Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

August 2022

4 Key Reasons Service Virtualization is a Must for Agile Teams

Service virtualization is not new. In fact, the concept and technology were established 20 years ago. At its core, service virtualization offers the ability to simulate behavior, data, and performance characteristics of applications and services. Through service virtualization, teams can ensure they have an on-demand environment to support their testing needs.

10 Ways MSPs Can Punch Above Their Weight

Sometimes we associate fast-growing networks with power and success, but being small doesn’t mean you can’t compete—you just need to be smarter at creating a sustainable competitive advantage. Here are 10 things you can do as a small managed service provider (MSP) to punch above your weight. A documented process is a consistent process. And once you document how a process is carried out, you can then look for ways it can be improved.

System Administrator vs. Network Administrator: Which One Are You?

There’s an abundance of career opportunities in IT. It’s hard for newcomers to find their footing in the middle of complicated terminology, with similar job roles but not equal. One of these difficulties is the system administrator vs. network administrator issue. Are they two completely different careers? Today, we’ll help dispel any confusion so you can make an informed choice. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 5% growth for network and system administrators all through 2026.

Ribbon Connect for Operator Connect

The Fastest Way to Enable Microsoft Operator Connect Operator Connect uses an API-centric integration model to enable service providers (operators) to deliver telecom services to Microsoft Teams customers. Ribbon Connect for Operator Connect takes the complexity out of that integration process, it accelerates time to market and eliminates the need for providers to initiate significant IT programs. Ribbon Connect also provides web portals and automated workflows that make it easier for businesses to get engaged with a provider and deploy telecom services.

A Quick Guide to Observability vs APM vs Monitoring

The terms observability, APM, and monitoring are often used interchangeably. However, these solutions can actually be quite different depending on the overall needs of the business. In this video, SolarWinds Principal Product Marketing Manager Pete Di Stefano explains the differences between each of these terms and how using intelligence to integrate insights from APM and monitoring into a centralized observability solution is key to gaining a more comprehensive understanding of your entire IT ecosystem.

Eastman Discusses Their Voice Network Modernization Journey and Decisions

Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. The company's innovation-driven growth model takes advantage of world-class technology platforms, deep customer engagement, and differentiated application development to grow its leading positions in attractive end-markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables. As a globally inclusive and diverse company, Eastman employs approximately 14,000 people around the world and serves customers in more than 100 countries.

Network Blind Spots Are Endangering Your Business

Network blind spots are the things you can’t see and don’t know about. They’re dangerous. Just like the blind spots on your car, network blind spots can set you up for deadly crashes. Problems will seem to “come out of nowhere” and hit unexpectedly. Network blind spots create all kinds of serious problems. A major network crash is one. But other problems can pile up too.

Experience-Driven NetOps: What It Is and Why It Matters

Recent events have changed the world forever. For network operations (NetOps) teams, it means there’s no going back to the way things used to be. Virtually overnight, teams had to adapt to work-from-anywhere (WFA) models. The move to SaaS, cloud, and SD-WAN continue to accelerate—and in the process fundamentally alter the nature of network environments.

How much does RPKI ROV reduce the propagation of invalid routes?

Earlier this year, Job Snijders and I published an analysis that estimated the proportion of internet traffic destined for BGP routes with ROAs. The conclusion was that the majority of internet traffic goes to routes covered by ROAs and are thus eligible for the protection that RPKI ROV offers. However, ROAs alone are useless if only a few networks are rejecting invalid routes.

Welcome to the Experience-Driven NOC

At Broadcom Software, we strive to build the most scalable operational software in the market. We work to ensure that our network monitoring software can track how constant network changes affect user experiences. As a global provider of networking equipment, we understand that there will always be changes happening on today’s enterprise networks, especially the internet. That’s why we build and refine our monitoring software to align with constant change.

What Does SASE Mean (for VPN)?

Break out your buzzword bingo cards, it’s time to talk about SASE or Secure Access Service Edge. Pronounced “sassy,” SASE has become one of the hottest topics in networking and security over the last three years. The basic idea is great: all your security and network services are on one platform. The problem comes when you get into the specifics. When does a set of services go from “not SASE” to “SASE”?

Path-based Routing with HAProxy

If you host dozens of web services that reside at various subdomains, TCP ports, and paths, then migrating them to live under a single address could simplify how clients access them and make your job of managing access easier. It would mean moving from a hodgepodge of address schemes, such as: to a single address wherein services are designated by the URL’s path: The good news is that you don’t need to rearrange your entire network to make this happen.

How to Manage a Network: 10 Essential Steps

In a perfect world, understanding how to manage a network would be a breeze. On your first day of managing a network, you’d find tons of documentation on the IT infrastructure waiting for you. Login credentials would be securely recorded and ready for review. Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world. That’s why managing a new network can be tough—especially if you’re joining a brand new IT team or taking on a new client and aren’t sure what’s been done before.

