Network Analyzer - 14 Sep 2004

For the second time in as many years, Network General's (formerly Network Associates') Sniffer Distributed walked off with the Best Network Analyzer award. A network and applications performance management solution that you can deploy across the entire network, Sniffer Distributed lets you proactively manage and secure multitopology and multiprotocol distributed networks.

Sniffer Distributed's real-time diagnosis uses a complete set of protocol decodes to track all network-layer traffic from multiple perspectives, and a browser-based UI lets you access the information from anywhere. You can purchase and enable additional software options as your organization grows and your needs change. Optional add-ons include Sniffer Voice, which provides information about Voice over IP (VoIP) traffic, and Appera Application Manager, which lets you monitor critical applications.

Sniffer Distributed is available in two configurations. Use Sniffer Distributed Expert for fault management and network performance management; if you need only remote monitoring (e.g., for branch offices), check out Sniffer Distributed RMON+.