ISPPlanet Network Management System Series - SNMP ToolChest

Performance Monitoring
Another ToolChest app, NetDelayPlus, uses periodic polling to keep tabs on device performance. This tool can operate in two modes:

Measure the network layer delay (right) between the NetDelayPlus host and a list of IP devices, or
Measure the transport layer delay (right) experienced by every client with at least one established TCP connection to a specified server, for all ports or a selected set of ports.

Other tools included in the Gold Edition (not tested) provide additional performance monitoring. The CiscoPingTool measures network delay between Cisco devices, creating daily summary reports. The RMONv2 Configurator provides setup capability for remote monitoring probes, and the EtherScope tool periodically collects Ethernet or Token Ring stats aggregated by these probes.

Unfortunately, most ToolChest apps do not include printed report generation. Real-time results are displayed graphically, but the only way to obtain hard-copy is screen-printing. HTML reports generated by DiscoverPlus and the CiscoPingTool are the only exceptions. According to Zeltserman, print capability will be added in a future release.

Final Words
The SNMP ToolChest is aptly named: It's a collection of individual tools, each appropriate for a specific task. If you don't find exactly the tool you're looking for, new and extended tools are easily created through Tcl scripting. Some customers say they use SNMP ToolChest to complement more comprehensive network management systems precisely because of this flexibility.

ISP admins looking for a few handy tools they can customize are most likely to appreciate this product. We recommend those interested start by downloading the freely available SmartBrowser. But SNMP ToolChest Silver Edition is not yet robust or comprehensive. Admins seeking a full-fledged, tightly integrated SNMP NMS should look elsewhere.

SNMP ToolChest Silver Edition $399 The SNMP ToolChest Company Brookline, Mass. 02446 http://www.snmptoolchest.com

Pt. 1: Intro / Getting Started	Pt. 2: Network Discovery
Pt. 3: Device Browse & Query / Device Control	Pt. 4: Status Monitoring
Pt. 5: Performance Monitoring / Final Words