Gain insight into total network health over time. Collect and store network, Internet, and switch data for days, weeks, months, even years. View a single time period (i.e. day or month) or create period-to-period comparison reports. Choose text-based, graphical or Web-based reports. Obtain instant snapshots with Ready-Made Reports. Design custom reports and save templates for later use. Auto-generate reports to any folder or e-mail box. Share reports with non-Observer users.
Observer is a network analyzer for LAN, wireless, low-utilization gigabit, Token Ring and FDDI networks. With real-time metrics, packet capture, decode, trending and more for shared and switched environments.
Wireless Support
Complete support for 802.11a/b/g – no additional software necessary
With the Network Instruments’ Distributed Network Analysis architecture, (NI-DNA™), Observer is unique in the network analysis industry. It’s the only analyzer built from a unified code set, offering scalability and seamless integration across the entire Observer product family. Network administrators need to only learn one interface to monitor across topologies, locations, and technologies.
Observer Benefits:
- Convert your PC or laptop into a powerful analyzer
- Capture, view, and decode traffic in real time
- Instantly assess the effectiveness of network changes
- Monitor and graph real-time bandwidth utilization
- Save historical data
- Baseline your network
- Identify virus and hack attacks
- Collect statistics by user, packet size, or protoco
- Filter easily through data to isolate issues
- Perform stress testing
- Speed troubleshooting with proactive notification
- View router traffic patterns in real time
- Analyze VLANs independently or in aggregate
- Monitor wired and wireless together
- Packet Capture and Decode
- Over 550 primary protocols (decode listing)
- Countless subprotocols (including wireless)
- Nanosecond resolution
- Add administrator comments to any packet
- Dynamic port protocol decode
- Schedule packet captures
- Conceal private IP addresses
- Real-Time Statistics
Over 30 real-time statistics available
- Network summary
- Bandwidth utilization
- Internet Observer
- Access point load monitor
- Pair statistics
- Protocol distribution
- Network activity
- Wireless site survey
- Router Observer
- VLAN Analysis
- Top Talkers
- Understand bandwidth usage by device
- Determine if a station is consuming too much bandwidth
- View LAN use patterns
- Detect faulty network hardware
- Make informed decisions about network segmentation
- Find broadcast storms
- Review switch usage and resource allocation
Filtering
- Include or exclude packets by address, address range, protocol offsets, and presets
- Use Boolean logic to create complex features
- Filter with Perl-compatible regular expressions
- Design filters visually
- Create protocol filters from the protocol distribution list
- Execute multiple filters concurrently
- Share filter libraries with other Observer users
- Quickly configure filters with fast post filtering
- Utilize data mining capabilities
- Flag activities or errors with a pre-defined list
- Set custom notifications based on any filter
- Receive alerts as vulnerabilities are detected
- Choose alert method (e-mail, pager, etc.)
- Obtain e-mails with virus information including source and destination
- Setup any trigger to have an associated action
- Pop up message windows
- Activate captures
- Start/append logs
- Print trouble tickets
- Execute external programs
- Manage triggers and alarms for multiple probes from one location
- Set a trigger on any WLAN activity
- VLAN Analysis (See the Video)
- View each VLAN data independently or in aggregate
- Real-time statistics
- Determine loads by station and by VLAN
- Network Trending and Reporting
Collect trending data for
Ethernet, Internet, VLANs, WLANs
Obtain WLAN-specific metrics such as Access Point statistics
- Wireless types by station
- Errors by station
- Utilize site configuration tools for better planning
- Choose from multiple security encryption options
- Collect long-term trending information
- Stay on top of your WLAN with Wireless Site Survey
- Find rogue access points
- Understand signal quality and data rates
- Enforce WLAN security policies
- Determine AP placement by measuring signal strength
- Monitor wired and wireless with one interface
Receive instant notifications on problems with wireless Triggers and Alarms
Internet Observer
- Obtain specific Internet activity
- Review individual Internet usage with Internet Patrol
- Receive true Layer 3 IP addresses with IP Pairs Matrix
- Use IP Subprotocols by Station to gain each users’ specific Internet usage by service
Router Observer
- Understand router activity
- Determine router usage
- Obtain a “heads-up” immediate display of packets/sec, bit/sec, and interface utilization
- Review traffic by direction (in, out, total) and percentages of interface utilization
- One-minute and one-hour displays available
- Cross Mode Drill Down
- Unique method of easily cross-referencing data
