What is Network Infrastructure Monitoring & How it Works

Is your network letting you down? Slowdowns, outages, and constant troubleshooting eating into your workday? You're not alone. In today's digital world, a reliable network is crucial for any business to succeed.

This article introduces you to Network Infrastructure Monitoring (NIM). It's like having a checkup for your network (hardware components in particular), helping you identify problems before they cause major headaches. With NIM, you can finally ditch the guesswork and ensure your network runs smoothly, and efficiently, and can handle whatever 2024 throws your way. Let's get started!

Network Infrastructure Monitoring is the practice of observing and managing the fundamental components that make up your network. This includes the physical hardware like routers, switches, firewalls, and servers, along with the connections that bind them together, such as cables, wireless networks, and VPNs. The ultimate goal of network infrastructure monitoring is to guarantee these elements are working flawlessly, are secure, and can efficiently manage your network's traffic and workload.

Proactively monitoring your network infrastructure, helps you to:

• Prevent Problems: Catch minor glitches before they snowball into major outages.
• Keep Things Fast: Ensure smooth and speedy network operations.
• Stop Bad Guys: Detect and block unauthorized access attempts, malware, and cyber threats.
• Plan for Growth: Proactively identify when upgrades are necessary to accommodate future user demands and workloads.
• Follow Rules: Maintain network compliance with industry regulations and security best practices.
• Save Money: Prevent costly downtime and unnecessary hardware upgrades.
• Keep Business Going: Mitigate disruptions and ensure business continuity even during network hiccups.

Just like a building requires a solid foundation, a healthy network relies on a robust network infrastructure monitoring strategy. This strategy goes beyond simply keeping an eye on things – it involves a proactive approach that utilizes a combination of tools and techniques to gain a comprehensive understanding of your network's inner workings. By continuously monitoring these key components, you can ensure your network operates efficiently, identify and address potential issues before they snowball, and plan for future growth to avoid disruptive bottlenecks.

Here's a breakdown of the essential components that form the bedrock of effective network infrastructure monitoring:

Network Infrastructure Devices: Network devices like routers, switches, and firewalls are the workhorses of your network, constantly processing data and keeping the traffic flowing. This component continuously monitors the health and performance of these devices, tracking critical metrics like CPU usage, memory utilization, and uptime. By keeping a close eye on these indicators, you can identify potential hardware failures or performance issues before they disrupt network operations.

Here's a are some key network devices you'll find part of a network infrastructure:

• Routers: These act like the GPS navigators of your network. They receive data packets, analyze their destination addresses (like IP addresses), and then consult routing tables to determine the most efficient path to send them across different networks. This ensures your data reaches its intended recipient, whether it's across the office or across the globe.
• Switches: Think of switches as the mailroom sorters of your network. They operate within a single network, efficiently sorting incoming data packets based on their unique device addresses (MAC addresses). Unlike hubs that broadcast everything to everyone, switches ensure data gets delivered only to the specific device it's meant for, keeping network traffic smooth and efficient.
• Firewalls: These are your network's security guards, constantly on patrol. They meticulously examine all incoming and outgoing traffic, comparing it to pre-defined security rules. If something suspicious tries to enter, like malware or unauthorized access attempts, the firewall acts as a barrier, blocking it from infiltrating your network.
• Modems: Imagine these as the translators of your network, enabling communication with the outside world. They convert the digital language spoken by your network devices into analog signals that can travel over traditional phone lines or cable connections. This allows your network to connect to the internet and exchange data with devices around the globe.
• Access Points (APs): If your network has wireless devices like laptops or smartphones, APs are their lifeline to the wired network. These act as wireless hotspots, transmitting and receiving signals that allow your wireless devices to connect and communicate seamlessly within the network infrastructure.

Traffic Analysis: Imagine a highway – if you don't monitor traffic patterns, you won't know where bottlenecks are forming or if there are unusual traffic patterns that might indicate an accident. Traffic analysis plays a similar role in network infrastructure monitoring. By analyzing network traffic patterns, you can identify areas of network congestion, unusual activity that could signal security threats, or potential bottlenecks that hinder network performance. Many monitoring tools offer data flow visualization and Quality of Service (QoS) features that make it easier to pinpoint problem areas and understand how data travels across your network.

