What is Network Performance Monitoring (NPM)?

Why is network performance monitoring important?

In today's interconnected world, network performance is vital for business success. Downtime, latency, or poor network health can result in revenue loss, reduced productivity, and dissatisfied customers. Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) helps organizations maintain seamless operations by detecting and resolving issues quickly.

Additionally, in regulated industries like finance and healthcare, NPM plays a crucial role in ensuring compliance. It monitors network activity for anomalies, generates detailed audit logs, and provides insights to prevent non-compliance penalties. By offering proactive alerts and comprehensive reporting, NPM supports both operational efficiency and regulatory adherence.

Here’s a breakdown of how NPM works:

1. Data collection: Real-time data on traffic patterns, resource utilization, and error rates is gathered from network devices.
2. Analysis and correlation: Advanced algorithms, including machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), analyze the collected data to identify patterns and anomalies.
3. Alerting: Automated alerts are triggered for abnormal network behavior, notifying administrators via dashboards, email, or mobile notifications.
4. Visualization: Customizable dashboards provide graphical representations of network performance, enabling quick issue identification.

For instance, if latency suddenly increases, NPM can correlate it with a spike in bandwidth usage, indicating a possible DDoS attack.

Key NPM metrics to monitor

Network key performance indicators (KPIs) are measurable metrics used to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of a network. Monitoring these KPIs helps network managers identify issues, optimize performance, and ensure the network meets service level agreements (SLAs). Common network KPIs include:

• Bandwidth usage: Measures the amount of data transmitted across the network. Excessive consumption may signal resource-intensive applications or potential malicious activity.
• Latency: Measures how long it takes for data packets to travel from the source to the destination. Increased latency can result in slower application performance.
• Packet loss: This occurs when data packets fail to reach their destination, which can significantly disrupt video calls or VoIP services, even at low levels.
• Jitter: Refers to the inconsistency in packet arrival times, which can disrupt real-time applications like video conferencing.
• Uptime and downtime: Tracks how long devices and applications remain operational. High uptime is crucial for critical business services.
• Throughput: Monitors the amount of data successfully delivered over a network, reflecting network capacity and speed.

Benefits of using an NPM tool

Implementing an NPM solution provides several advantages, including:

• Proactive issue detection: NPM identifies issues before users notice them, reducing downtime and minimizing impact.
• Enhanced user experience: With NPM tool, maintain optimal application performance by ensuring low latency and consistent bandwidth.
• Resource optimization: Utilize network performance monitoring (NPM) to analyze traffic patterns, allocate bandwidth efficiently, and avoid unnecessary infrastructure costs.
• Reduced downtime: Quickly troubleshoot issues with NPM's accurate diagnostic data, minimizing mean time to resolution (MTTR).
• Data-driven decision making: Use actionable insights from NPM reports to plan for network expansions and optimize performance.
• Compliance and security: Track network activity for compliance reporting and detect unusual behaviors that may indicate cyber threats.

How to choose a right network performance monitoring tool

Choosing the right NPM tool depends on your organization’s size, network complexity, and monitoring needs. You can consider these factors:

• Comprehensive monitoring: Select a NPM tool that provides end-to-end visibility across all devices, applications, and cloud services.
• Real-time alerts: Make sure the tool provides real-time alerts for critical issues with adjustable thresholds.
• Scalability: Choose a NPM solution that can grow with your network infrastructure, accommodating additional devices and locations.
• Customizable dashboards: Opt for dashboards that present data visually, making it easier to interpret insights.
• Integration capabilities: Ensure compatibility with third-party applications like ticketing systems, collaboration platforms, and security tools.
• AI and ML capabilities: AI-powered tools offer predictive analytics and intelligent anomaly detection.