SNMP Network Monitoring: Streamlined, Effective and Scalable
Easy Setup for Monitoring Network Devices Using SNMP
Our modern business world is becoming increasingly connected through a vast array of IT systems and IP-enabled devices, operating over a maze of networks. From data centers monitoring the cooling systems guarding their server racks, to wireless internet service providers connecting all corners of our planet, to high bandwidth users looking to efficiently scale their operations, effective network management and monitoring has become a must for enterprises large and small.
The scope, scale and sheer ground-level utility of these devices is providing real and measurable business value, in ways that are only limited by our imagination; however, as more systems are continuously added to the network, keeping track of their performance and deriving meaningful data for business analysis can become a daunting task, for even the most astute and experienced network administrators. Fortunately, the widely-adopted SNMP, or Simple Network Management Protocol, can be leveraged to monitor the performance of almost all your devices and networking gear. This is no secret in the IT community.
Streamlined SNMP Monitoring Can Be Easier Thank You Think
What is not as widely known is the ease and simplicity with which SNMP monitoring can be implemented and streamlined to manage all the various device types on your network. This is partly because many IT systems have their own inherent monitoring applications that need to be individually configured and tracked. How many network admins have time to customize the monitoring options for each new device type that comes onto their network, never mind sifting through the various and disconnected types of alerts, which don’t often speak to each other.
Another headache, is the fact that many older IT systems and devices are only compatible with earlier versions of SNMP… further complicating the whole setup process for monitoring these systems, in meaningful ways that don’t take up a lot of resources.
At FrameFlow, we are acutely aware of these pain points. We have developed our software to make the monitoring of different types of devices on your network very easy to setup and keep track of, regardless of the version of SNMP required by a device type, all in one customizable dashboard that streamlines your alerts and is easy to update as your network grows.
Super Easy Setup for Monitoring Devices over SNMP
The setup for SNMP monitoring with FrameFlow is all done through our easy point-and-click dashboard in a matter of minutes. Our built-in SNMP browser does a walk on your networking equipment, automatically detecting all the interfaces for your switches, routers, sensors and other SNMP-enabled devices, such as UPS’s and PDU’s, showing a complete list of associated values and descriptions for each device. You can then check off the boxes, in our dashboard, to select the individual systems and devices that you are interested in monitoring. With one more click, you can auto-populate a FrameFlow SNMP event monitor, which will track all these items and issue alerts if your selected thresholds are exceeded... it’s really that simple!
Forget About OIDs and MIBs
FrameFlow hides all the ugly details associated with setting up customized SNMP monitoring, as much fun as these can be to wrestle with, such as Object Identifiers (OIDs) that define each item and point to the objects stored in the database for managing entities on the network, commonly referred to as the Management Information Base, or MIB. Device MIBs can be polled to extract valuable real-time data, critical to your operations, so you can get out in front of any issues before you hear about them from your end-users.
Case of Customized SNMP Monitoring for Crave Technologies
Crave Technologies is a wireless internet service provider (WISP) servicing homes, businesses and government entities that are geographically dispersed along the East Coast of Canada, over a network of hundreds of radios supported by a host of switches, routers and other networking equipment, including a 32km gigabit link to the Canadian island of Grand Manan, off the coast of Maine. Crave needed a centralized monitoring solution to track multiple performance aspects for all devices on their network that was easy to setup and manage, and could be customized for their unique requirements. Crave choose FrameFlow, rejecting other monitoring solutions that were limited to monitoring only basic SNMP values such as bandwidth and uptime.
As important as these core values are, Crave needed to track additional metrics, critical for a wireless network service provider, such as signal strength and latency. FrameFlow was able to easily fulfill Crave’s custom network monitoring requirements by importing SNMP MIBs and extending monitoring to custom values, all the while keeping the setup simple and monitoring options effective:
Check out our blog post for more details describing how Crave Technologies used FrameFlow for SNMP Monitoring on its wireless network.
Some Additional Key Features of SNMP Monitoring with FrameFlow
Crave Technologies is just one of many customers who have derived substantial value from SNMP network monitoring using FrameFlow. Here are some additional ways that FrameFlow leverages the power and versatility of SNMP to keep your networks flowing at optimal performance levels:
- FrameFlow uses SNMP to monitor the time that specified network devices have been running and warns when a reboot occurs
- FrameFlow uses SNMP polls to continuously check network parameters on remote devices and facilitates custom monitoring options by allowing you to specify multiple OIDs or symbolic names for SNMP values in our event monitor
- Our software operates over SNMP to monitor the bandwidth being used on servers, workstations and network devices that support SNMP and tracks incoming/outgoing/total bandwidth on all interfaces
- FrameFlow issue alerts, customizable for frequency and recipients, to warn if the state of any interfaces change, for example, if a cable is disconnected or if selected processes are running or not
- FrameFlow listens for SNMP traps and issues warnings based on the trap content
- FrameFlow can also monitor uninterruptible power supplies (UPS’s) and other power equipment that support the SNMP PowerNet-MIB
- FrameFlow can scale up to monitor well-over 10,000 devices on a single install over SNMP
For a more complete list of the SNMP monitoring features available with FrameFlow, see our list of Event Monitor Types.
Exponential Market Growth for Connected Devices
The Internet of Things is ushering in the "third wave" of the internet evolution. The market for IP-enabled devices is growing exponentially with a host of companies creating increasingly complex products and processes from the data gleaned by their interconnected devices:
FrameFlow Offers Cost-Effective SNMP Monitoring: Made Easy!
At FrameFlow, we’re excited to be on the cutting edge of this next stage in the digital evolution by offering SNMP monitoring that is cost effective and versatile, while also being easy to setup and manage. See our Pricing Options for a plan that best fits your organizational needs. We also invite you to give FrameFlow a free test-drive for 30 days, no obligation or credit card required!