Modern business networks connect people, applications, devices, cloud computing, remote offices, and critical infrastructures in increasingly complex environments. For this reason, in addition to the need for companies to have security mechanisms, it is necessary for them to have visibility into what is happening on their network. With visibility, the IT team and security analysts have insight into network traffic, device communications, application use, network performance, and network security problems.
Lack of visibility makes it difficult to identify anomalies and to troubleshoot. Effective network monitoring helps achieve network visibility by monitoring and transforming technical data into information.
How Network Monitoring Builds Stronger Network Visibility
For a network to be visible, it is important for a business to have knowledge of what is going on within the infrastructure of the company. Organizations that practice effective network monitoring practices can get insight into devices, traffic, applications, and how the network performs. By carrying out network monitoring practices, organizations will not only be able to see how the network behaves but also avoid making false assumptions about network activities. Organizations will have an easy time detecting any unexpected network behavior.
If there is no network monitoring taking place, then organizations will have to learn about their network performance challenges only when they start experiencing them.
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What Is Network Visibility?
Network visibility helps businesses understand their network infrastructure, network traffic flows, applications, users, and communication channels.
It provides data which can be utilized to answer questions like:
- What devices are connected to my network?
- Who is talking to whom on my network?
- Where does the network traffic originate from, and where is it destined?
- What applications are using the network?
- Are there any irregularities with network communications?
- Is there poor performance in specific services?
How Network Monitoring Creates Better Visibility
Network monitoring is the process of collecting data from various sources within the network continuously. The data collected can vary based on the tools that are in use and may consist of data such as traffic, device information, bandwidth usage, application performance, connections, and even security information.
The analysis of this data helps in creating a clear understanding of the normal behavior of the network. For instance, if a certain application has been sending consistent traffic but suddenly starts communicating with a new destination address, network monitoring can detect this anomaly.
In addition, if a device shows an unusual level of traffic or connection issues, network monitoring can help in detecting this issue.
7 Benefits of Network Monitoring for Visibility on the Network
1. Identifies Devices on the Network
Companies cannot efficiently manage devices that cannot be seen. The use of network monitoring can assist in identifying devices working across different network segments.
This is especially relevant to networks where there are remote users, IoT, cloud-based systems, and even many network locations. Better visibility can make it easier for teams to keep track of what is connected to the network.
2. Reveals Traffic Patterns
Traffic flow can tell a lot about the interaction of the system. Monitoring helps discover communication between different users, machines, applications, servers, and even outside destinations. It is important to know the traffic pattern because it will help the team understand normal traffic flow and detect suspicious ones.
3. Helps Detect Unusual Activity
All abnormalities that occur in networks may not be considered security issues; however, such abnormalities could be key indicators. Monitoring systems would aid in detecting abnormalities, which might include abnormally large amounts of data, suspicious connections, multiple attempts at access, or communications with unknown destinations.
Such information can then be investigated to see if there is any issue or threat involved.
4. Enhances Performance Monitoring
Visibility of the network is not only useful for cybersecurity purposes. Monitoring the network also allows organizations to gain insights into the performance of the network. The organization will be able to monitor bandwidth usage, latency, packet loss, and connectivity problems. With this information, organizations can determine the state of their network performance.
5. Supports Faster Troubleshooting
In situations where users have slow applications or connectivity issues, IT needs to have accurate information to determine the cause of the problem. With network monitoring, there is a possibility of getting historical and real-time information relating to devices, connections, traffic, and performance. IT does not need to base the process on the users’ reports; rather, it can troubleshoot the network using measurable information.
6. Enhances Security Investigations
Visibility in the network could be very important during security investigations. If any suspicious activity is detected in the network, there might be the need to know about the systems that were communicating, the time that this activity took place, and the traffic that was generated.
Monitoring information could help in recreating the events and finding out the systems that were affected.
7. Supports Capacity and Infrastructure Planning
As the number of users, applications, sites, cloud computing solutions and devices connecting to the organization increases, network requirements also vary. The process of monitoring helps capture historical data which can assist in determining how the organization uses its network resources.
Key Data Sources for Network Monitoring
The effectiveness of network monitoring lies in gathering information from various sections of the environment. Using multiple data sources enables a broad view of the connectivity, traffic, system, performance, and application information.
These data sources can enable the organization to understand the network better.
- Network Devices: These will be routers, switches, and gateways.
- Flow Data: This data shows communication between the devices and destinations.
- Logs: These show events relating to systems, security, and networks.
- Performance Data: This is about bandwidth, latency, and availability.
- Endpoint Information: Offers device activities and network information.
- Application Information: Enable understanding of application performance and communication.
How Businesses Can Build Better Network Monitoring
It is not necessary for businesses to implement network monitoring best practices for all types of systems, applications, and network segments at one time. It is always wise for a business to know which networks and applications should be monitored.
Businesses must first understand what type of baseline network behavior is to be expected and what is not, as changes in behavior will be easily noticeable. The monitoring priorities can be set after that. Setting up proper alerting is also crucial to avoid false alarms and missed alerts.
Best Practices to Enhance Network Visibility
Network visibility does not only require data capture; rather, it requires standard practices on the part of the organization to determine important assets, anomalies, prioritization of alerts, and network intelligence.
- Monitor Critical Assets: Begin by determining the critical systems and applications.
- Establish a Baseline: Understand what constitutes normal in terms of traffic and performance.
- Obtain Data from Various Sources: Gather traffic data, logs, performance information, and endpoint data.
- Focus on Alerts: Focus on significant changes and potential threats.
- Revise Monitoring Based on Changes: Modify monitoring based on changes to the network.
- Maintain Relevant Data: Maintain relevant data for proper analysis and investigation.
- Share Network Information: Share network information between IT and security teams.
By following these practices, a company will be able to enhance network visibility, identify problems early, make troubleshooting easier, and provide useful information for decision making.
Conclusion
Network visibility is necessary for network management in today’s world where networks are complicated. Through monitoring, the organization will be able to know the devices, traffic, applications, performances, and security activities in the network environment. It will enable the organization to spot any unusual behavior in the network, solve any problem, investigate any incident and plan for the network infrastructure. Network visibility should be treated as a management and security process by organizations.
FAQs
1. What is network visibility?
Network visibility is the ability to monitor and understand devices, traffic, applications, connections, and activities across a business network.
2. How does network monitoring improve network visibility?
Network monitoring continuously collects and analyzes network data, helping businesses understand normal network behavior, detect unusual activity, troubleshoot performance issues, and investigate potential security threats.
3. What should businesses monitor on their networks?
Businesses should monitor critical network devices, traffic flows, applications, bandwidth usage, endpoints, network performance, security events, and important network segments based on their operational and security requirements.
4. How can businesses improve network visibility?
Businesses can improve network visibility by monitoring critical assets, establishing normal network behavior baselines, collecting data from multiple sources, configuring relevant alerts, retaining historical data, and regularly reviewing monitoring practices.
