What would be the value of knowing ahead of time that your server hard drives were about to fail? Would it be valuable to know that your server’s processor is reaching 100% utilization every time someone prints a report from your database?

There is virtually no limit to the data that can be captured through network monitoring. Things like bandwidth utilization, web-browsing habits, hardware errors, security breaches and attempts can all be “watched” by software programs which can alert you if pre-set thresholds are surpassed (e.g. 90% of a user’s available hard drive space has been utilized), key services have stopped, etc., etc.

So how does it work? Of course the answer to that question is that it can work in many ways. Operating Systems have some monitoring tools built in. Several of your third-party software packages have monitoring tools included, and some IT companies, like Promethius Consulting, offer complete monitoring services.

So how do you choose? The key is to determine which services are critical for your business and to find a comprehensive plan that automates as much of the monitoring as possible. Here are some tips:

1. Don’t over-monitor – Little networks that cry wolf will assure that you don’t notice the really important alerts.
2. Don’t skip the unseen items – This is not one of those tasks to use the squeaky-wheel method on. File servers don’t make a lot of noise, but you definitely want to know the moment they go down (and before if possible), for example.
3. Don’t settle for simple reporting when automated fixes are possible – There are many programs that can alert you to problems as well as automate routine tasks, etc.
4. Have a plan in place for what to do with the alerts that are generated – It doesn’t help to be alerted that your hard disk is filling up if you don’t make any changes as a result of the new information.

If you have questions about how network monitoring can help protect your business, please give Promethius a call at 317-733-2388.