A Comprehensive Overview of IT Monitoring

IT monitoring is a very complex field. But, if we want to simplify it a bit, we can divide it into the following 3 areas:

• Classic IT infrastructure monitoring
• network performance monitoring
• application performance monitoring.

Classic IT infrastructure monitoring represents the classic challenges of every sysadmin, and includes the monitoring of standard applications or servers as well as hardware, storage, and other infrastructure elements. Network performance monitoring is aimed at routers, firewalls, or switches and, of course, all data streams that pass through these devices. The comparatively newer application performance monitoring field covers all kinds of applications running in your network, like CRM systems or entire websites. It is in the nature of network performance monitoring that it usually runs on-site. This is because it allows — apparently — easier access to the various monitored devices and the data streams flowing over them. In contrast, application performance monitoring has a tendency to run from the cloud, as the monitored applications themselves are all in the cloud. “Traditional” IT monitoring is in the middle, and there are just as many solid reasons to go with on-premise monitoring as there are to opt for a newer off-premise monitoring solution. Local or remote, your IT monitoring should fit your needs rather than the other way around. In the following article, we provide you with 10 of the best IT monitoring solutions, both on- and off-premises, all of which cover the essential areas of comprehensive IT monitoring.

Frequently Asked Questions About IT Monitoring

What exactly is local and remote IT monitoring?

The question of what exactly lies behind the term on- and off-premises IT monitoring is not difficult to answer, but the more details of actual day-to-day practice you take into account, the longer the answer becomes. In general, the term on-premises software refers to a licensing and usage model for server-based computer programs. The classic on-premises model is being overtaken in many areas today by the newer cloud computing — also referred to as off-premises. Off-premises means that the licensee (customer) buys (or often rents) software instead of working with it under his own responsibility in his own data center (on-premises). This is also known as Software as a Service, or SaaS. There is of course, and — here already comes a significant nuance — the possibility for a customer to run purchased or rented software on rented servers of a third-party data center at any time; in this case, the software also doesn’t run on the provider’s hardware. A significant advantage of an on-premise software solution is that it can be optimized more individually for specific areas of use than it is the case with SaaS. In contrast, many software users appreciate the fact that off-premises solutions do not require a comprehensive hardware structure of their own and — if they are rented — usually offer attractive, flexible licensing models.

Does remote monitoring necessarily mean less flexibility?

The objection often raised against cloud solutions, such as SaaS, is that they necessarily result in less flexibility. This is not automatically correct. Yes, it is true that — overall — there are fewer opportunities for individualization than with on-premises solutions. The possibilities for customization of SaaS solutions can be realized in many ways and are usually implemented within the services (for example, through various configurations or some third-party modules). And there are some more arguments that should be taken into account. While with on-premises solutions all risks and burdens are transferred to the customer through the purchase of a solution, with off-premises solutions such as SaaS the hardware, operation, as well as the maintenance costs are covered by the rental price and usually much less risk is transferred. However, with on-premises solutions, all relevant data is located on the company’s own data center. With off-premises, the data is held on the system of a provider that often does not have its business in the same country, perhaps even not on the same continent. This can often be a data protection dilemma, and it also makes it necessary to draw up individual outsourcing contracts for off-premises solutions.

Keep an eye on the basics, such as SNMP

There are undoubtedly many off-premises solutions available that provide solid IT monitoring. Most of these solutions are truly native cloud solutions, while a few — such as PRTG Hosted Monitor — are “hosted on-premises software”, i.e. solutions that were created for the on-premises world and now enable off-premises IT monitoring from the cloud. However, the legacy of these solutions reveals a clear strength, because SNMP-based IT monitoring solutions always thrive on their product maturity. Many vendor MIB (Management Information Base) files are flawed, which becomes evident only through customer feedback over the years, which can then influence the development and customization of solutions. The longer an SNMP-based monitoring tool is on the market, the more reliable it is. This makes a strong argument against cloud-native solutions and, instead, for those that have already proven themselves in the on-premises world for years.

Why Should You Invest in IT Monitoring Tools?

There are many reasons to invest in IT Monitoring. Here are five of them, in no particular order.

• Performance optimization: continuous monitoring can help you pinpoint issues and identify opportunities for optimization that will improve the performance of your IT infrastructure, sometimes without the need for hardware upgrades.

 

• Security: monitoring allows you to spot early signs of uncommon behavior or usage patterns indicative of an intrusion attempt or ongoing attack. This will give you time to react and deploy countermeasures before a data breach occurs.

 

• Resource allocation: find out where resources are being underutilized or overutilized, allowing you to redistribute them according to real needs to ensure the most effective usage of your systems.

 

• Proactive maintenance: monitoring allows you to detect and fix potential issues before they become critical and result in outages that may affect the performance of your applications or even the profitability of your business.

 

• Regulatory compliance: businesses that handle sensitive information, like financial or healthcare data, need to meet strict regulatory standards that specify how this information is stored and handled. Monitoring will allow you to prove compliance with these standards and secure approvals that may be crucial to keep your business running.

What to Look for When Choosing IT Monitoring Tools?

Broadly speaking, there are 5 main features you need to look out for when choosing IT Monitoring Tools. Keep in mind that this may vary according to your specific needs.

• The capability to monitor many aspects of your IT assets at once.
• A centralized display of information from many sensors for better observability.
• Customizable alerts and automated notifications when alerts are triggered.
• Native and automated reporting features, so you can keep co-workers and management "in the loop".
• A free trial period, so you can attest to how the tool works with your network infrastructure.

How to do IT Monitoring?

There are a good deal of IT Monitoring Tools, from as many different vendors, which may focus solely on a single aspect of the task or offer this capability as a subset of a broader range of features. We present a few of them below, in no particular order.