Security Monitoring: In today's digital landscape, cybersecurity threats are a constant concern. Security monitoring acts as your network's watchful guardian, constantly scanning for suspicious activity and potential security breaches. This includes monitoring for unauthorized access attempts, malware infiltration attempts, and other malicious behaviour. By continuously monitoring for these threats, you can take proactive measures to safeguard your network and prevent security incidents.

Alerting and Notification Systems: Even the most vigilant network monitoring system is only effective if it can communicate potential issues. Alerting and notification systems are the communication channels that keep your IT teams informed. These systems can be configured to send automated alerts whenever anomalies or potential problems are detected during monitoring. This allows IT teams to intervene promptly and address issues before they escalate into major outages.

Performance Monitoring: While not the sole focus of network infrastructure monitoring, monitoring key performance metrics like latency and packet loss provides valuable insights into overall network health. Think of it as a doctor taking your vital signs – even though a complete physical exam is needed for a full diagnosis, these basic metrics can indicate potential problems. By monitoring performance metrics, you can gain a general sense of how efficiently data is flowing across your network and identify potential areas for optimization.

Capacity Planning: Network usage patterns are constantly evolving. Network infrastructure monitoring helps you understand these current usage patterns by providing insights into data traffic volumes and resource demands on your network devices. With this knowledge, you can proactively plan for future capacity needs. This might involve budgeting for hardware upgrades, implementing network segmentation strategies, or exploring cloud-based solutions to accommodate anticipated growth. By taking a proactive approach to capacity planning, you can ensure your network can handle future demands without experiencing performance degradation or outages.

Imagine your network as a complex machine – data constantly flows through it, devices communicate with each other, and security threats lurk around every corner. Network infrastructure monitoring software acts as the eyes and ears of this machine, continuously monitoring its internal functions to ensure smooth operation and identify potential problems. This monitoring process follows a specific workflow:

1. Data Collection: Just like a mechanic gathers information through diagnostic tools, network infrastructure monitoring begins with data collection. Monitoring tools act as information gatherers, meticulously collecting data about various devices and connections within the network. This data encompasses a wide range of information, including device health metrics like CPU usage and memory, traffic flow patterns that reveal how data travels across the network, and security logs that record any suspicious activity.
2. Traffic Analysis: Once the data is collected, it's time to analyze it. Traffic analysis tools take center stage in this act, meticulously examining data flow patterns. Their goal? To identify any slowdowns that could hinder performance, unusual traffic patterns that might signal security threats, or potential bottlenecks that create congestion points within the network. By analyzing this data, these tools provide valuable insights into the overall health and efficiency of your network's data flow.
3. Device Health Check: Just as a mechanic checks a car's engine for signs of trouble, network infrastructure monitoring continuously checks the health of network devices like routers, switches, and servers. Device health monitoring tools constantly monitor these devices for signs of trouble, such as high CPU usage that could indicate overload or overheating that could lead to hardware failure. By keeping a close eye on these vital signs, potential issues can be identified and addressed before they disrupt network operations.
4. Alerting and Intervention: Early detection is key to preventing problems from escalating. When the monitoring system detects an anomaly or potential issue during any of the previous stages, it triggers automated alerts. These alerts act as alarm bells, notifying IT teams of any potential problems requiring immediate intervention. With this prompt notification, IT teams can swiftly address the issue and prevent it from snowballing into a major outage.
5. Security Awareness: Cybersecurity threats are a constant concern in today's digital age. Network infrastructure monitoring plays a crucial role in safeguarding your network by incorporating security monitoring tools. These tools act as vigilant sentries, constantly scanning for suspicious activity and unauthorized access attempts. By continuously monitoring these threats, security monitoring tools empower you to take proactive measures to protect your network and prevent security breaches.
6. Predictive Planning: Network infrastructure monitoring isn't just about reacting to problems – it's also about looking ahead. By analyzing historical data collected over time, along with current usage patterns, network infrastructure monitoring can help predict future capacity needs. This allows for proactive planning, enabling you to anticipate when your network might reach its limits and plan for upgrades or capacity expansion before bottlenecks or outages occur.
7. Insights for Action: The final step of this process involves generating reports that translate the collected data into actionable insights. Monitoring tools compile comprehensive reports that provide valuable information about network performance, resource utilization, and potential security risks. These reports empower IT teams to make data-driven decisions for network optimization. Armed with these insights, they can identify areas for improvement, optimize resource allocation, and ensure your network continues to operate efficiently and securely.

