# Network availability monitor In a competitive business landscape where operating 24*7 is mandatory, the high availability of networks and services has become a critical factor of concern for enterprises of all sizes. Hence, the implementation of an availability monitoring solution is essential. Any downtime of systems, networks, or applications will translate into a huge revenue loss for the business. Industry experts say that typical network availability must reach 99.999%. ManageEngine OpManager provides comprehensive [network availability and uptime monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/network-uptime-monitoring.html?availability) to ensure that all your network devices and services are up and running 24*7 continuously. ManageEngine OpManager, which serves as an uptime monitor, has an interface that provides real-time views of availability statistics. The dashboard facilitates detailed monitoring and analysis of data from switches, routers, servers, and any other network devices. **OpManager provides several availability monitoring features, which include** - [Device availability monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/availability-monitoring.html#deviceavail) - [Interface availability monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/availability-monitoring.html#interface) - [IP SLA availability monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/availability-monitoring.html#wan-link) - [Service availability monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/availability-monitoring.html#tcp) - [Windows services availability monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/availability-monitoring.html#windows-service) - [Website availability monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/availability-monitoring.html#website) - [Process availability monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/availability-monitoring.html#process) ## Device availability monitoring Device availability monitoring service continuously monitors your entire network for its uptime and network availability. OpManager, as an [uptime monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/uptime-monitoring.html) tool, polls the device for availability using [ICMP ping](https://www.manageengine.com/free-ping-tool/free-ping-tool-index.html) by default. For non-ICMP environments—especially to monitor the availability or uptime for your edge router or DMZ zone devices—you can use TCP or SNMP instead. You can customize the [availability polling interval](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/monitoring-interval-for-a-device-category.html) for specific infrastructure or a particular device based on your needs. OpManager pings the monitored device by sending data packets to the target device and waiting for a response. If there is no response after two consecutive pings, OpManager considers the device unavailable. OpManager communicates with devices using monitoring protocols such as [ICMP, TCP, and SNMP](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/kb/device-availability-monitoring-protocols.html). The image below shows the device availability report with their current availability state. ![](https://cdn.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/Availability-min1.png) OpManager also displays various other device status indications apart from the device Up/Down status. This helps you avert false positives. | Status indications in availability report | Intented User action & Use cases | |---|---| | Active | The device is 'UP' and running. | | DOWN | This appears when the device is 'Down' or not available. | | DEPENDENT_UNAVAILABLE | Appears when the dependent device(s) is down or unavailable. | | On Hold | Unmanage device: If you wish to pause the device being monitored. This is useful when restarting devices frequently to fix issues. | | On Maintenance | Maintenance state: During a maintenance window, you can place the device under maintenance mode. "On Hold" is ad-hoc and "On Maintenance" is scheduled. | | Parent Down | Appears when the parent device is down. | | Dependent Down | Appears when the dependent device is down. | Here is a chart that explains the downtime severity propagation in OpManager by default. | If the device remains unresponsive for the... | Alarm propagation | Color code used | |---|---|---| | 1st poll | Attention state | ![attention](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/attention.jpg) | | 3 consecutive polls | Warning state | ![trouble](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/trouble.jpg) | | 5 consecutive polls | Critical state | ![critical](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/critical.jpg) | For version `125215` and above, the above severities can be [configured manually](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/kb/device-down-settings.html) via device downtime settings. This helps you prioritize critical servers and devices in your network. ### Device uplink dependencies [Device uplink dependencies](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/configuring-device-dependencies.html) can be configured to automatically stop polling a dependent device when the parent device is down. This helps avoid excessive alerts during planned maintenance. ### Device downtime scheduler In case of planned maintenance, OpManager allows you to temporarily unmanage a set of devices in your network to avoid unnecessary alarms. Once a [downtime scheduler](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/scheduling-downtime.html) is active, OpManager will not reach out to those devices for the specified period. You can also view uplink device dependencies while configuring the downtime scheduler. ## Interface availability or Port availability monitoring ManageEngine OpManager provides agent-based or SNMP-based interface and port availability monitoring for each element in the enterprise network and IT infrastructure. Interface polling is enabled by default to continuously monitor availability, and [Up/Down alerts are generated based on the Admin/Operation status](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/faq/admin-operdown-severity.html) of that interface. OpManager provides availability reports showing interface availability on a daily, weekly, monthly, or custom period basis to measure network-level availability and ensure SLAs are met. Interface or port statuses are propagated across multiple views including individual device status, Layer 2 network maps, business views, custom device groups, and network weather maps. ![Interface Availability - ManageEngine OpManager](https://cdn.