Pervasive Network Management

How you can achieve network management everywhere you want it, for a price you can afford

You’re at your desk taking it easy when the phone rings. There’s a problem on the network, it’s time to bring out the heavy guns, the protocol analyzer, the diagnostic software, and all the rest of the management tools, but the laptop you normally use is out of action and the dedicated boxes are all booked out too.

Why is it always like this? When you need the tools someone else is using them or you can’t get hold of what you need quickly enough for it to be of use. In some ways it’s understandable of course, you can’t afford to have lots of software sitting on the shelf in case it might be needed, but it’s no less annoying for that.

What you’d really like is something that you can use where you need it when you need it, pervasive management. Software you can install and use on-demand without the hassle of having to negotiate licenses. That would be really useful, it would be a lot closer to your ideal. But there’s no way you can afford to do that.

Or maybe you can?

With open source solutions you can install software where you need it, when you need it. There are no licensing issues, so no hassle keeping licenses up to date or waiting for enabling keys to be issued. No slow, painful, ordering process to go through, in most cases you download an already built installation. It makes no difference if you install one copy or a hundred.

You can equip all your engineers with the tools, install software on key devices, even leave copies on user machines. In heavily switched networks it’s always a hassle to find out what’s happening on a single port, but now you can install a packet capture agent, even a full blown protocol analyzer, on every machine and on every switch port if you want. Pervasive network management has arrived, and cost is not a problem. In fact it will probably cost a fraction of what you paid out for your proprietary software.

Open source code is often free or very low cost, but not low quality. It is as reliable as commercial software and just as well featured. There is no financial risk in using it. If it doesn’t do what you want change it for something more suitable, there are lots of solutions to choose from.

Once you find a solution that suits you deploy it where you need it, keep it in reserve for those emergency situations, and relax in the knowledge that wherever problems occur you have the tools to help you sort things out quickly.

About the Author

Denis Laverty Denis Laverty possesses more than 17 years experience in network management and communications, Denis has been involved with network management applications from the early DOS days; as product trainer, technical author and QA Director. In 2003 he co-founded OPENXTRA together with Jack Hughes and serves as its Managing Director.