New nGenius Fibre Channel Probes Unveiled;
nGenius Performance Manager Expands LAN and WAN Support to Include SAN
WESTFORD, Mass., Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
NetScout Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTCT) today announced the extension of its
nGenius(R) Performance Management System to address Fibre Channel Storage Area
Networks (SANs). Through newly-introduced Fibre Channel probes and NetScout's
flagship performance management application, nGenius Performance Manager,
enterprises will now be able to leverage an extensive feature set to manage
the performance of their Fibre Channel traffic. The expansion of the nGenius
System to include storage network performance is another step forward in
NetScout's CDM Technology(TM) initiative to reduce management data and tool
clutter across the infrastructure. With this new visibility, enterprises will
now have a single solution for managing performance across SAN, LAN and WAN
environments with superior, real-time visibility that reduces the time
required to identify and resolve problems and lowers the total cost of network
operations.
The need for visibility into storage traffic flows is already being felt
by IT managers operating multi-vendor storage environments consisting of both
SAN and network-attached storage (NAS). In these environments, difficulties in
diagnosing performance problems are resulting in unacceptable costs associated
with service interruptions. By gaining deeper insight into Fibre Channel
activity, IT managers will be able to better manage and improve the returns on
their Fibre Channel investments through better diagnosis of traffic anomalies,
conversation specifics and bandwidth use trends.
New capabilities include:
* Real-time Fibre Channel network performance monitoring and historical
baseline and trend reporting from a single management application
* Continuous, vendor-independent visibility via passive monitoring of
traffic flows crossing any number of 1 Gbps or 2 Gbps Fibre Channel
links
* Cost-effective multi-port configuration to see individual or aggregated
views across multiple load-sharing or redundant links
* Packet capture and decode for complex, in-depth troubleshooting of
problems such as multi-vendor interoperability
"Our storage infrastructure includes equipment from multiple vendors, some
of which doesn't include performance management tools," said Glenn Hartfiel,
director of Information Technology for Reliant Resources. "Having a solution
that can deliver visibility of storage traffic flows across the various
components of our infrastructure, regardless of the devices used, is very
valuable for pinpointing the source of problems without getting bogged down in
changing tools and sifting through excessive amounts of data. We chose
NetScout for its ability to reduce management complexity while delivering a
consistent view of how our networks are performing enterprise-wide."
According to Infonetics research, Fibre Channel port shipments exceeded 1
million in 2001 and are expected to increase by 23% in 2002. "Fibre Channel
storage networks continue to increase in both size and number," said Neil
Osipuk, directing analyst, Data Centers and Hosting, Infonetics Research. "As
the traffic in these networks rises, so will the potential for performance
degradations that affect mission critical services. NetScout's technology will
allow visibility into a new area for IT managers needing the capability to
proactively manage performance and solve problems quickly when they do
happen."
"Many companies in Europe are investigating outsourcing the deployment of
their SANs. However there remains a desire and a requirement to maintain
operational visibility and control, especially with respect to performance
management," said Tony Lock, senior analyst, Bloor Research. "This is an area
where NetScout's offering can contribute significantly towards managing the
Quality of Service. NetScout supplies significant information detailing how
the interlinked storage and data networks are performing. IT managers need
this independent view-point in order to be able to validate service levels
with outsourced management providers and to assure that optimal performance is
being realized."
"We are excited to now embrace storage environments under our CDM
initiative," said Anil Singhal, president and CEO of NetScout Systems.
"NetScout has invested significant effort into adapting our probes and
software to the Fibre Channel environment. This new offering empowers
networking, systems, and storage groups to collaborate more closely to solve
performance issues and plan more effectively."
Pricing and Availability
nGenius Fibre Channel probes are shipping now in 1-port, 2-port and 4-port
configurations starting at $19,995. Fibre Channel management extensions are
available in nGenius Performance Manager 1.4 at no additional charge. For
additional product or ordering information about nGenius solutions, call
NetScout Systems at 1-800-657-7666 or visit our Website
http://www.netscout.com.
About NetScout Systems, Inc.
NetScout Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTCT) is a market leader and pioneer of
integrated network performance management solutions for leading companies and
service providers worldwide. NetScout's offerings are based upon its
nGenius(R) Performance Management System, an integrated solution of advanced
monitoring and reporting applications that draw on the rich performance data
generated by NetScout's real-time, application-aware probes, advanced
intelligent software agents and other network devices. The nGenius System
helps organizations increase their return on infrastructure investments by
optimizing the performance of their network and applications. NetScout is
headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts and has offices in North America,
Europe and Asia. Further information on the company is available on the World
Wide Web at http://www.netscout.com.
NetScout, nGenius, and the NetScout logo are registered trademarks of
NetScout Systems, Inc. ART MIB, Because the network is the business and CDM
Technology are trademarks of NetScout Systems, Inc. NetScout reserves the
right, at its sole discretion, to make changes at any time in its technical
information, specifications and service and support programs.
For Further Information:
Peggy Flynn Dawn Sullivan or Tim King
NetScout Systems Schwartz Communications, Inc.
(978) 614-4162 (781) 684-0770
flynnp@netscout.com netscout@schwartz-pr.com
SOURCE NetScout Systems, Inc.