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Investing in a strong network infrastructure monitoring strategy brings a range of advantages to your organization. Here's a breakdown of the key benefits you can expect:

Improved Network Performance: Imagine a Formula One race – even the most skilled driver needs a pit crew to monitor engine performance and make adjustments for optimal speed. Network infrastructure monitoring acts as your pit crew, constantly checking for performance bottlenecks and glitches. By proactively identifying and resolving these issues, you ensure smooth and efficient data flow, keeping your network operating at peak performance.

Enhanced Security Posture: In today's digital age, cyber threats lurk around every corner, waiting to exploit vulnerabilities. Network infrastructure monitoring acts as your network's guardian. Security monitoring tools continuously scan for suspicious activity, which allows you to detect and mitigate security threats before they can infiltrate your network and wreak havoc.

Reduced Downtime: Imagine a high-stakes game of dodgeball – one wrong move and you're out. Network downtime can have a similar impact on your business. Network infrastructure monitoring empowers you to play a winning game of dodgeball against downtime. Providing early warnings of potential problems, it allows you to take preventative measures and minimize network outages, ensuring business continuity and keeping your operations running smoothly.

Increased Efficiency: Just like a well-oiled machine, a network that runs efficiently allows your IT team to focus on more strategic initiatives. Network infrastructure monitoring tools automate many tedious tasks, such as data collection and basic troubleshooting. This frees up valuable time for your IT staff to focus on higher-level projects, improving overall IT efficiency.

Resourceful Allocation: Imagine a treasure chest overflowing with gold coins – wouldn't you want to allocate them strategically? Network infrastructure monitoring provides valuable data insights that act as your treasure map. By analyzing this data, you can optimize resource allocation, ensuring that your network bandwidth is used efficiently. This might involve identifying areas where bandwidth is underutilized and reallocating it to busier parts of the network, or prioritizing critical applications to ensure they receive the resources they need.

Data-Driven Decisions: Imagine navigating a dense fog without a compass – it's a recipe for getting lost. Network infrastructure monitoring equips you with a compass and a detailed map. The wealth of data generated by monitoring tools empowers informed decision-making regarding network upgrades, capacity planning, and your overall network strategy. With clear data to guide you, you can make strategic choices that ensure your network can meet the evolving needs of your organization.

SLA Superhero: Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are the promises you make to your clients or internal departments regarding network performance. Network infrastructure monitoring equips you with a superhero cape when it comes to upholding these SLAs. By enabling timely detection and resolution of issues or downtime, you can maintain high availability and ensure you meet or exceed the performance benchmarks outlined in your SLAs.

Network Infrastructure Monitoring provides the foundation for a healthy network by ensuring the underlying infrastructure is functioning properly. Network Performance Monitoring builds upon this foundation by analyzing how well data flows across that infrastructure and how applications perform on top of it.

While both network infrastructure monitoring (NIM) and network performance monitoring (NPM) are crucial for network management, they have distinct focuses and objectives.

Here's a breakdown of the key differences:

Focus Area

• Network Infrastructure Monitoring: Primarily watches over the physical health and functionality of network devices like routers, switches, and servers.
• Network Performance Monitoring: Tracks how efficiently data travels across the network and monitors the performance of applications that rely on the network.

Purpose

• Network Infrastructure Monitoring: Ensures that network devices and connections are operational and functioning as expected.
• Network Performance Monitoring: Measures how well the network handles data traffic and application demands, focusing on user experience.

