Seasoned network administrators will tell you that monitoring is crucial to preventing failures and ensuring a healthy upkeep of your environment. To be forewarned really puts you on the front-foot and ensures you stay in this position.

Network management tools are what IT admins rely on to keep their environments in check and the P1 critical events at bay.

So what are the primo network management tools every admin should have in his or her toolset? There are many to choose from and you’ll base your decision on what it is you aim to monitor and how frequently, or meticulously you want to monitor it.

The following network management tools are a must-have for admins: 

• SNMP tools: Deservedly first on the list. SNMP has been with us since the early days and admins have been using it to monitor devices including routers, switches, servers and others to acquire information about their environments.
• IP Monitoring tools: Large IP spaces can become an administrative burden and the constant addition of devices on large networks can be dizzying. An IP Address Management (IPAM) solution will streamline the tracking and auditing of IP utilisation across the enterprise. IT will spend much less time tracking IP allocation with the use of an IPAM and make light work of IP administration.
• Telephony monitoring: Telephony bills can hit the stratosphere if not managed properly. Large enterprises know this too well. IT would do well to invest in a monitoring tool that tracks telephony usage, call routing, call quality and use this information to minimise the financial impact telephony services may have on the organisation. Enterprises with VOIP implementations have their own set of elements they need to monitor consistently in order to minimise issues such as latency, jitter, and packet loss.
• Firewall monitoring: Security monitoring has such a wide scope that it is sometimes difficult for IT to guarantee that every loophole is plugged. What compounds the issue is that firewalls generate large quantities of network data statistics. The need for both real-time and historic analysis means data needs to be easily accessible without too much effort required by IT staff.
• Bandwidth monitoring: Bandwidth monitoring is crucial to identifying device, application and user consumption of resources. You could also save considerably by identifying ways to improve bandwidth usage without spending more money on the problem.

Network management tools create safer and more reliable networks

Network management tools give network managers and engineers a view of the crucial aspects of the network, how they perform and is being utilised. Monitoring tools that tie-in with powerful reporting abilities will give you the informed perspective you need to identify areas for improvement in your environment.

Proactive monitoring leads to proactive steps taken in system’s upkeep, which in turn translates into less trouble management. IT departments that understand the importance of monitoring their systems vigilantly create networks minus the plague of performance degradation and vulnerabilities.

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