Telcomanager v9 – Network topology maps

Version 9 of Telcomanager’s network and IT environment monitoring solutions has been released to the market. This version brought several tools and features that will boost the monitoring of your IP network and IT infrastructure. In this article, we will address the importance of centralized monitoring through logical network topology maps.

The network infrastructure is responsible for connecting the user to applications, shared resources, and the Internet. We keep hearing about the benefits of information technology resources, and particularly in the corporate world, terms such as IoT, automation, and cloud computing are increasingly present. That is just to name a few examples. All these technologies have something in common, in that each of them depends on a network connection to function.

Thus, the management of the infrastructure becomes crucial for the operation of all these resources that are of paramount importance for the operation of the company. This puts extreme pressure on the teams responsible for maintaining the operation of the network. Mainly, due to the damage that a performance problem or a fall in services can generate.

We know that network infrastructure management involves a variety of details, ranging from the behavior of directly or indirectly related equipment to Data Center environmental monitoring. For this, we need a way to monitor all this management data in a centralized way, thus facilitating the identification of failures and performance issues. In this sense, 

Telcomanager’s SLAview v9 tool brought several facilities to analyze the technology park more effectively.

GROUPS AND MAPS

One of the main features of SLAview v9 is the creation of groups. The main function of the groups is to organize the monitored objects. This also allows the display of a graph of indicators for the entire group, in addition to the individual graphs for each object. Monitored objects are mainly identified by the SNMP protocol. However, in specific scenarios other types of data collection can be configured.

For each group created, there is a map. The map plots the graphical representation of the topology and the objects that compose the group, in addition to allowing the representation of the connection between the objects. Connections can be configured manually or automatically through CDP, or LLDP protocols. With this, enabling a centralized view of the network topology.

The map can be viewed in standard or georeferenced mode, with SLAview v9, the georeferenced map has several visualization modes such as map, hybrid, satellite, light and dark modes, presenting the user with flexibility regarding the topology assembly.  Also, in this mode, the locations of the devices can be changed on the map itself.

INTEGRATION OF ALARMS AND MAPS

With monitored objects organized in groups and visualized through maps, we can also use it to centralize the visualization of alarms. That is, SLAview v9 allows alarms to be signaled on the map. The signaling occurs by changing the color of the object according to its level of urgency.

In addition to signaling on the map, the alarms have notification options via e-mail, SMS, Telegram, and SNMP trap. The alarms are configured based on performance indicators for monitored objects. With this, it will be possible to monitor both the change in behavior and if the indicator exceeds a threshold value indicated in the alarm configuration.

Another crucial feature in SLAView v9 is Whethermap, a feature that allows the creation of flagging items within the network topology map. For example: marking a link in red because its bandwidth occupancy is higher than a certain value. In addition, this option can also show the last collected traffic value.

Thus, ensuring that the technical team does not miss any notification about events that may impact the operation of the network. The maps with the alarms will provide a panoramic view of the infrastructure and speed in identifying failures.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

In this sense, there is no doubt about the importance of investing in network management. Thus, it brings not only benefits to the visibility of the infrastructure, but also a way to ensure crucial information for anticipating problems and provide full visibility of your network with SLAview v9.

With this in mind, Telcomanager, Latin America’s leader in the software network management industry, with a unique and innovative methodology since 2002, provides intelligent solutions for data monitoring in order to provide complete visibility to the customer’s infrastructure, allowing your company to follow the main aspects of the IT environment.

Published on 12/16/2022