Metrics Monitored

• Network Infrastructure Monitoring: Looks at device health metrics like CPU usage, memory utilization, uptime, and connectivity status.
• Network Performance Monitoring: Measures network performance metrics like speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, and application response times.

Alerts

• Network Infrastructure Monitoring: Alerts for hardware failures, connectivity issues, or abnormal device behaviour.
• Network Performance Monitoring: Alerts for slowdowns, high latency, application performance issues, or unusual traffic patterns.

Troubleshooting

• Network Infrastructure Monitoring: Helps identify and troubleshoot hardware or connection problems that might be causing network instability.
• Network Performance Monitoring: Assists in optimizing network configurations and resource allocation to improve overall network performance and user experience.

Scope

• Network Infrastructure Monitoring: Focuses on the physical components and connections that make up the network infrastructure.
• Network Performance Monitoring: Concentrates on data transmission efficiency, application responsiveness, and the overall user experience of network resources.

PRO Tip:

• For a holistic view of your network's health, it's recommended to implement both network infrastructure monitoring and network performance monitoring tools.
• While NIM tools excel at keeping the network's “plumbing” in good shape, NPM tools ensure the water (data) is flowing smoothly and users aren't experiencing any delays or disruptions.

Modern Network Monitoring (NPM) tools can also be leveraged for network infrastructure monitoring tasks, thanks to their built-in device monitoring features. Obkio Network Performance Monitoring software, for example, offers a robust Device Monitoring feature that utilizes SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) to gather valuable data from network devices. SNMP allows Obkio to monitor key metrics like CPU usage, memory utilization, and interface uptime, providing a clear picture of your network device health.

By leveraging Obkio's functionalities, you can gain a holistic view of your network, encompassing individual devices, user experience, and overall network efficiency. This means you receive timely alerts only when network performance starts to degrade, ensuring you address critical issues first. Obkio's Network Device Monitoring feature is your go-to tool for troubleshooting performance bottlenecks and swiftly resolving network device issues like congestion, high CPU usage, and interface errors.

Let's delve deeper into how Obkio's Device Monitoring features empower you with proactive monitoring of your network infrastructure.

Obkio isn't your average network monitoring tool. It's a game-changer, offering an end-to-end visibility into your network's performance. Think of it as an X-ray machine for your network – it unveils everything from individual device health to overall user experience. Obkio's secret sauce lies in its data-driven approach.

It gathers a comprehensive suite of network metrics, transforming them into actionable insights. This allows you to identify bottlenecks before they cause disruptions, proactively manage your network, and ensure a smooth, frustration-free experience for everyone who relies on it. Obkio's user-friendly interface makes this a breeze, empowering even non-experts to become network monitoring ninjas.

Additionally, Obkio offers thorough analytics and reports on network performance, which provide insightful information about previous trends, patterns, and performance. Planning for future network capacity requirements and finding long-term network optimization opportunities are made easier with the help of these reports.

• 14-day free trial of all premium features
• Deploy in just 10 minutes
• Monitor performance in all key network locations
• Measure real-time network metrics
• Identify and troubleshoot live network problems

SNMP Polling works by sending requests to your network devices to gather information like CPU usage, memory usage, network traffic, and interface status. Obkio acts as the questioner, sending these requests to specific locations on the device (OIDs - Object Identifiers) that contain the requested data. This information is then collected and stored for analysis and reporting purposes.

By leveraging SNMP polling, Obkio can identify issues, troubleshoot problems, and optimize your network's performance.

Before diving into monitoring, you'll need to deploy at least one Monitoring Agent from Obkio. These unique software programs continuously exchange synthetic traffic within your network at key locations (data centers, branch offices, etc.).

This synthetic traffic helps measure performance using key metrics and identify any potential issues. It's crucial to have a Monitoring Agent deployed for it to communicate with your network devices and measure performance. Obkio recommends using the agent closest to the device you want to monitor for optimal results.

Once your Monitoring Agents are in place, you can begin monitoring your network devices using SNMP by adding them directly within the Obkio app. The devices you want to monitor must be SNMP-compatible.

