The complexity of networks is steadily increasing, making troubleshooting, diagnosis, and resolutions increasingly difficult. Due to the aforementioned reasons, it is understandable that 67% of companies declare they need new solutions to increase their control over the network. With the help of Cisco Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA) technologies, Datanet Systems can help you simplify the entire process and – especially – prevent the occurrence of malfunctions.

For some network administrators, a problem exists from the moment it is reported. But, most often, the problem reported by an end-user and the problem’s cause are different things. Also, the moment when the problem was reported and the actual moment it appeared are not the same.

These factors make the process of diagnosing and remediating a network problem more complicated, which eventually consumes a lot of time and effort because it implies:

• Data collection – Usually, the reported problem does not contain enough relevant information to formulate a correct working hypothesis. Therefore, administrators need several categories of data – “historical”, about the events that have already occurred in the network, and “contextual” ones, to help explain the way in which these events have happened.
• Data analysis – data interpretation helps to compare identified symptoms and differentiate normal network behaviors from abnormal ones;
• Selection of possible causes and formulation of working hypotheses – through a sorting process, cases with low probability are eliminated, and the remaining causes are used to construct working hypotheses;
• Testing hypotheses – the simplest method of verification is to establish a remedy and apply it to see if it solves the problem or not.

It can happen, however, for this solution to be impossible to put into practice, in which case intermediate solutions are used, which do not eliminate the main cause of the problem, but only solve the reported symptoms. If the proposed solution does not give the expected result, another attempt is being made or the process resumed … So why more than two-thirds of the companies (67%) now claim that they need new solutions to improve their visibility and control over the network (according to “Enterprise Networks in Transition: Taming the Chaos”).

 

Prevention and remediation in one console

Datanet Systems proposes to solve and – above all – to prevent network problems by integrating Cisco DNA Center and DNA Assurance solutions (part of the Cisco Digital Network Architecture portfolio). Cisco solutions fully cover all stages of the diagnosis and remediation process, ensuring significant time gains and increased network management operational efficiency.

The first competitive advantage of DNA Assurance is that it provides a level of visibility that no other network analysis application currently offers, automatically collecting telemetry and contextual data from 16 different sources (NetFlow, traceroute, IPSLA, syslog, WSA, radius, DHCP, AD/Users, CLI/SSH, netconfig, PxGrid, DNS, AXVC, SNMP, CMX and Apple iOS). The Cisco solution does not only capture data, but it also integrates an analysis system capable of distinguishing between critical metrics – which when recording variations that exceed predefined limits require immediate action – and non-critical measures.

The DNA Center analysis engine collects and processes data from all areas of the network, correlates, and compares performance across users and equipment (switches, routers, and wireless controllers) by reference to predefined basic parameters. When it detects a drop in performance levels, DNA Assurance evaluates the context in which this phenomenon occurred and alerts the administrator to signal the need for an intervention to fix the problem.

The solution, however, does not only signal the problems but also offers a series of remediation solutions, its recommendations being made taking into account the results of contextual analyzes.

 

A set of unique features of Cisco DNA

With the help of the DNA Center Open Platform (which provides an extensive set of APIs, SDKs, and adapters that extend their capabilities to external applications and systems), Datanet Systems specialists can help you benefit from a number of unique DNA Assurance features, such as:

• Network / Client Health Dashboard: a dashboard that lets you view the status of each device and client in the network, regardless of connection type. (Devices experiencing connection problems are automatically signaled, accompanied by the recommended remedial solutions);
• Device / Client 360: Provides detailed information on the performance of each device and client in the network (throughput, latency, etc.), helping you quickly resolve specific issues;
• Path Trace: “drill-down” functionality that allows you to quickly view the path of an application or service, from client to server, passing through all the devices the application or service goes through – allowing you to quickly determine where and at what level problems arise;
• Network Time Travel: helps you perform retrospective analysis (up to 14 days), using equipment and customer performance indicators and network status data to track down the cause of an event in the past;
• Application Experience: monitors in real-time the performance of your critical applications as well as the experience of their users, allowing you to prevent major issues from occurring.

Until now, such features could only be obtained by purchasing several software tools. This, together with the costs and effort of implementation and integration, made the work of network administrators considerably harder, requiring them to be competent in many technologies.

With the help of Datanet specialists and Cisco DNA Center and DNA Assurance solutions, together with Datanet’s data network infrastructure solutions portfolio, you can overcome these limitations and increase network availability and performance to a level you have not yet achieved.