Want to improve your foundational IT
knowledge in 2023? We'll go over a few general network administration and
monitoring best practices in this post that MSPs and IT departments employ to
support their organizations.
Any conversation about IT will inevitably
turn to network management and monitoring. All things considered, maintaining
the functionality of a company's critical systems is one of the most well-known
responsibilities of an IT department or IT supplier.
A crucial component of that job is network
monitoring, which makes sure that all networking devices, including routers,
switches, servers, firewalls, and virtual machines, are continuously tracked,
assessed, and optimized. Network failures and downtime can be avoided with
proactive monitoring, and remote administration cuts down on the time and
resources required to carry out urgent updates or make last-minute adjustments
to an IT infrastructure.
Also Read: What is Patch Management? |
Software Patching
Network monitoring – what is it?
Network monitoring systems provide
information on devices and connections, enabling IT workers to identify faults,
plan for their repair, and uphold security and compliance standards. Such
systems contain several crucial elements, such as:
Monitoring of network devices: When network
devices malfunction, downtime, lost productivity, or even security issues might
result. High CPU or network utilization can cause activities to grind to a
painful halt, while hardware problems and failures can put the entire
infrastructure to a standstill. These issues can be easily found and fixed with
the use of a network monitoring system. By automatically adding new devices,
mapping network topology, and exposing malicious activity or potential
breaches, many network monitoring tools also bring value.
Alerting systems: When a network monitoring
system notices a problem, alerts are automatically forwarded to the IT team for
review. Once the problem has been verified as a real malfunction or danger,
specialists can start working on a solution.
Reporting: Most network monitoring programs can produce reports on their
findings over time.
Also Read: Managed
Service Provider (MSP)
Network management – what is it?
In addition to keeping an eye on a network,
network management systems also actively manage many of its components. Such
systems may control wireless controllers, switches, routers, and access points
from a central location or remotely.
Because everything on the network sends
data to a central server with status updates or alerts, remote access greatly
simplifies network management. The ability to access this server allows network
managers or managed service providers (MSPs) to keep an eye on network activity
without ever having to set foot on-premises.
A significant component of this procedure
is data collection. There are two main methods that networking equipment,
including switches, routers, laptops, smartphones, cameras, and printers, sends
data to the system:
Simple Network Management Protocol: SNMP has long
been the de facto network management protocol. Most producers of network
endpoints and devices use SNMP. The network management system employs SNMP to
ping network components, which prompts them to deliver the system a status
update.
Telemetry: A
software agent that enables real-time, automatic data delivery. As telemetry is
more precise and scalable, it is increasingly replacing SNMP in IT contexts.
Also Read: What is honeypotting?
How does SNMP function? What is it?
We should go over a few more key
terminologies before diving into the nitty-gritty of SNMP. To fully comprehend
SNMP, you must first grasp the following:
Consider an object identifier: OID as
a unique MAC address produced by the MSP to track non-standard devices using an
OID poller.
SNMP Polling: A network management station receives data for status updates
during routinely scheduled polling.
Management Information Bases (MIBs): An MIB is a repository for information gathered by SNMP polling. It
includes crucial performance characteristics for all polled devices, including
those with OIDs assigned that are not conventional.
SNMP Traps: They are
automatic alerts that are transmitted to the SNMP management station when
specific events, such as drive failures or device overheating, occur.
Now that you are familiar with these
terminologies, let's look into SNMP in more detail.
Simply speaking, you may consider SNMP as a
method for network devices to communicate with one another. It serves as a
middleman or translator, enabling a wide range of devices to interact even when
they have different hardware and use different operating systems.
Network management tools can identify
devices using SNMP, as well as monitor network performance, track network
changes, and provide real-time device status information. Of course, there
isn't a natural method for this to happen. It would be impossible to remotely
manage and monitor so many diverse devices without a standard like SNMP.
Also Read: Guide to Check Which
Powershell Version You are Using
Why Are Best Practices for Network Monitoring and
Management Necessary?
Business networks must enable high-value
operations that provide communication channels, hold private data, and serve
every division of the company. High network service levels, strict security,
and continuous IT infrastructure visibility are requirements for IT
professionals. The modern company network is getting harder for IT teams to
manage because of significant digital transformation.
The
Best Methods and Practices for Network Monitoring
A good network management system will give
MSPs and corporate IT departments the resources they need to maintain and
improve company networks without requiring a lot of manual work or spending a
lot of money on labour. Integrating wired and wireless management capabilities
enables complete, end-to-end management of complex networks.