Obkio conveniently supports all SNMP versions (v1, v2c, and v3) and only requires read-only access. The good news is you don't need to be an SNMP or OID detection expert – Obkio automatically adapts to any equipment type, be it Meraki routers, Cisco switches, Fortinet firewalls, or SonicWall appliances. Obkio will gather the appropriate information specific to that device to monitor its performance and identify issues.

After adding your network devices, Obkio's Network Device Monitoring features kick in with Ultra-Fast Polling (every 30 seconds) to provide far more precise results compared to traditional software polling (every 5 minutes).

This increased frequency allows for the detection of even short bursts of traffic spikes or CPU utilization that can significantly impact network performance and pinpoint the root cause of the issue. Traditional polling methods might miss these crucial peaks that are essential for identifying performance problems.

With Obkio up and running and your devices added, agents will continuously monitor critical network device performance metrics, providing you with a complete picture of your network device health. Monitoring these metrics empowers you to identify any potential issues with your network devices. Some of the most important metrics to monitor include:

• Bandwidth Utilization: This metric reveals how much of your available network bandwidth is currently being used. Monitoring it helps identify bottlenecks and plan for future network capacity upgrades.
• Packet Loss: This metric measures how many data packets are lost or dropped during transmission. Monitoring packet loss helps identify network congestion and other issues impacting performance.
• Latency: This metric measures the time it takes for a data packet to travel from its source to its destination. Monitoring latency helps identify network delays that can affect user experience.
• CPU Usage: This metric measures how much of the device's CPU capacity is being used at any given time. Monitoring CPU usage helps identify resource-intensive processes or applications that might be impacting network performance.

These are just a few examples, and Obkio offers a comprehensive range of metrics to provide a deep dive into your network device health. Learn more about 19 Key Network Metrics in our comprehensive guide.

By following these steps and leveraging Obkio's Network Device Monitoring features, you can gain valuable insights into your network's performance, identify and troubleshoot issues proactively, and ensure your network runs smoothly and efficiently.

Network infrastructure comes in all shapes and sizes, and the way you monitor it should reflect that variety. On-premises, cloud-based, and hybrid network architectures each pose distinct challenges and considerations when it comes to monitoring.

• On-premises environments demand close attention to physical hardware health and local network configurations. Here, traditional monitoring tools that interact directly with your devices take center stage.
• Cloud-based infrastructure leans heavily on the monitoring tools and APIs provided by your cloud service provider (CSP). Understanding and leveraging these resources effectively is key.
• Hybrid infrastructures, which combine on-premises and cloud elements, necessitate a two-pronged approach. You'll need to monitor both your physical infrastructure and your cloud resources to ensure seamless network operation.

By acknowledging these infrastructure variations and adapting your monitoring strategy accordingly, you can ensure comprehensive and effective oversight of your network.

Here are some best practices to ensure your network infrastructure monitoring is effective:

Every organization has unique network usage patterns and priorities. Clearly define what "success" looks like for your network. Are you most concerned about uptime and preventing outages? Is optimizing application performance your top priority? Understanding your objectives will guide you in selecting the right monitoring tools and configuring them to deliver the most valuable insights.

Imagine navigating a dark maze - without a complete picture of your network, you're bound to encounter unforeseen obstacles. Network visibility extends to all critical network components. Servers, routers, switches, firewalls, and essential services like DNS and DHCP should all be monitored to ensure a holistic view of network health. Leaving any blind spots can lead to undetected issues that snowball into major problems down the line.

Alerts are your network's early warning system, but information overload can be counterproductive. Set appropriate alert thresholds that trigger notifications only when there's a genuine cause for concern. Alerts that are too sensitive will lead to "alert fatigue," causing IT teams to ignore notifications altogether. Conversely, overly permissive thresholds might let critical issues slip through the cracks.

Your network is a living entity that constantly evolves. Regularly test your monitoring system to ensure it accurately reflects your network's current state. This could involve validation tests to confirm alerts and notifications are functioning as expected or reevaluating baselines for key performance metrics as your network usage patterns change.