Getting Started With Syslog in Auvik

When something goes wrong in your network, you often don’t find out about it until your users are affected, and you’re left scrambling to identify the issue and understand its root cause. The faster you find out about a network issue and why it’s happening, the quicker you can implement the right fix and spare your network users from unnecessary downtime.

How To Become a Network Administrator: Role, Skills, and Responsibilities

As the demand for specialists in information technology grows, so does the need for network administrators. Future organizations will always need dedicated experts to manage their increasingly expanding computer networks and systems. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of everything you need to know about the role of a network administrator, such as: Computer information technology isn’t going out of fashion soon, and neither are the jobs needed to run computer networks.

High-Scale Monitoring: Lessons from Broadcom's DX UIM Deployment

While many people know us from our semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, few have visibility into what goes on behind the scenes to support Broadcom’s global business. Within the Broadcom Software division, the Broadcom Global Technology Organization (GTO) is responsible for managing an extensive IT infrastructure, one that spans 18 data centers, 100 sites, and 400 R&D labs.

Battle the Ransomware Scourge with Deep Network Insight

Ransomware is the gift that keeps on giving. Old as it is (33 years) ransomware is constantly morphing into new exploits. The reason is simple. Ransomware works and too often cybercriminals walk away with bags of money (or piles of Bitcoin, anyway). “Following the World Health Organization's AIDS conference in 1989, Joseph L. Popp, a Harvard-educated biologist, mailed 20,000 floppy disks to event attendees.

How to Troubleshoot Intermittent Internet Connection

Dealing with an intermittent Internet connection is very frustrating. Does your Internet connection keep disconnecting and reconnecting when you’re watching your favourite Netflix show or chatting with your colleagues on Zoom? In this article, we’re teaching you how to troubleshoot intermittent Internet issues with Network Monitoring.

Networking Automation Software: Pros & Cons

What is network automation software? It’s something we’re going to be seeing a lot of in the near future. Networks worldwide continue to grow at astonishing rates to supply organizations with the access and bandwidth they need to operate. But in a survey by Oracle, 76% of respondents said network complexity was one of management’s biggest challenges. As network growth increases—and complexity along with it—we’ll need efficient and scalable ways to handle it.

Wireshark: an Open-Source Packet Capture Tool

Wireshark is one of the most popular network packet analyzers available. It has been embraced by network admins worldwide and has become one of the essential network troubleshooting tools for IT teams. Read on to learn more about Wireshark, how to use it, and some relevant cases and alternatives. We will mainly focus on how you can use this tool to maintain a robust network within your organization.

Tame the Internet with DX NetOps 22.2 Network Monitoring Software

DX NetOps 22.2 optimizes network operations with industry-leading visibility, scale and modern network coverage beyond the network edge to quickly and easily isolate end-user experience impact of network performance issues. Recent research revealed that 67% of companies cite internet and cloud network paths as monitoring blind spots. Furthermore, 71% of companies say that adoption of new network technologies is delayed by inadequate network monitoring software.

RESOLVE '22: The SOC and the NOC

In our RESOLVE ’22 event The SOC and the NOC, moderator and 3 Tree Tech VP of Cybersecurity Kris Taylor welcomed two esteemed guests to the stage: As Kris noted at the top of the event, we brought our panelists together to talk about “the culture of the network operating center (NOC) and security operations center (SOC).” Along the way, they discussed different philosophical and practical takes on the high-level topics of networking and security.

Introducing OpUtils' IP Request tool

Are multiple IT operators accessing, utilizing, or managing your network address space? If so, then you might have noticed that one of the time-consuming network management tasks you are undertaking regularly, is allocating IP addresses to the IT operators. This is an inevitable task since, as your network scales with new physical components or technology implementations, your operators require new IPs to enable network connectivity.

Welcome to the Experience-Driven NOC: Configure DX NetOps to Collect AppNeta Experience Metrics

On your journey to the Experience-Driven NOC, in this video we show you how to configure the DX NetOps gateway to connect to your AppNeta instance with all the relevant information needed to consume experience metrics into the NetOps portal. For more info, visit broadcom.com/netops

Welcome To The Experience-Driven NOC: Track Network Path Deviation From Normal Performance

On your journey to the Experience-Driven NOC, we illustrate the importance of tracking deviation from normal network path performance behavior. This DX NetOps capability provides operations even more clarity into network performance impact on user experiences with focused triage on what matters vs performance blips that do not require immediate attention.

