FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2005
Network Instruments, LLC
10701 Red Circle Dr.
Minnetonka, MN 55343
Network Instruments® Advances VoIP Management with Observer ® 11
New version offers in-depth VoIP analysis, delivers a time-based interface for data mining, tracks conversations
through multiple routes and is a native 64-bit Windows® application
London, UK – 14 November, 2005 – Network Instruments, LLC, the industry-leading developer of distributed network management, analysis and troubleshooting solutions, announces the release of Observer 11. This major new version includes many robust capabilities for network professionals to optimise network availability, efficiency, and performance. Observer 11 encompasses enterprise-strength Voice over IP analysis, a unique time-based interface for examining up to 8 TB of data, and the ability to pinpoint transaction delay through up to 10 conversation hops. Observer 11 is also the first multi-topology, distributed analyser written as a native 64-bit application, while also including a version for 32-bit operating systems.
Observer 11 includes significant VoIP advancements. The VoIP Expert now offers aggregate statistics for overall VoIP traffic, call summary, and quality scoring, as well as over 20 detailed per-call metrics including call status, current jitter, call setup, duration, teardown, MOS/R-factor, and QoS prioritisation. As with all Observer features, the VoIP Expert is based on the Network Instruments Distributed Network Analysis (NI-DNATM) architecture, meaning VoIP analysis is available across multiple topologies (LAN, WAN, gigabit, 802.11a/b/g), throughout the Observer product line, and for local and remote segments.
“While other VoIP analysis tools were created for lab environments and telecommunication service providers, Observer 11 was designed to manage real, live
traffic issues in enterprise environments,”said Douglas Smith, president and co-founder of Network Instruments. “Our VoIP Analysis offers relevant, actionable detail and diagnostics for today’s IT professionals.”
Observer 11, coupled with the Network Instruments GigaStorTM Appliance, also incorporates a new time-based navigation utility for organisations tasked with mining through enormous amounts of data. The new interface can easily manage, display, and analyse capture histories as large as 8 TB down to nanosecond time intervals.
“There is simply no solution in the market that can compete with the performance and speed of Observer 11 and the GigaStor,”said Smith. “It’s a new paradigm in network troubleshooting. Unlike competing vendors, the GigaStor has the capability to perform all data processing and analysis locally on the appliance. This eliminates having to transfer large amounts of data across the network for analysis. For example, with other products, it could take days to transfer and analyse only 1 per cent of a 4 terabyte capture. With the GigaStor only screen updates are transferred, so analysing data just takes seconds.”
To begin network troubleshooting with the GigaStor, an administrator starts by narrowing down when the issue occurred on the network. “For example, did
a user experience a network problem this morning?”said Ian Cummins, European sales director for Network Instruments. “In the past you had to recreate the
problem, now with the GigaStor you simply identify the time period and begin analysis. Navigating through terabytes of data is now simple and straightforward.”
Identifying transaction delay is also easier with Observer 11. The new MultiHop Analysis tracks conversations as they traverse across up to 10 network hops, displaying areas of packet loss or delay. This feature helps network professionals pinpoint network bottlenecks and determine if slowdowns are caused by the network or applications.
Observer 11 is the first distributed multi-topology network analyser available as a native 64-bit application. In addition, all Network Instruments gigabit
and WAN appliances are 64-bit systems offering greater analysis functionality, flexibility, and speed. In the gigabit environment this flexibility lets network
professionals monitor up to eight ports on a single appliance for any simultaneous combination of SPAN sessions, full-duplex connections, and trunked links.
Network analysis is also up to eight times faster than on 32-bit systems and capture buffers can now hold up to 128 GB of data. “The 64-bit platform greatly improves analysis performance,”said Smith. “64-bit doesn’t just double the speed, it improves it up to eight-fold. As analysis vendors prepare to manage EtherChannel and then 10-gig down the road, our gigabit capture technology, combined with 64-bit Windows, ensures our customers can easily keep up. For us, 64-bit is about maximising our systems to provide the fastest, most accurate, most efficient analysis possible. To make the transition easy for our customers, every Observer 11 license is shipped as a 32-bit and 64-bit application, so regardless of your operating system, Observer will
meet your requirements.”
Additional features for Observer 11 include:
• Stream Reconstruction— Observer can take captured traffic and recreate network communication in an easy-to-read format.
With Stream Reconstruction, network professionals can rebuild web pages (including images), as well as reconstruct e-mails and
instant messages for network forensics.
• Citrix® Decodes— Observer users can now monitor and troubleshoot Citrix-served applications in depth.
• New Trending Views— Observer now supports long-term trending for application response time, VLANs, and WLANs.
Observer 11 continues to lead the network analysis industry in performance and value as pricing for Observer, Expert Observer, and Observer Suite remains the same. Pricing starts at £995 for Observer, £2,895 for Expert Observer with included VoIP Analysis functionality, and £3,995 for Observer Suite. Network Instruments also provides an extensive range of hardware probe appliances for remotely monitoring LAN, WAN, 802.11a/b/g and gigabit links. For example, the Gigabit Probe Appliance begins at £11,995 and the 4 TB GigaStor Appliance starts at £35,000 for a 4-port configuration. For more information about Observer 11 please visit www.networkinstruments.co.uk.
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About Network Instruments
Network Instruments is the industry leading developer of distributed, user-friendly, and affordable network management, analysis and troubleshooting
solutions.The award-winning Observer family of products combines a comprehensive management and analysis console with high-performance remote
Probes to provide integrated monitoring and management for the entire network (LAN, 802.11 a/b/g, Gigabit,WAN). All Network Instruments products
are designed utilising our Distributed Network Analysis (NI-DNA) architecture.With NI-DNA, the Observer solution set simplifies network troubleshooting
and management, optimises network and application performance and scales to meet the needs of any organisation. Founded in 1994,
Network Instruments is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with offices in London, Paris, and throughout the USA with distributors in 50
countries.More information about the company, products, innovation, technology, NI-DNA, becoming a partner and NI University can be found at
www.networkinstruments.co.uk.
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