MG-SOFT Net Inspector Fault and Performance Manager
Main features
The following is a brief list of the main features in MG-SOFT Net Inspector.
Note that the software is available in three editions and that some of the described features are not available in all editions. For details, compare availability of certain features in different editions of MG-SOFT Net Inspector.
 | Completely re-written and re-designed Fault Management module. The fault management functionality has been completely rewritten in Net Inspector version 6 and the full-featured performance management functionality has been integrated in the latest release (ver. 7). Net Inspector is now a cutting edge fault and performance management application with effective alarming subsystem that complies with international alarm reporting recommendations (ITU X.733). Compared to previous versions, the software now provides unprecedented performance, reliability and scalability and lets you effectively monitor thousands of network devices at a time. |
| Integrated Performance Manager. Net Inspector WorkGroup and Enterprise Edition incorporate the full-featured performance management functionality (provided by the integrated MG-SOFT Performance Manager application). This means that the device performance and system resource utilization charts and data (with history!) is available for monitored devices out-of-the-box. Besides the current device status (up/down), the software continually monitors the latency (response times) and packet loss rates of all monitored devices, as well as the status, statistics, and utilization of network interfaces on SNMP devices. On servers and Cisco devices the memory consumption, CPU load, and disk capacity utilization is monitored automatically. Additionally, status, memory and CPU usage of any process running on the monitored computers can be monitored, as well as arbitrary, vendor-specific OIDs (screen shot). |
| Integrated performance manager module lets you monitor the VoIP Quality-Of-Service metrics (e.g., MOS, jitter, latency, packet loss, etc.) on devices implementing the IP SLA VoIP jitter functionality, for example, on Cisco routers (screen shot). |
| Net Inspector now incorporates NetFlow collector and analyzer module that receives NetFlow packets from configured NetFlow sources and offers detailed IP traffic statistics identifying the applications that generate the most traffic (in packets and bytes), endpoints (IP addresses) that receive and send the most data, protocols that are used most, etc. (screen shot). |
| Distributed network management. Net Inspector can now simultaneously utilize two or more polling engines deployed on remote computers for more efficient management of your network. Distributed management enables load balancing and better performance of the management system. Remote polling engines offload the CPU intensive tasks of polling managed devices, storing collected performance data and generating reports to remote computers, preserving the power of the main Net Inspector server so it can effectively serve a number of concurrently connected Net Inspector Clients. Distributed management also makes the system easily scalable without significantly degrading its performance (additional polling engines can be employed for monitoring additional devices), so the management system's capacity can seamlessly grow with your network (screen shot). |
| Net Inspector continually polls network devices on IPv4 and IPv6 networks via the SNMP and ICMP Ping protocols and triggers alarms when there is a problem (e.g., if a device or service stops responding, if SNMP variable crosses the threshold value, etc.). The software also lets you monitoring the status of a number of network services (HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, DNS, SMTP, IMAP, IMAPS, POP3, SSH, Telnet, NNTP, NNPTS, LDAP, LDAPS, IPP, LPD, MsSQL, MySQL and Oracle service), and lets you monitor other, user-defined services (screen shot). Besides actively polling devices, Net Inspector also receives SNMP Trap and Inform notifications, which are sent to it by managed devices when important events occur. The software translates and displays SNMP notifications as ITU X.733 alarms. Alarms are automatically cleared when the conditions that triggered them have been resolved. Network operators can acknowledge, comment on and manually clear alarms, as well as search for and filter alarms and events according to their preferences (screen shot). |
| Displaying network topology. Net Inspector automatically discovers and displays the topology and nodes on the network. The physical topology view displays discovered devices by means of icons connected with lines that symbolize physical connections, while the logical topology is represented by means of layered maps that reveal how devices are logically arranged into networks and subnets on the IP level. Users can also manually add device icons and connections, as well as bitmaps, text and other graphical objects to maps (screen shot). |
| Layer 2 and layer 3 network discovery. Net Inspector implements advanced network discovery methods and network topology calculation algorithms that let it automatically discover network devices and their interconnections and graphically represent the layer 2 (physical) and layer 3 (logical) topology of the discovered network. The discovery operations can be performed on a local subnet, on the user-specified address range or as the SNMP-based network scan that examines the routing tables and other network information provided by SNMP agents in order to discover all network subnets as well as devices within these subnets. The integrated scheduler can automatically run the network discovery operation in regular intervals in order to detect new network devices and changes in the network topology and adapt the Net Inspector configuration accordingly (screen shot). |
| User views as a means of access control and network management delegation. In addition to the standard user-based authentication mechanism and associated access rights, Net Inspector now lets you configure and assign different user views to users. A user view is a specific view of the network that can include either all managed objects in the supervised network (e.g., an administrator user view), any subgroup of those objects, or even individual services running on particular network devices (e.g., user views assigned to users with limited access rights). This principle facilitates the division of the supervised network into smaller units and enables efficient delegation of the network supervision activities to other staff members or even end-users (e.g., in case of ICT infrastructure and services providers) (screen shot). |
