| A good network administrator quickly addresses | | | | bugs) are installed |
| issues that jeopardize your company's network | | | | - Staying on top of the current state of all Windows |
| infrastructure. But a great one goes the extra mile | | | | services on each machine |
| and uses a reliable network monitoring solution to | | | | - Making sure all of your computers are protected |
| proactively identify, intercept, and prevent the issues. | | | | with an up to date antivirus software |
| What is network monitoring? And why should I care? | | | | Monitor web traffic: Networks only have a limited |
| Network monitoring serves as your eyes-and-ears, | | | | amount of bandwidth for all employees to share. For |
| alerting you to any issues on your network. You can | | | | instance, if one employee is using a large chunk of |
| keep track of things like printer supplies, software | | | | the bandwidth, it causes a traffic jam that negatively |
| installations, hard drive space, contract due dates -- | | | | impacts everyone else on the same network. This |
| just about anything you can think of that relates to | | | | becomes an even more pronounced issue when you |
| your network. | | | | use network switches and end up accidentally |
| The vast majority of problems that arise in a | | | | overloading another switch which leaves the others |
| network are directly related to something changing. | | | | practically empty. The most effective network |
| The best network monitoring solutions will not only | | | | monitoring setup will let you see where bottlenecks |
| alert you to these changes, but will also help you | | | | are occurring and how evenly the devices are |
| troubleshoot the issue by allowing you to compare | | | | distributed. |
| your network's current state with what it looked like | | | | Keep track of your IT services info: There are many |
| before the change. This means you can solve the | | | | things on your network you'll want to track that |
| problem faster! | | | | aren't necessarily physical objects, such as noting |
| The most proactive of IT pros set up their network | | | | which IT service contracts are set to expire. It's not |
| monitoring systems to alert them via email or text | | | | something you initially think of when working with a |
| message whenever issues arise. This not only keeps | | | | network monitor, but it can provide additional |
| them on top of potential problems so they can | | | | benefits such as helping your organization to save |
| address them as quickly as possible, but it also | | | | money. By giving you plenty of advanced notice that |
| prevents them from creating an issue. Plus, this type | | | | your IT contracts are set to expire, you allot |
| of proactive problem solving makes you a household | | | | yourself plenty of time to shop around and do your |
| favorite with everyone from your boss to your | | | | research to get the best deals. |
| customers! | | | | Which network monitoring tool is best? OK, so now |
| What should I look for in a network monitor solution? | | | | you understand how monitoring network problems |
| While every network is different, there are four | | | | will help keep your users productive, your bosses |
| areas that any best-of-the-best network monitor | | | | happy, and reduce your stress levels by addressing |
| should be able to do: | | | | issues before they accelerate... but how do you |
| Monitor PC hardware and supplies: A key component | | | | know which network monitoring tool is the right one? |
| to network monitoring is knowing when changes are | | | | As with any other major purchase, you want to do |
| made to your network devices. You need to be | | | | your research and investigate which solutions |
| alerted when disk space is low, disks are removed or | | | | software companies offer. You'll find plenty of |
| added, devices lose connectivity, or toner gets low | | | | companies out there with network monitoring |
| so you can immediately address the problems. | | | | solutions that could help your organization. But note |
| Monitor software: Monitoring software is more than | | | | that several network monitoring software packages |
| just keeping track of what is being installed and | | | | cost thousands of dollars for setup and installation, |
| uninstalled on your computers. Proper network | | | | training, maintenance, and regular patches and fixes. |
| monitoring means: | | | | Not to mention, the amount of valuable time you'll |
| - Keeping track of installations | | | | spend evaluation each product to ensure it's worth its |
| - Noting which licenses are set to expire | | | | price. |
| - Knowing which hotfixes (patches to fix specific | | | | |