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/images/interface-availability-report.PNG) WAN links are often the most expensive elements in IT infrastructure. OpManager treats these WAN links as crucial interfaces and enables continuous availability monitoring. Personalized reports are also available for discovered WAN links. ![](https://cdn.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/wan-link-availability-monitoring1.png) ## IP SLA availability monitoring OpManager uses Cisco IP SLA technology to monitor the [availability and performance of IP SLA-enabled devices](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/ip-sla-monitoring.html) in your network. It provides hop-wise details on latency, bandwidth utilization, Round-Trip-Time, and other performance factors through a powerful dashboard, enhancing WAN and VoIP performance. This enables network administrators to perform [WAN monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/wan-management.html) efficiently. ![](https://cdn.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/kb/images/ip-sla-availability-monitoring1.PNG) ## Application or Service availability monitoring ### TCP service monitoring ![](https://cdn.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/service-availability1.png) To ensure your server management plan is complete, monitoring system-level services is vital. OpManager's [server uptime monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/server-uptime-monitoring.html) feature provides detailed graphs and reports on the availability and response time of monitored TCP services. The [service monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/service-monitoring.html) functionality is customizable, allowing you to choose the intended service for monitoring. ### Windows services availability monitoring ![](https://cdn.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/windows-services-availability1.png) In addition to system-level services, OpManager supports monitoring Windows services using WMI. You can discover and monitor Windows services, and administrators can configure OpManager to automatically restart the service or server when a Windows service is found to be down. Learn more about [Windows Services Availability Monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/windowsservices-monitoring.html), another network uptime monitor in OpManager. ### Website availability monitoring ![](https://cdn.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/website-availability-moniter-img.png) ManageEngine OpManager monitors your website for availability and performance around the clock. It supports monitoring HTTP/HTTPS URLs, intranet sites, web server farms, web applications with login, NTLM-authenticated websites, and more. Apart from URL uptime monitoring, you can check for specific content on your website. [Website availability monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/url-monitoring.html) ensures your website is not under attack by hackers. ### Process availability monitoring ![](https://cdn.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/process-monitoring-availability1.png) OpManager's process availability monitoring enables administrators to remotely monitor and manage processes running on servers. OpManager uses protocols such as SNMP, WMI, and CLI to monitor processes on Windows, Linux, Solaris, UNIX, HP-UX, IBM AIX, ESX, VMware servers, and virtual machines. Learn more about [Process Availability Monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/process-monitoring.html). OpManager also offers in-depth [network uptime monitoring](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/network-uptime-monitoring.html?availability) features with real-time statistics! --- More information on availability monitoring in OpManager: [Availability monitoring protocols](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/kb/device-availability-monitoring-protocols.html) | [Device availability state](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/kb/device-availability-state.html) | [Device down settings](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/kb/device-down-settings.html) | [Configuring device dependencies](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/configuring-device-dependencies.html) | [Uplink dependency](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/faq/device-dependency.html) | [Device downtime schedule](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/kb/device-downtime-schedules.html) | [Managing and unmanaging devices](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/managing-and-unmanaging-a-device.html) | [Device availability uptime](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/faq/calculate-device-availability-uptime.html) | [Admin/Operation down severity](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/faq/admin-operdown-severity.html) | [Unmanaged interfaces](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/faq/why-some-interfaces-unmanaged.html)