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Network Monitoring
Plan and Key Metrics
With 14 years of experience in infrastructure management, ScienceSoft manages IT infrastructures of various complexity and continually improves their performance, security, and stability.
The Essence of Network Monitoring
Network monitoring is an integral part of infrastructure management and involves continuous tracking and analysis of metrics like network health and performance. IT operations teams rely on this data to prevent network disruptions and ensure overall efficiency and security of the IT infrastructure.
Brief plan for network monitoring
- Map out a detailed network topology.
- Define your network performance requirements and determine the most relevant key metrics to track.
- Outline event and error management action plans and reporting procedures.
- Set up and customize a network monitoring system.
- Continually analyze network monitoring data.
- Act on the diagnosed issues: optimize network performance, troubleshoot incidents, etc.
- Regularly review and update your network monitoring software, processes, and documentation.
Network Components to Monitor
Network elements
- LANs, WANs and VPNs.
- Endpoints (IoT devices, servers, workstations, remote desktops, etc.).
- Load balancers.
- Wireless access points.
- Switches.
- Routers.
- Modems.
- Hubs.
Network security components
- Firewalls.
- SIEM.
- IPS/IDS.
- Web filtering/SWG.
- DDoS protection solutions.
- Email security systems.
- Antiviruses.
- End-point protection systems.
Software and IT infrastructure
- Databases, DWH, and data lakes.
- Applications.
- Cloud services.
- Websites and portals.
- Operating systems.
- Virtual machines and containers.
- Desktops, laptops, mobile devices.
Network Monitoring in Four Stages
1. Discovery stage
- Network engineers develop a comprehensive network topology, detailing the physical and logical layout of all network devices and systems. This step enables a deeper understanding of each component's configuration and relationships across the network.
- IT managers and analysts outline network requirements and relevant metrics for monitoring network performance, availability, and security.
2. Planning stage
- DevOps, ICT, and SRE teams choose performance and security monitoring tools with essential capabilities like automated alerts and customizable dashboards.
- IT managers define the structure and frequency of reporting for insights derived from network monitoring in line with organizational priorities and regulatory needs.
- Teams outline processes for rapid issue resolution, including escalation paths for high-severity incidents.
3. Implementation stage
- Network engineers install and configure the selected monitoring tools.
Make sure the monitoring tools are configured to align with security best practices — avoid default credentials and use role-based security profiles to limit access to authorized personnel. Unfortunately, one of the most common yet critical security issues we find during security assessments is missing or poor authentication for critical functions, including network monitoring systems.
Another dangerous security gap to watch out for is SNMP server misconfiguration, as network monitoring relies primarily on SNMP and ICMP protocols. It could be exploited for DoS attacks and privilege escalation.
- Engineers adjust default thresholds and alerts, tailoring them to the specific network performance requirements. This may include creating custom correlation rules to prevent ticketing overflow from related incidents.
Why correlation rules matter: Effective correlation rules prevent incidents from triggering multiple tickets by grouping related events into one alert. For example, IBM QRadar offers powerful correlation capabilities to streamline incident management.
- Monitoring teams configure a single-pane dashboard for real-time data visualization, centralizing key data on network health and security.
Notifications and alerts tip: Fine-tune alert settings to reduce notification noise and ensure issues reach the appropriate teams, preventing alert fatigue and missed incidents.
4. Management stage
- IT teams and network engineers regularly review logs and dashboards to identify trends in monitoring data and spot potential issues. They promptly address the detected errors and incidents in accordance with the appropriate policies and procedures.
- With data insights, network teams can proactively schedule maintenance to address minor issues before they escalate, minimizing operational disruptions.
- Network teams regularly update the software for network monitoring to the latest version to add new features and security patches.
- Documentation, including network diagrams, action plans, and policies, is regularly updated to facilitate regular monitoring optimization, effective troubleshooting, and continuous network improvement.
- IT support teams often contribute to network management by undertaking the following activities:
- Helping users set up and troubleshoot network connections.
- Monitoring the network status, e.g., on Nagios platform, and troubleshooting basic network issues or issues that have been previously documented.
- Handling network issues that require investigation, such as connectivity crashes or hardware issues of medium complexity.
- Resolving infrastructure requests like network settings verification and network configuration.
- Planning and reviewing network architecture.
- Solving intricate issues that require network infrastructure reconfigurations or deployment of new system components.
Find Out How ScienceSoft’s Clients Benefit from Network Monitoring
Why Choose ScienceSoft for Network Monitoring?
- In cybersecurity since 2003.
- In IT service management (ITSM) since 2008.
- In IT infrastructure services since 2010.
- In cloud services since 2012.
- A well-rounded team of network engineers, system administrators, IT support agents, DevOps engineers, cybersecurity experts, and other talents. Over 50% of our IT professionals are senior-level experts.
- Flexible and transparent pricing models.
- Proactive cost optimization approach.
- Legal protection and accountability for both parties ensured by a well-designed SLA.
- A mature quality management system backed by ISO 9001 certification.
- ISO 27001-certified cybersecurity management.
- Strategic partnerships with Microsoft and Amazon.