Just invested in a laptop to replace increasingly noisy and flaky PC used by wife for emails and web. Dropped on a cheap HP – the 550 – just under £300.

Now one problem with laptops used as main machines (increasingly in a work situation, can also take it travelling with you) is the connection to USB devices/sound/video. You don’t really want to be unplugging and plugging loads of cables each time. Also a feature of laptops seems to a lack of the locking nuts to hold the video cable in place. This means that if you move the laptop, the cable comes out, external screen goes blank…..

So I went on a search for how to make the setup more robust – and was surprised to find that docking stations had moved on from the ‘slot-in’ versions aropund when I last used them. Now the norm is for just one USB to connect evything to the laptop – video/USB/sound.

I opted for the HP docking station at a reasonable £80. Installs automatically (flash memory holds the software) and gives really good video resolutions – upto 1440*900 for widescreen monitors. Importantly, the video cable screws in tight!

In summary – the newer docking stations offer a really straight-forward option for tethering laptops – and generic ones will fit many models – Kensington make several.

Terminology

Network Monitoring – looking after IP-based infrastructure, routers/switches

Availability – the percentage of time network is down

Baseline – measure of current performance

Why Monitor

• Haven’t got one!
• Recent outage occured
• Current system is too expensive
• Current system doesn’t deliver
• Need to improve network availability
• Need to improve network performance

It won’t:

• help you configure devices
• help with unreliable kit or providers
• deploy new software to users#
• manage your boss!

Baseline the network

• Availability
• Application performance
• Network congestion
• User reported issues

Document the current system, current goals. An estimate of performance is sufficient if you haven’t got a baseline

Types of Network Management

• Fault
• Configuration
• Accounting
• Performance
• Security

Fault Management

• stop the phone calls!
• React more quickly
• Common solutions include ping tools, open source tools, commercial tools

How do the tools work

• Ping devices
• Query SNMP on devices
• Send fault alerts via SMS/email
• Display status on a network maps
• Include – HP OpenView, ipMonitor(solarwinds), Zenoss (open source)

Performance Management

• Server performance
• Router performance
• Circuit performance (bandwidth)
• Analysis of network traffic and congestion

Most faults reported are performance problems or perceived as such

How do performance Management systems work?

• Use SNMP to query MIBs on device
• Run end-user experience monitors (simulates transactions) for end-to-end application performance
• Use netflow for traffic analysis

A lot of tools do both!

Best Practices

• Define business objectives before you start
• Baseline before making changes
• Consider the true cost of network monitoring application ownership – open source is not free!
• Get professional help if you are struggling
• Anything is better than doing nothing!