The Network Monitor

Today in my first blog for Ipswitch I'll take you down network management memory lane to demonstrate how far we've come from the days of nascent networks - and where we are heading.

In this episode of Defrag This, we share stories from the trenches of IT and how we found unlikely solutions to troubleshoot business networks.

Ever think you have an issue with the interface active monitor in WhatsUp Gold being added back to devices after being removed? This is in fact, working as intended. Let me explain why!

It's that time of the year where analysts, vendors and other prognosticators share their IT trends for 2017. But do these IT trends actually mean anything to IT pros?

How did web automation help a self-described “chief cook and bottle washer” spend a lot less time on repetitive tasks?

I had recently become a substitute teacher at a Boston-area high school and one morning not a single sophomore showed up for my sociology class. The French teacher in the classroom next to mine explained that MCAS season was upon us and educators in non-essential subjects are effectively ignored for the next three weeks while the students crammed like mad.

The final months of the year are often a time for housecleaning in IT which includes tasks like taking network inventory, confirming installed software is properly licensed, and prepping for compliance audits. Fortunately, these tasks are something a network monitoring solution can easily handle by gathering data and creating reports. Even better, you don't necessarily have to pay to get these tasks done.

Selecting a network monitor solution should come down to value for most IT teams.

The computer security world uses a lot of military language and concepts. This is not just because it "sounds good" but because there are many useful analogies to be found.

When an operating system crashes, a server stops responding to ping, or a simple PowerShell DSC configuration needs to be debugged, where's the first place a sysadmin goes? The event log. The Windows event log records a wealth of information. Let's see how we can automate log reviews.

Wireless networks have become a requirement for most K-12 schools, and that presents a challenge for IT teams who need to maintain consistent access and performance for students and teachers alike.

Panama is known for its sloths, but we can all agree no one likes slothy Internet and shoddy cable service.

Until a few years ago, most people thought of hackers as bright but maladjusted teenagers who mainly broke into networks for the fun of it. But now that hacking has gone big time, you're more likely to associate hacking with organized crime groups or "state actors."

In my opinion, geolocation or location-based data (call it what you will) is the most frustrating aspect of mobile device usage. Although I was unable to obtain prompt expert insights to aid story credibility, surely I can't be the only one that thinks in this manner?

After several years of steady cloud adoption in the enterprise, an interesting trend has emerged. More companies are retaining their existing, on-premise IT infrastructures while also embracing the latest cloud technologies. In fact, IDC predicts markets for such hybrid cloud environments will grow from $25 billion in 2014 to a whopping $84 billion by 2019.

The Delta Airlines power outage that grounded thousands of flights across the country was attributed to their legacy systems. What could they have done to prevent it? A network monitoring tool would have pinpointed the source of the problem possibly before the outage happened or even in just minutes instead of the reported 30 minutes. It would have allowed Delta's IT team to be nimbler while they remediated the issue.

Follow these steps and get yourself out of the server room and onto the beach.

In the early days of public education, and even in some rural areas today, multiple grades were taught in a single classroom. As challenging as that environment was for teachers, today's pedagogues find themselves in a similar situation, but now they're better equipped to handle it with the help of ed-tech tools. Teachers today may have classes full of kids with learning needs as diverse as the kids in the one-room schoolhouse, but with modern technology they can meet those needs and help children develop to their full potential.

The world is getting ready to watch the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. IT teams may find themselves behind the game, though. They might be spending some time over the next 16 days dealing with the consequences that the event will have on network bandwidth and application performance.

Managing IT is an Olympian task. From looming deadlines to emerging threats, it's no wonder that more IT pros than ever are stressed out over performance and expectations. Effectively meeting the increasingly complex demands of executives and stakeholders with a minuscule budget and limited resources is, in itself, a Herculean feat of physical and mental prowess. With Rio 2016 just around the corner, maybe it's time for another look at the role of IT pros. What does technology at the Olympics look like this time around? And how do tech experts stack up against top athletes when it comes to work ethic and stamina?