| Displaying the device status and system performance. Net Inspector continually monitors and displays the status and system performance information for all devices providing this information through SNMP. Besides the current device status (up/down), the polling engines continually monitor the latency (response times) and packet loss rates of all monitored devices, as well as the status, statistics, and utilization of network interfaces on SNMP devices. On servers and Cisco devices the memory consumption, CPU load, and disk capacity utilization is monitored automatically. Additionally, status, memory and CPU usage of any process running on the monitored computers can be monitored, as well as arbitrary, vendor-specific OIDs (screen shot). |
| Receiving and mapping SNMP Trap and Inform notifications to alarms. Net Inspector Server receives standard SNMP Trap Inform notification messages sent by network devices and maps them to events and alarms, based on the ITU X.733 compliant trap-to-alarm mapping scheme. The software also lets you configure your own rules for mapping enterprise-specific SNMP notifications to alarms. All alarms are presented and logged uniformly, no matter if they are based on events detected through polling managed devices, or reported by SNMP notifications sent by the managed devices. |
| Java-based Client. Net Inspector Client is a pure Java™ application that connects to remote Net Inspector Server and provides an intuitive graphical user interface which lets you view and manage alarms on managed objects, monitor the status and performance of managed objects, monitor IP traffic flows, VoIP QoS statistics, etc., as well as configure both parts of the application. Net Inspector Client runs on all operating systems with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), version 6.0 (a.k.a. 1.6) or later. |
| Client launches via the Java Web Start mechanism. The included micro HTTP server module serves the Java Web Start HTML page that enables users to download and launch Net Inspector Client from anywhere in the network by clicking the relevant link in a Web browser. This mechanism significantly simplifies the deployment process, as the software only needs to be installed on the server computer. The Client software is then distributed to individual users on their request through the Java Web Start mechanism. Furthermore, Net Inspector HTTP server provides also a Web-based access to Net Inspector documentation in electronic form (screen shot). |
| User-notifying mechanisms. Net Inspector can perform various actions when network events occur. In addition to sending e-mails and running arbitrary commands (e.g., to fix specific network problems in an automated fashion), Net Inspector can notify users of important alarms also by sending SMS (Short Message Service) text messages through the attached mobile phone with a built-in modem. This feature ensures that network operators are always notified of important alarms on time, regardless of their current physical location (screen shot). |
| Graphs with selectable time frame, trend lines, 95th percentile lines, linear and logarithmic scales etc. Majority of measured parameters, like the device response time and packet loss, CPU, memory and disk usage, interfaces utilization, bit rate, packet rate, error rate, discard rate, etc., VoIP QoS parameters, IP traffic flow details, etc. can now be presented in graph charts that show how those variables change over time and let you determine their trends from calculated trend lines, etc. Data in tabular form (hourly and daily averages and raw data) is also available in performance management reports. |
| Polling and SNMP access profiles simplify the configuration. Polling profiles and SNMP access profiles provide a centralized and efficient means of configuration, by which one can easily modify SNMP access and polling settings (including threshold values) for all managed devices that are accessed and polled according to those profiles. |
| Client/Server architecture. Net Inspector is a Client/Server application, where the Server module runs as a service/daemon application and performs all network monitoring operations and triggers alarms when needed. Net Inspector Client, on the other hand, is a pure Java (TM) application that connects to the server and provides a graphical user interface that lets you view and manage alarms on managed objects, monitor the status of managed objects, as well as configure the client and certain parameters of the server application. |
| Net Inspector Server runs on 32-bit and 64-bit MS Windows operating systems (Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8), while the Client runs on all operating systems with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), version 6.0 (a.k.a. 1.6) or later. |
| SQL database support. Alarms and events, as well as the collected performance management data is stored in an SQL database, e.g., PostgreSQL Server. |
| Support for all SNMPv3 USM security levels and protocols: HMAC-MD5 and HMAC-SHA authentication; CBC-DES privacy. Additionally, Net Inspector implements also the CFB-AES-128 privacy protocol providing a strong, 128-bit encryption of SNMP packets. |
| Ping and Traceroute Console and integrated MIB Browser. The Ping and Traceroute Console window provides a convenient interface for performing the standard Ping and Traceroute operations on arbitrary network devices. Besides, the integrated MIB Browser window lets you explore the graphical MIB tree and query arbitrary OIDs, parts of, or the entire MIB tree on SNMP devices (screen shot). |
| The enclosed MIB Compiler lets you compile any standard or vendor-specific MIB file. Compiled MIB files can then be loaded and utilized by Net Inspector, allowing you to perform SNMP monitoring activities in a user-friendly manner, for example, query specific OIDs, resolve queried OIDs to names, identify and display SNMP Trap and Inform notifications messages by their names, etc. (screen shot). |
| New and updated MIB modules. Net Inspector installs 294 standard MIB files, with roughly 22000 OID, textual convention and SNMP notification definitions. The built-in Batch Compile functionality ensures that the private (vendor-specific) MIB modules can be added in no time. |
| Updated documentation. Significantly updated and enhanced User Manuals with numerous hints and usage examples will help you get the most from MG-SOFT Net Inspector. |
| Flexible and robust application design. Intuitive and easy to use user interface incorporating the latest industry trends in the user interface design (screen shot). |
| Much more ... |
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