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HP updates Network Node Manager

Hewlett-Packard has updated its Network Node Manager software, released Monday, to include performance management and virtualization support.

Version 9 of Network Node Manager I (NNMi) will be the first edition that allows administrators to see directly from the NNMi console how congested their networks are, and what the root causes may be for this congestion, said Jeffrey Scheaffer, who is a director of products for HP's software and solutions division.

"We're giving more information to the network operations group, so they can be smarter and more efficient about their networks," he said.

Also, for the first time, the software will provide insight into virtualized switches and the traffic generated by virtual machines.

NNMi, formerly part of HP's now deprecated OpenView brand of IT management products, provides tools for network administrator to catalogue and monitor all the routers, switches and other devices on the network. The software sends out alerts whenever one of these nodes go down and can even predict when a node might fail.

Network performance management software typically aggregates and extends this sort of monitoring into an overall report of how well the network as a whole is performing.

While network performance management software has been available for some time, even from HP itself, HP is hoping that customers will see the value in having such capabilities folded into their network fault management software.

"When you find the network is congested, the next thing you need to do is find out what is congesting the network," Scheaffer said.

The software can generate a summary of overall network traffic levels, and even categorize the traffic by application. The software can also report on how data gets routed through the network. When combined with the performance metrics of each node, these details can provide a detailed account of the trouble spots.