Be thorough while researching the software
options that might meet your needs because different network management
solutions might not always offer all the capabilities we've covered above. The
following network administration best practices should be possible with a
modern remote management solution:
Clear network visibility: The IT expert should be able to see all the connected devices
clearly, keep track of the data flow, and immediately spot and fix problems
that could possibly slow down the network and cause disruptions.
Improved Utilization of IT Resources: The tools in a
network monitoring system decrease the amount of manual work required, which is
perhaps the most significant factor from the perspective of the MSP or IT
department. This lowers labour expenses and frees up technicians to concentrate
on other or more important projects.
Scaling And Anticipated Infrastructure
Requirements: Network monitoring solutions provide
foresight into the future by demonstrating how network components have
functioned over time. These reports can be examined to help the firm foresee
when it would need to think about updating or adopting new IT infrastructure.
Improved Defence Against Security
Threats: Network monitoring creates a network
performance baseline. As a result, it is simpler to identify strange
modifications in network behaviour, such as unexpected spikes in network
traffic. IT can frequently act before a threat becomes expensive if they can
promptly identify possible cybersecurity problems.
Also Read: How to Check System Uptime
on Windows
Network Management: MSP's Indispensable Tools
A PSA (professional services automation)
tool is often found at the top of an MSP's software stack. For monitoring
clients, tracking service tickets, and creating bills, PSA tools are crucial.
Consider the PSA tool to be the main repository for all information pertaining
to the functioning of the MSP, including timesheets, clients, inventory, and
labour allocation.
Alongside the PSA, RMM Software tools are used to carry
out the work that has been tracked by the PSA. The workhorses of network
administration, these RMM solutions enable MSPs to connect to clients remotely
and carry out tasks.
Of course, MSPs use a wide range of other
tools, and their stacks are expanding and becoming more complex every day.
There is a list of available goods.
How To Choose the Appropriate Network Management and
Monitoring Tools
As we previously stated, without automation
and cutting-edge network monitoring software and solutions, it would not even
be able to implement network monitoring and management best practices at the
level required in the contemporary, complex IT environment. Real-time
performance evaluations, various networking challenges, and distant
administration tasks must all be handled by this new breed of vital system.
Given the growing demand for these kinds of solutions, the market is flooded
with competitors, leaving IT managers and managed service providers unsure of
the appropriate network monitoring and management tool.
Keep in mind that a good network management
system will have a thorough network monitoring tool and allow you to automate
simple troubleshooting procedures. You should also consider the advantages of
having features like these:
· The capacity to see the whole IT infrastructure to perform
preventative maintenance and forecast future IT requirements for specific
clients.
· Network, server, and
application performance are actively monitored to avoid outages and lower the
risk of cyberattacks.
· Automatically configuring a gadget using templates.
· The end user can schedule
automated reports that are immediately provided to them, and advanced reporting
tools that can be customized for each client.
It should not come as a surprise that there
are many alternatives for SNMP monitoring as SNMP is a crucial component of the
IT puzzle. Nevertheless, deciding which is ideal for your managed services
company can be challenging. The capabilities that various tools offer varies,
and what you need will change depending on how and who you want to use it.
Also Read: What is BSSID?
Any SNMP monitoring tool should have the
following features, among others:
Simple Alerts: To guarantee that you constantly have access to information about
the networks and devices of your clients, you must be able to configure custom
SNMP Trap alerts. The more you can customize these alerts to meet the requirements
of your customers, the better.
Device discovery: You cannot manually scan the network environment and identify all
devices with the same level of accuracy and detail. SNMP polling allows you to
achieve this. The network can be scanned by SNMP scanners to find newly
appearing devices. You ought to be able to keep up with any updates made to the
network.
Fault
Monitoring: System administrators can immediately identify and fix any problems
that could endanger a network with the help of fault monitoring. You may see
the current node status and immediately determine how serious a problem is with
the appropriate SNMP monitoring tool.
Just a few of the most crucial
characteristics you want to search for in an SNMP monitoring tool are listed
above.
Author
Bio
Fazal Hussain is a digital marketer working
in the field since 2015. He has worked in different niches of digital
marketing, be it SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, PPC, or content
marketing. He loves writing about industry trends in technology and
entrepreneurship, evaluating them from the different perspectives of industry
leaders in the niches. In his leisure time, he loves to hang out with friends,
watch movies, and explore new places.
Website: https://www.gorelo.io
FazalGR 