Obkio Monitoring Agents

    What you are going to learn:

  • What is a Monitoring Agent
  • What Agent types are available
  • Where to install the Monitoring Agent
  • How Monitoring Agents work
  • How many Monitoring Agent are required

What is a Monitoring Agent
What is a Monitoring Agent

The Monitoring Agent is unique software that we have developed to measure network and application performance and availability. Even if the agent is basically only software, we also offer a hardware appliance to make sure it's easy to deploy anywhere. Learn more about our four Agent Types.

The Agent Types
The Agent Types

There are a variety of Obkio Monitoring Agent Types available to all users. This provides the flexibility to monitor network no matter what environment you have available.

The Agent Types include:

  • Software: Easy to install on a Desktop or Server and available for Windows, Linux and Docker.

  • Hardware: A plug-and-play appliance ideal for branch offices where IT servers are not available.

  • Virtual Appliance: For VMware or Hyper-V virtualization systems, VM images are available to download and install quickly.

  • Public Monitoring Agents: Ready to use without any installation required, and installed in major cloud infrastructures around the world.

Where to Install the Monitoring Agent
Where to Install the Monitoring Agent

Usually, Monitoring Agents are installed at the same place where users (Head, Branch & Home offices) and IT infrastructure (Data centers & Cloud environments) are located. In most cases, only one agent is required per location but many can be installed on large campuses to gain more visibility. Once installed, Agents receive their configuration and software updates from our Cloud platform without any user interaction required.

By running performance tests directly from Head, Branch & Home offices, the agents measure network and application performance as if they were actual users. The exact location inside the network may change depending on the network architecture. In some cases the agent is installed next to the firewall to monitor ISP performance (WAN) and in other cases at the far-end of the LAN network to have a complete end-to-end performance monitoring solution.

How Monitoring Agents Work
How Monitoring Agents Work

The Monitoring Agents are distributed by design since enterprises are using SaaS and Cloud service that are no longer hosted in a centralized location. This new architecture increase the pressure on IT teams to correctly and accurately monitor the performance and availability of services from all of their locations. To simplify the process, our agents execute tests from all your connected locations to provide a more distributed network monitoring solution, compared to traditional centralized monitoring solutions.

Since the agents are not in-line in the network but installed as endpoint devices, their installation and use does not affect IT operations. Apart from speed tests that are fully configurable, Agents do not perform stress tests on the network or applications. Performance tests performed by the agent simulate normal use of a single user, which means there is no impact whatsoever on IT operations. Furthermore, the installation does not require any port mirroring or traffic capture which could cause privacy or confidentiality concerns.

Performance Monitoring with the Agents
Performance Monitoring with the Agents

Whether you're using the agents for Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) or Application Performance Monitoring (APM), our Agents are always working hard. With continuous network monitoring, our agent offers users more visibility on performance issues that are often intermittent and hard to pin-point. Immediately be notified when there is an issue or check out previous performance data to understand what happened after an incident. Making monitoring easy is our Agent's number one priority.