NetQos helps Cisco with performance

Network/Systems Management This newsletter is sponsored by Akamai Technologies Improve app performance globally Find out how Nike made the decision to go with a managed Web application service provider to improve performance on one of its key retail applications. After deciding a distributed datacenter was too costly, Nike went with Akamai. Its once sluggish app is now chugging along. Network World's Network/Systems Management Newsletter, 08/01/07 NetQos helps Cisco with performance By Denise Dubie Every now and then even the biggest companies in the business need a little help. This time around Cisco looked to network performance management vendor NetQoS to pump up its Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) product with monitoring and reporting technology. And Cisco was smart to do so. Cisco last week announced a partnership with NetQoS, which involves technology from the latter vendor being embedded into Cisco WAAS gear. The software on Cisco hardware can provide more data about application performance that is generated by Cisco's NetFlow management tools. New Executive Guide Network World has recently published an executive guide entitled "Virtualization Meets Reality". Find out the 8 key challenges of virtualizing your data center. Download it now! This capability could address a common concern of network managers. Often during discussions around WAN optimization technologies, network managers will point out that when traffic travels faster due to TCP optimization or other methods it can also become more difficult to measure the performance improvements. That means network managers can't get a picture of the end-to-end performance of traffic between data centers and endpoints in branch or remote locations. And ultimately that means IT managers can't really determine how much their WAN optimization product is improving performance. But by using the NetQoS software on the Cisco WAAS gear, network managers can gather data about traffic on all links of WAN connections, as my colleague Tim Greene detailed in a recent news story, "from client to WAAS device, between WAAS devices, and between WAAS devices and servers." George Hamilton, director of Yankee Group's enabling technologies enterprise group, says in a recent survey only about half of those the research firm asked knew the ROI of their WAN optimization products. Going forward, he says enterprise IT managers will need to have a more granular view into performance improvements so they can better target their investments in WAN optimization technology. Also it is imperative to understand how well applications perform to all end users. Hamilton recommends IT managers "perform testing to make sure that your performance reporting is accurate and verify it with end users. If your performance is too good to be true, it quite possibly is. Your end users will tell you."   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 Akamai Technologies Improve app performance globally Find out how Nike made the decision to go with a managed Web application service provider to improve performance on one of its key retail applications. After deciding a distributed datacenter was too costly, Nike went with Akamai. Its once sluggish app is now chugging along. 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