The installation of William Data Systems` (WDS) Implex IP performance management system on First National Bank (FNB)`s mainframe network has brought substantial efficiencies to network performance. The solution provides FNB with both proactive network management as well as problem detection and diagnostic capabilities.
Implemented by Motswedi JMR, the WDS representatives in S.A., the Implex installation is believed to be one of WDS`s largest such implementations in the world. An estimated 4 000 packets pass through the network host each second.
"Problems that used to take hours to diagnose, now take us about 15 minutes," says Henri Visagie, FNB`s Network Manager.
Implex is a powerful, but easy to use, real-time and historical IP performance, availability and problem management system for z/OS and OS/390. The product monitors single IP stacks as well as multiple IP stacks across multiple LPAR`s across multiple CPU`s.
Implex reveals traffic whose existence has not been suspected before and is able to track activity levels, issue alerts and provide IP stack activity information to an unprecedented degree of detail with minimal latency.
"Implex gives us a window into the network. We can see at any point in time how busy any interface is, what size files are being transferred, bandwidth utilisation and network loads at every single point in the network, whether it be host, router or socket," Visagie adds.
Implex employs dataspace technology together with fast indexing and a powerful search engine to minimise system overhead, maximize performance and ensure scalability. It is a tool that offers real-time monitoring and historical data views.
To ensure the most effective monitoring of IP, Implex uses a proven, "Direct Stack Interface" to IP. This provides a number of significant advantages over other "real-time" monitors including:
* No reliance on NetStat output or SMF exits
* True real-time reporting
* Coverage of all traffic in the IP stack including TCP, UDP, ICMP, OSPF, EE, OE and X.25 (XOT)
* Alerts issued when something stops working
* Immediate generation of performance data without configuration
* Dynamic recognition of IP network changes
"The ability to manage and control network performance using IP protocol is absolutely key to corporate well-being," says Leon Theron, Director of Motswedi JMR.
"Using the information provided, we can calculate far more accurately the impact of network outages and upgrades, and make provision accordingly," says Visagie.
The FNB team has integrated Implex with its management system to play an important role in how the business is managed. The solution plays a strong part in FNB`s integrated approach to management, whereby people and systems are measured and managed as a whole.
The product allows us to be proactive with regard to our problem-solving because of the unprecedented detail afforded by the system; also, based on the resultant in-depth knowledge of our network, we have been able to bring about procedural changes that have improved overall efficiency," Visagie says.
As a result of the information provided by Implex, the network team at FNB has been able to set up specific performance thresholds and calculate network loads. Should these be exceeded, notification is sent via SMS or e-mail to a FNB network diagnostician.
"At a simple glance we can see exactly who is logged on to the system and their bandwidth utilisation. This has greatly enhanced the stability of the network. Most significant is that this capability has also enabled us to meet the stringent requirements of our audit function, who need to know the detail of all users logged onto the system at a particular time. In the past, this function had to be conducted manually; now we can provide the information almost instantaneously," says Colin van der Ross, Technical Specialist at FNB.
The decision to implement Motswedi JMR`s Implex at FNB followed a thorough evaluation of a number of products in the market.
"We ranked Implex the highest in terms of its compatibility with our existing systems - very little customisation is required - its ease of implementation. The latter meant that we could begin to see results very quickly," Van der Ross says.
"What sets Implex apart from other IP monitors is that it continually reads IP packets as they pass through the IP stack, whereas other monitors sample data from repositories, such as SMF," Visagie adds.
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