The most critical IT concern for financial services is system reliability. 100% uptime and 100% reliability are not aspirational targets, they are absolute necessities. Even a momentary outage can lead to significant financial losses, particularly in online trading. Faults and downtime are simply unacceptable. Mere seconds of disruption can cost millions, while extended outages can be catastrophic for the organization. Network services for financial institutions are designed with redundancy, security, and fault tolerance as paramount considerations. Every service is backed up, and all software undergoes rigorous testing before deployment. However, even redundant and fault-tolerant systems are vulnerable to failures in network devices and software components. Therefore, early warning systems for potential hardware and software malfunctions are essential. In summary, any financial service’s network requires comprehensive monitoring, proactive alerts, and readily available reports on network service status and potential issues. Continuous 24/7/365 monitoring is crucial to either prevent major failures altogether or to ensure rapid recovery with minimal data loss and financial impact. IPNetwork Monitor offers ready-made solutions for these critical needs. Rapid and dependable alerts, delivered swiftly and reliably, form the cornerstone of any effective monitoring strategy. Leverage all available notification channels, including email, SMS, and others; avoid relying on a single method. Ensure that all responsible personnel receive critical alerts, regardless of their time zone or location. Network monitoring must be implemented strategically. Monitor essential services and applications without creating excessive overhead. Given the stringent security measures protecting financial intranets, Remote Network Monitoring Agents can be deployed in active mode, eliminating the need to compromise security by opening ports for external monitoring. Depending on the specific services and applications used, Web Transaction Monitor, HTTP/ODBC/SMTP monitors, and others can be employed to oversee all vital network components. Management should have access to real-time reports to identify trends, pinpoint bottlenecks and vulnerabilities, and plan necessary upgrades or modifications. To enhance security, utilize TLS/SSL encryption wherever feasible to mitigate potential data breaches. Web Transaction Monitor simulates real user behavior in a web browser, including following links and submitting forms. It also verifies the presence of expected content on loaded pages. This tool allows you to validate web services from the end-user perspective. SNMP custom monitors and SNMP traps offer a versatile method for checking any parameter of a target network device. Prioritize the use of SNMP traps whenever possible, as they generally provide immediate notifications rather than relying on polling. SMTP network monitor ensures that emails are both sent and received successfully, given that email is a mission-critical communication channel; any disruption can quickly bring business operations to a standstill. ODBC monitor allows you to confirm database availability and structural integrity by executing specific SQL queries. Depending on the platform, other server monitoring tools are available. In most cases, the existing options provide sufficient monitoring capabilities to prevent substantial losses. [interfaces_screenshot]

IPNetwork Monitor 1.0 build 141 of March 11, 2024. File size: 112MB


Related topics:Monitoring uptime for Windows servers & applications