Firehunter Enhanced to Monitor ISP Connections from Modems
Agilent Technologies has introduced Agilent Firehunter/dialup, a solution that allows service providers, dot coms and enterprises to extend Firehunter Internet and intranet quality of service monitoring to the steps that establish network connections via standard modems and telephone lines. The new capability allows Firehunter users to run regular tests measuring the quality of dialup access to the Internet using standard modems with Firehunter agents located anywhere in the world.
Firehunter, originally an HP product that now belongs to HP spin-off Agilent Technologies, monitors Internet services, such as e-mail Web service, news and so on. This summer, Agilent introduced Firehunter/e-Commerce, which extended Firehunter's capabilities to monitor Internet services for businesses that rely on e-commerce. Firehunter/e-Commerce allows ISPs hosting electronic B2C storefronts to continuously monitor performance of the entire infrastructure supporting e-commerce.
Firehunter is tightly integrated with OpenView Network Node Manager, a critical component of HP's OpenView system management software, and works with other system management solutions as well.
Agilent is targeting the new Firehunter/dialup specifically at dot coms, whose customers access their sites via telephone connections; ISP wholesalers, who sell dialup infrastructure to other ISPs, governments, and enterprises; ISP subcontractors, who purchase dialup infrastructure from wholesalers; and enterprises looking to ensure high-quality dialup access to corporate intranets for offsite employees and others.
Firehunter/dialup enables users to monitor critical access parameters, such as the following:
- Availability. Does the ISP answer? How often is the line busy?
- ISP connection time. How long does it take to receive a log-in prompt?
- Authentication time. How long does it take to log in? Was log-in successful?
- Network connection time. How soon can a customer use the network after log-in?
- Total connection time. How long does it take to get online?
- Disconnect status. Does the connection terminate normally or prematurely?
Users can configure Firehunter to run dialup tests as user-determined intervals and then to hang up or run any subsequent sequence of Firehunter tests, such as those that monitor network health and e-commerce transactions. These tests help users distinguish problems that originate within the dialup infrastructure from those that occur elsewhere in the network. They also identify service-performance issues experienced by end users and thus help guarantee service level agreements (SLAs).