OpManager Network Management Software

OpManager from AdventNet is a great network monitoring
software for mid-sized organizations. It gives all the information for each of
the components connected to the network, including servers, routers, switches,
printers and desktops.

The application is quite easy to install and use. It
has a single interface, which opens in a Web browser so the administrator can
view and manage the network remotely. The application gives all information
about the IP address, machine status, services running on the system, etc. For
instance, it'll show how and which of the ports are down on any switch on your
network. For network printers, it gives their ink status, paper-tray status,
whether there's a paper jam, or the printer requires servicing. If the device
supports SNMP, the OpManager can display even more information. In case of a
server, you can get information such as the CPU utilization, memory usage and
services running on them.

Its earlier version was meant for networks using static IP
addresses for all devices. This limitation has been removed now, so you can use
your DHCP server that assigns IP addresses to the client. Additional features
include scheduling reports, customer support portal, CPU/memory diagnostics and
custom fields. The customer support feature lets you sort queries by sending
them to experts. This service is for registered users. The MapMaker tool,
another new feature, helps in creating business views in the application,
replacing the thick Java-based application client. Scheduled report feature can
be used to generate reports on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, which can be
automatically sent to the configured person as e-mail. Performance monitoring
updates you on the performance of
connected machines with functionalities like real-time
graphs, availability, response time, etc. In case any device or service fails,
you can write your own self-healing scripts with OpManager. While you can take
backup or restore your database whenever you want, but for the database
configuration you have to take the MS SQL add-on license. The router monitoring feature

offers monitoring of the links for availability with the
analysis of utilization, analysis and error statistics. UPS monitoring provides
the load status and battery status of the UPS connected to the network.

OpManager's Home section displays all grouped devices, with alarms for the critical units

The minimum hardware requirement of the OpManager is a
Pentium III 800 GHz processor with 512MB RAM, 200MB of disk space. It supports
Win XP, 2000, 2003 and RedHat Linux 7.2 or higher.

For using the application, you have to just activate the
discovery process in the Admin section. It will start the discovery of all
connected machines in the network. If the machines are categorized incorrectly,
you can manually select the menu. The Home menu displays the dashboards and
recent alarms. In the dashboard section, you can have the information for
connected devices in groups. So if any device has some problem, it can be
displayed with the error icon against the group. Clicking on the groups will
give you all the components falling under that group. With that you can have a
look at how long the devices have been idle for, or all the monitors set by the
administrator. Recent alarms are shown for all devices are in trouble, with the
alarm message stating the nature of the problem.

Bottom Line: Overall, the new
OpManager is definitely a must have for any mid-sized
organization.

Anubhav Verma