Real Time Network Performance Monitoring: Techniques & Tools in 2024

A robust network monitoring tool becomes essential to monitor network performance effectively. With real-time network performance monitoring, businesses can navigate the complexities in their network systems, ensuring optimal performance, security, and reliability.

In this article, we deep dive into the features, benefits, techniques and tools for real time network performance monitoring.

What is real time network performance monitoring?

Real-time network performance monitoring is a critical aspect of managing modern IT infrastructures. It involves using network monitoring tools to continuously observe and analyze the performance of network devices and traffic in real time. This approach allows IT professionals to promptly identify and address network issues, ensuring the smooth functioning of the network. By leveraging real-time data, organizations can maintain optimal network health, preventing downtime and ensuring efficient resource utilization.

What are the features of real time network performance monitoring?

Real-time network performance monitoring solutions are equipped with a range of features designed to optimize network management. Key features include:

Live Traffic Analysis

Monitoring network traffic in real time enables administrators to see current network conditions, identify bandwidth usage patterns, and detect anomalies.

Automated Alerts

These solutions can trigger automatic alerts when performance thresholds are breached, allowing for immediate response to potential network issues.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Support

SNMP is widely used for managing network devices. Real-time monitoring solutions often support SNMP to collect and organize information about these devices.

Comprehensive Dashboard

A user-friendly interface provides a holistic view of network performance, displaying key metrics and trends.

Flow Data Analysis

Utilizing flow data from network devices helps in understanding traffic patterns and pinpointing sources of congestion or potential security threats.

Historical Data and Reporting

Besides real-time monitoring, these tools store historical data for trend analysis and long-term planning.

What are the techniques for real time network monitoring?

Although there are various techniques to measure real time network performance, these are the most useful and important ones in general:

1- Traffic Analysis and Bandwidth Monitoring

This is crucial for understanding how network resources are being used and identifying potential bottlenecks. Network traffic monitoring helps in managing bandwidth allocation, optimizing network performance, and planning for capacity upgrades. By monitoring traffic, organizations can also detect unusual patterns that may indicate security issues.

2- Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Monitoring

SNMP is a staple in network monitoring due to its wide support and capability to gather detailed information about network devices. It’s useful for tracking the performance, availability, and health of network devices, making it essential for proactive network management.

3- Flow-Based Monitoring (NetFlow, sFlow, IPFIX)

Flow data provides insights into the types of traffic on the network, source and destination of traffic, and the volume of data being transmitted. This is valuable for capacity planning, security analysis, and understanding traffic patterns to optimize network performance.

4- Latency Measurement

Since latency directly affects the user experience, especially in applications requiring real-time or near-real-time communication, monitoring it is crucial. It helps in identifying network segments that are causing delays and aids in troubleshooting to improve the overall performance of the network.

Why do businesses need real time network performance monitoring?

Proactive Issue Resolution: By constantly monitoring network performance, businesses can proactively identify and resolve issues before they escalate.

Enhanced Security: Real-time monitoring helps in the early detection of unusual network traffic patterns, which could indicate security breaches.

Optimized Network Performance: Continuous monitoring enables businesses to ensure that their network infrastructure is performing optimally, leading to improved efficiency and productivity.

Compliance and Reporting: Many industries require strict compliance with regulatory standards, and real-time monitoring assists in maintaining these standards through detailed reporting.

Better Decision Making: Real-time data provides insights that help in making informed decisions regarding network upgrades and capacity planning.

Real Time Network Performance Monitoring Tools

A variety of real time network performance monitoring software and tools are available, each offering different features and capabilities. With a detailed analysis within the market, we shortlisted these 5 vendors according to the company size, user reviews and ratings:

• AKIPS
• Auvik
• ManageEngine OpManager
• NinjaOne
• Solarwinds Network Performance Monitoring

You can check our in-depth vendor selection article where we compare and evaluate these vendors in detail.

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Transparency Statement: AIMultiple works with many vendors, including AKIPS.