Welcome to the Experience-Driven NOC: Network Path Performance Metrics

On your journey to the Experience-Driven NOC, we make it easy to view and modify the network path metrics collected by AppNeta inside the DX NetOps portal for your Experience-Driven NOC. Metrics like percentiles and projections provide even more observability like capacity planning besides many other insights and can be used in dashboards and reports.

Welcome to the Experience-Driven NOC: Network Path Change Alarms and Drill Down Context Pages

On your journey to the Experience-Driven NOC, DX NetOps 22,2 is enabling network operations centers to utilize their standard operating procedures and workflows to triage the performance of the entire network path of any user experience - over managed or unmanaged networks. As with any workflow, we start with an alarm and enable operations to drill down, in-context to the offending network device; giving operators enhanced visibility into network path performance along with key KPIs for focused troubleshooting on any and all user experience impact. For more info, visit broadcom.com/netops

5 best practices for optimizing IP address management

Ever discovered an IP issue only after an end user reported it? If yes, you are not alone! Many network admins without a proactive monitoring solution in place have to constantly deal with recurring IP issues such as IP conflicts and subnet overutilization. As simple as it sounds, IP address management can be a tricky endeavor without the right strategy and management tools. Managing hundreds of IPs across multiple subnets and supernets can be tedious.

DX NetOps 22.2 Expands Industry-Leading Observability for Fortinet SD-WAN

The latest release of DX NetOps 22.2 continues to expand monitoring coverage of the most popular SD-WAN vendors in the market - now supporting Fortinet SD-WAN. The multi-vendor SD-WAN monitoring solution helps operations teams quickly understand how their Fortinet SD-WAN environment is meeting application delivery SLAs and how current performance compares to baseline norms.

Welcome to the Experience-Driven NOC

Experience is the new benchmark for network operations today. That is why we are proud to deliver DX NetOps 22.2 that takes our decades of expertise in network visibility, scale and modern network coverage and expands these capabilities beyond the network edge, to home wireless, ISP, cloud and SaaS environments; where the user experience lives now. For more information, visit broadcom.com/netops

Restrict API Access with Client Certificates (mTLS)

An application programming interface (API) provides access to the features of a business application, but with the visual elements stripped away. By using APIs, devices like tablets, self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, and robotic sensors can connect up to apps running on servers in a datacenter or in the cloud. Because they give access to the heart of your business applications, it should come as no surprise that there are some APIs that the general public should not have access to.

Introduction to Network Detection and Response

With cyber threats on the rise each year, ensuring the security of your IT estate and being able to respond quickly to any potential threat is more crucial than ever. This is why Network Detection and Response tools play such a critical role in your security posture. We will introduce you to our Network Detection & Response tools, exploring the benefits of adding them to the solutions already deployed in your network infrastructure.

Network Availability Monitoring Tools

For any digital service provider, there’s nothing worse than remaining in the dark and responding to network issues only when a customer rings in with a complaint. However, the planning and management needed to remain ahead of such network issues requires consistent monitoring. Network availability monitoring is a crucial aspect of network management and administration today. Here’s a detailed guide on network monitoring and network availability monitoring tools.

Major Hosted VoIP Provider, bravad TI, Choose Obkio for End-User Network Monitoring

Learn how Obkio works with technology agency & major hosted VoIP Service Provider, bravad TI, to create a streamlined network monitoring and troubleshooting process to optimize VoIP performance & improve the end user experience.

Understanding AS relationships, outage analysis and more Network Operator Confidential gems

The objective of Network Operator Confidential is to share our global internet market insights from recent months. Kentik, and our customers, have access to views and analysis of global internet traffic that no one else can match. In our first Network Operator Confidential webinar, I was joined by Doug Madory, Kentik’s director of internet analysis, and Grant Kirkwood, founder and CTO at Unitas Global.

How Cloud Network Monitoring Is Critical To Business Success

A rising number of businesses are adopting and utilizing cloud services and capabilities with remarkable success. But embracing cloud tools and services often brings unexpected changes for business leaders and IT teams, especially because of the way in which cloud adoption has altered how networks are monitored and managed.

Why devops needs a better approach to cloud networking

A full-stack networking platform with machine learning, autonomous capabilities, and multicloud support allows devops engineers to focus on what matters most—building applications. The promise of digital transformation is enabling businesses to magnify competitive advantages, create new revenue streams, and improve customer experiences.

Bringing business context to network analytics

Kentik brings real-world business context to the telemetry we collect and the analytics we provide. That’s the overarching theme I got from Networking Field Day: Service Provider 2. As I watched and listened to each presentation, it was pretty obvious to me that Avi, Steve, Doug, and Nina, all technical powerhouses, were a little less focused on packets and a little more focused on how we can improve network operations and a service provider’s ability to make smart business decisions.

