Network monitoring is among those job duties that nobody specifically looks forward to. You recognize it is fundamental to stay up to date with the state of your network, however there hardly ever seems to be enough time to devote to the task in hand. Networks expand and transform so routinely that it might be impossible to remain on top of every thing that's happening. When you feel much less than enthused about the prospect of monitoring the network day in and day out, you are not alone. The art and science of windows network monitoring is among the least respected capabilities in the industry. So many individuals are involved with including new bells and whistles to the networks that far too few of them ever take the time to immerse themselves in mastering sound microsoft windows network monitoring knowledge. There is certainly a lot more to network monitoring than simply operating the ping command consistently and hoping for the best. You can find a lot of tools and means which network admins will use to really get a greater comprehension of the network.

Monitoring Tools

If you plan on implementing any third-party windows network monitoring tools, be sure to discover programs that run as a local service. These types of programs allow you to see what is going on with the network via browser-based portals. Being able to easily log in to your network monitoring interfaces makes your job easier and allows you to collect and view data in the most useful way. Network sniffers & other utilities allow you to create the kinds of reports that you'll need to keep your network operating efficiently. You could possibly also capture packets, analyze the data and retransmit if needed. This allows you to really dig into potential problems to your network to get right to the root cause. There's nothing better, as a network professional, than getting to the source of your problem & implementing the correct fix to avert the problem in the future. Windows network monitoring tools give you the ability to do these things easily.

MSDN

You don't have to be a software developer to get good use out of the Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN) this resource can help network engineers & admins to stay on top of the most current developments to Windows servers. You will discover patches, knowledge base articles and all kinds of utilities that will make your job as a networking professional more rewarding. Many networking pros don't think that this site is for them, but find out after 1 visit that they can find tools & fixes that aren't available anywhere else. If you are serious about maintaining & improving your Windows network using MSDN should become a regular part of the work week.

As you go through the steps of establishing solid Windows network monitoring take advantage of all of the tools that area accessible to you. You could set up real time alerts to your pager or cell phone so that you are aware of problems no matter when they occur. Be sure to forward those alerts to 1 of these colleagues when you go on vacation. Everyone deserves some time off. After you implement good networking protocols for your business, you are going to have earned a nice, relaxing vacation.