The best monitoring tools are only as effective as the people who use them. Invest in training your IT and network teams on how to leverage your monitoring system effectively. This includes understanding how to interpret alerts, diagnose network issues, and utilize the data gleaned from monitoring to optimize network performance.

As your organization grows, so will your network's demands. Select a monitoring solution that can keep pace with this expansion. The ideal solution should be able to handle increasing data volumes and accommodate additional network devices without sacrificing performance or requiring you to significantly ramp up your IT staff.

Even the most robust networks encounter hiccups. Having a well-defined incident response plan in place ensures a coordinated and efficient approach when network issues arise. This plan should outline roles and responsibilities for IT teams, establish clear escalation paths, and define communication protocols to keep everyone informed during an incident.

Don't wait for network problems to become full-blown outages before taking action. Implement real-time monitoring to detect issues as they occur. This allows for early intervention and quicker resolution, minimizing downtime and its impact on your organization.

Network performance data is a valuable treasure chest. By retaining historical data, you can analyze trends, identify potential bottlenecks, and forecast future network needs This historical perspective empowers you to make data-driven decisions regarding network capacity planning, resource allocation, and infrastructure upgrades.

Network performance monitoring goes beyond simply identifying failures. It contributes to operational continuity by preventing disruptions that can impede business processes. Identifying potential performance issues before they escalate ensures that critical operations run smoothly, meeting SLAs (Service Level Agreements) and enhancing overall business resilience.

Network infrastructure monitoring plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy and efficient network. However, effectively monitoring today's complex network environments presents a unique set of challenges for IT teams:

Managing Network Complexity: Modern networks are intricate ecosystems, often encompassing a diverse range of devices, applications, and technologies. This complexity makes it difficult to gain a comprehensive understanding of how individual components interact and contribute to overall network performance. While device monitoring tools provide valuable insights into the health of individual devices, they don't offer a holistic view of the network's overall performance.

Alert Fatigue and Information Overload: Traditional monitoring tools often generate a constant stream of alerts, many of which may be irrelevant or low-priority. This information overload can lead to "alert fatigue," where IT teams become desensitized to critical notifications, potentially missing crucial issues that require immediate attention.

Extracting Meaning from Data: Network devices generate a vast amount of data. While this data is valuable, sifting through it to identify important trends, anomalies, or potential problems can be a daunting task. Without proper tools and expertise, it's easy to miss critical insights hidden within the data.

Security Considerations: Implementing network infrastructure monitoring tools introduces a new layer of complexity from a security standpoint. It's crucial to ensure the monitoring system itself is secure and doesn't introduce vulnerabilities into your network. Additionally, the data collected by the monitoring tools needs to be protected from unauthorized access.

The Talent Gap: Effectively managing and interpreting network infrastructure monitoring data requires skilled IT professionals with a deep understanding of network protocols, performance metrics, and troubleshooting techniques. Finding and retaining these skilled personnel can be a challenge for many organizations.

To overcome these challenges, a multi-layered approach is recommended. Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) tools provide a broader network-wide perspective, especially with device monitoring features, offering in-depth insights into the health and efficiency of your network. By combining these approaches, you can achieve a comprehensive monitoring strategy that provides valuable insights into both individual device health and overall network efficiency.

Here at Obkio, we understand that robust infrastructure monitoring is the foundation of a healthy network. That's why our Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) solution goes beyond basic performance metrics. This means you can gain deep visibility into the health and performance of your network devices (And network as a whole!), from routers and switches to servers and firewalls.

While Obkio doesn't directly offer a dedicated NIM solution, Obkio's Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) solution can be a powerful tool in your network monitoring arsenal. By providing deep visibility into application performance and network health, Obkio NPM empowers you to identify and address network bottlenecks and glitches before they disrupt your business.

Start your free trial of Obkio NPM today and experience the difference a comprehensive network monitoring solution can make! With Obkio, you can transform your network from a frustrating enigma into a reliable, high-performance machine, empowering your business to thrive in the digital age.