Before we start, this is a really dry subject, so if you are
expecting dazzling wit and repartee you will be really disappointed!
What is Network Monitoring?
Things that can be monitored: Network monitoring tools can track:
- Routers,
switches, firewalls and servers.
- Internet
and network connection availability.
- Bandwidth
usage and traffic levels.
- Device
health and resource utilisation.
- Latency,
packet loss and interface errors.
- Application
response times.
- Changes
or failures affecting network performance.
How it works
Depending on the type of monitoring software, it can collect
information from network devices and connected systems at regular intervals or
in real time. It analyses that information, identifies unusual behaviour or
failures, and sends alerts to administrators so they can investigate and
resolve issues.
For example, if a switch stops responding or an internet
connection becomes unusually slow, a monitoring platform can alert the IT team
before employees report the problem.
Why it matters
- Reduce downtime.
- Find the causes of performance problems more quickly.
- Identify capacity and bandwidth issues.
- Improve network reliability.
- Maintain visibility across devices and locations.
- Provide evidence of network health to customers or managers.
Network monitoring primarily focuses on availability and performance, while network security monitoring is more specifically concerned with threats such as unauthorised access, misuse and attacks.
For an MSP, a platform such as Angstep’s Netmon can bring Network Monitoring, Remote Access, Vulnerability Scanning and client-ready reporting into one multi-tenant system.
The risks of managing client networks without central visibility.
In my personal experience, few MSP tools are the perfect fit for every MSP, although MSPs are all trying to achieve the same goal, they have different clients, different methods and of course very different business ideas.
The end result is that MSPs are not identical in the same way that a collection of garages is not the same – they all fix vehicles, but they people in the business have different experiences and skill sets, different knowledge and ways of performing the same task.
So, finding the right application for your business will be
different, however, Netmon was designed and developed to put the most commonly
used tools in my previous MSP business into the same place. What I found during
18 years as an MSP then an MSSP was that I had to use (and therefore pay for)
several tools to monitor client networks in the way I wanted.
I may sound a bit picky, and I don’t say this as a look at
how good I am, my Masters in Computer Science with Cybersecurity made me focus
a lot on Cybersecurity for my clients. Finding a Network Monitoring solution
with a Cybersecurity focus was really expensive, the costs usually came down to
the number of installed agents -one per computing device.
Again, this drove the development of Netmon to be a single
agent per LAN for Network Monitoring so that that per agent cost could change
to per LAN costs. Adding remote monitoring wasn’t a choice, it is just
essential. But again, my experience of poor integration drove the no extra cost
for as many remote access agents as you need (per LAN).
How it works in the real world
Let’s take 2 examples of businesses.
EXAMPLE 1
The first is perhaps an estate agent, you are onboarding
them and they tell you they have a standard ISP router, a firewall, 6 PC’s and
a NAS drive.
You visit them, explain that you are going to put some software on their systems (you could do this by emailing instructions) to help support them and you install Netmon on a PC they always leave turned on, then install the remote access software on each PC.
Within 20 minutes you are done and log into your Netmon
Dashboard. What you find, doesn’t surprise you, a lot more than 9 devices, in
fact there 23 devices.
You had noticed the first when you found the router sitting on top of a Cisco Firewall, 6 of the extra devices were discovered as you were sitting at the first PC, they are of course using VOIP phones, also there has been music playing in the office but you didn’t look to see where it was coming from, Netmon’s network scan has discovered the Alexa device on the network.
There are 6 other devices that are not identified immediately, checking the Topology map shows you 2 distinct networks one has 6 devices connected to a separate (duplicate) copy of the router – a wireless network, asking a quick question reveals everyone in the office has their mobile phone connected to the router, and they are on the same LAN as the computers - not a great idea and the company confirms these are personal devices not used for business. So, you have another job to do putting the routers wireless network on its own LAN.
Checking the Vulnerability page, you find over 40 CVE’s that could apply to the devices on the network.
The result cost wise to you means that you only need one Netmon Agent to cover this customers Network Monitoring, because you will be monitoring only the wired network of 17 devices. No extra cost for being able to remote onto the 6 PC’s (or any more they add for that matter).
At this stage you have signed up for the Netmon Pro option.
Not an issue so you onboard the client and start remedial action on the Router
wireless LAN separating it from the office LAN removing the mobile devices from
your immediate care. Vulnerabilities are next and at the end of the first month
you produce the automated report showing that you have taken care of 30 of the
48 CVE problems, the majority didn’t apply to the devices as they didn’t run
that software, the rest were related to things like the need to uninstall old
versions of .NET and Teams that had been superseded.
EXAMPLE 2
A corporate client with 300 PC’s 30 servers and 5 LANS. You instantly know that this will be 5 agents and from your previous experience with the Estate Agent you know that you have as many remote access agents as you need for the 330 computing devices.
So, you upgrade in less than two minutes from Pro to MSP,
install the agents and a few critical remote access agents and you are on your
way. The other remote agents can be installed on an as needed basis.
Within a couple of minutes of checking the device cards in
the Netmon Dashboard you notice that every device on one of the LANs have
varying degrees of packet loss. The common component is of course the network
switch which has massive packet loss stats.
The Support box on the Dashboard has indicated there are
some tickets and on checking you find that the tickets are related to the
packet loss.
Summary
OK, not every new client will be such a great discovery, but I can almost guarantee you will find devices the client had forgotten about and sometimes never even knew about. You will also benefit from the Rogue Device Discovery later in your business.
I made Netmon easy to look at, easy to use, and easy to trial or upgrade, so why not get a demo or try the free version for yourself.
After you have tried it, give me a call or drop me an email.