14 Network Troubleshooting Tools Network Administrators Can't Work Without

Solving network issues is one of the main aspects of a network admin’s job description, and every admin will have a collection of network troubleshooting tools. The simple reason behind this is that they are essential for maintaining a robust network, fixing network issues quickly, making network resources available, and keeping business processes alive.

Rerouting of Kherson follows familiar gameplan

Since the beginning of June this year, internet connectivity in the Russian-held Ukrainian city of Kherson has been rerouted through Crimea, the peninsula in southern Ukraine that has been occupied by Russia since March 2014. As I explain in this blog post, the rerouting of internet service in Kherson appears to parallel what took place following the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

What is an MSP SLA? Everything You Need to Know

As a managed service provider, your success depends largely on the satisfaction of your customers. If they’re happy, they’ll stay with you and recommend you to others. But if they’re not, they’ll take their business elsewhere. Sometimes, some customers are never satisfied no matter how hard you try. Instead, they’re always finding something to complain about, which can be frustrating.

Deutsche Bergbau-Museum Bochum

The Deutsche Bergbau-Museum Bochum (DBM), or the German Mining Museum, is one of the premier locations to show those interested in the history of mining. Over its 100+ years of operation, the DBM has evolved its exhibits to use multimedia players and other digital devices connected to its network. However, the museum’s three-person IT staff faced a series of problems, including a lack of insight into where network outages occurred and no alert notifications. After working alongside P&W Netzwerk, DBM deployed Progress WhatsUp Gold to manage the broad network environment cost-effectively.

How to Use the Ping Command for Network and Troubleshooting

The ping command is one of network admins' most commonly used tools. It has served and continues to serve network admins as one of the best network troubleshooting tools since it was released almost 39 years ago. In this article, we cover what the ping command does, how to use it, and more. Read on to learn the basics about this simple but powerful networking tool that IT teams can’t live without.

A Tale of Two Pluggables: Ribbon's Choice for Optimizing Metro Optical Networks

In a Light Reading article earlier this year, Scott Wilkinson, Lead Optical Component Analyst at Cignal AI, said, "The transition to 400GbE is well underway, and pluggable coherent 400Gbps technology is revolutionizing the design of the optical networks that connect data centers.

Innovate at Speed With DX NetOps 22.2 Network Monitoring Software

Remove any bottlenecks to your network deployments with continuous, end-to-end modern network monitoring software. Modern network architectures like SD-WAN have emerged as game-changing solutions that provide a mechanism for improving traffic management, deployments, and automation.

Networking 101: What is a VLAN?

The idea of a VLAN, or Virtual Local Area Network, is simple enough, right? It’s hard to imagine any work in a modern networking/IT space without having encountered, set up, or managed a VLAN. Well if that’s all you needed to know about VLANs, we’d be done here, but there’s a bit more to it. To cover our bases: In most modern networks the primary purpose of the LAN is to provide connectivity to a wider network, most notably the internet.

Log Forwarding with HAProxy and Syslog

Developing a strategy for collecting application-level logs necessitates stepping back and looking at the big picture. Engineers developing the applications may only see logging at its ground level: the code that writes the event to the log—for example a function that captures Warning: An interesting event has occurred! But where does that message go from there? What path does it travel to get to its destination?

Obkio Network Monitoring App Tour

Obkio’s Network Monitoring SaaS app was born from a need within the industry to simplify network performance monitoring for modern, decentralized networks. What are some of Obkio’s features, and how can you use Obkio to troubleshoot network problems? We’re showing you how in this network monitoring app tour - told through screenshots.

Synthetic web tests - Moving up the stack

In this short explainer and demo, Kentik's Phil Gervasi shows how Kentik is moving up the stack to monitor application activity on the network. Phil explains the differences between proactive and passive network monitoring and demonstrates three new synthetic tests that relate to app performance monitoring. Kentik's suite of application-focused synthetic tests give you proactive visibility into application activity on your network. Using the HTTP test, Page Load test, and Synthetic Transaction Monitoring, you can monitor a user's digital experience and troubleshoot problems as they happen.

How to Import/Export Orion Modern Dashboards

The flexibility available in Modern Dashboards on the SolarWinds Orion Platform is nothing short of amazing. The dashboards are quick and easy to build and share. We'll guide you through the process of how to import a Modern Dashboard from THWACK and how to export your own to share with the SolarWinds community.

Everything You Need To Know About Cloud Egress Charges

Whenever you move data into or out of a cloud, the traffic crosses one or more networks, potentially resulting in transfer charges. These are known as ingress (moving data into the cloud) and egress (moving data out of the cloud) charges - and there's incentives in most of the pricing models by cloud service providers (CSP) to encourage an organisation to use a direct connection to transfer data, rather than go via the public internet.