and diagnostics. ARCHIVE Archive of the Network/Systems Management Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007