The latest version of Bay Networks' Optivity Planning 8.0, a popular network management application, includes NetReporter, a tool for monitoring service level agreements and preventing network managers from overspending on Wide Area Network (WAN) services. The application provides elevated visibility into the WAN, saving network managers time and money by allowing them to purchase Frame Relay services more accurately. The cost of maintaining the WAN link is one of the most significant expenditures related to remote network operations today. Many organisations consider WAN utilisation data even more important than campus network data because WAN costs must be accounted for and paid on a monthly basis. The NetReporter application enables managers to justify WAN costs and accurately plan for future spending. The NetReporter data collection and reporting tool included in the Optivity Planning solution analyses resource usage, assists in setting benchmarks for network performance and monitors network performance overtime. The application provides data collection for WAN services from any Bay or third-party router that supports the RFC 1315 Frame Relay MIB. The application also provides enhanced functionality for Bay or third-party RMON/RMON2 devices. WAN services continue to be one of the most significant network costs associated with connecting remote networks. Optivity Planning provides customers the needed visibility into how they can optimise the use of their Frame Relay WAN links and prevent overspending. Optivity Planning 8.0 provides automated, detailed graphical reports on the flow of information over Frame Relay connections. With reports on congestion, utilisation, actual information rates etc., NetReporter helps the network manager compare purchased services with needed services. Reports outline minimum guaranteed information, burst rates and actual incoming and outgoing data rates. In addition to the Frame Relay reporting features, Optivity Planning 8.0 offers new RMON2 reports which assist network managers prevent costly network downtime by planning preemptive action throughout the entire enterprise network. The enhanced baselining and trending tool identifies specific protocol usage on all monitored segments, giving the network manager the necessary information to fine-tune the network. The detailed reports indicate which segments need the most network services, which protocol is most frequently used, traffic volume and source-destination information. This enables the network manager to pinpoint the heaviest network activities or consumers at any specific time. This type of information allows the network manager to efficiently deploy resources throughout the enterprise network. Optivity Planning monitoring software delivers the baselining data and simulation tools needed to manage and contain the costs of operating an enterprise network. The package streamlines enterprise network design and configuration by collecting data on network patterns over user-specified periods and simulating new network designs based on the playback of actual network traffic, resulting in a very efficient network design. Finally, NetReporter provides data collection for Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Token Ring, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and Frame Relay Networks from any Bay or third-party RMON/RMON2 and MIB II-compliant devices.
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