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General Information
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May 9, 2008
• Vol.30 Issue 19
Page(s) 9 in print issue
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An Integrated Tool Suite
PacketTrap Aims To Put Open-Source Tools Into A Single Dashboard
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All data center managers have their own “toolbox” of monitoring, management, and debugging programs. But unless they work in a large enterprise IT department that can afford an integrated suite of management tools, such as HP’s OpenView or IBM’s Tivoli line, they must use their network tools individually, without being able to flow data between them or view results from multiple programs simultaneously.
Having to deal with standalone network management tools has long been a fact of life for data center managers in small and midsized enterprises.
“Over and over we heard from IT managers that they’ve got a collection of independent, disparate tools cluttering their desktop and which aren’t integrated at all,” explains Steve Goodman, CEO and co-founder of PacketTrap Networks (www.packettrap.com), which makes a tool suite and dashboard designed to integrate third-party tools. “There is not a lot of integration of applications, and the architectures aren’t extensible or expandable.”
That view is supported by a January survey of network engineers, sponsored by PacketTrap and conducted by Survey-Monkey in late 2007. The survey found that 77% of the responding data center managers would prefer to have their tools as integrated suites, with a consistent interface and data flow capabilities.
To that end, PacketTrap’s recently released pt360 PRO Tool Suite is designed to give network engineers the integration and central interface that they want. The pt360 Tool Suite is a collection of enterprise network management tools united with a central dashboard. It can integrate other browser-based, open-source applications, such as Nagios for network monitoring, Cacti for graphing, or OpenNMS for enterprise network management, and display the data from them on its dashboard. It can also display data from proprietary tools, using the vendor’s API or via SNMP data.
“Proprietary tools typically provide you with an API, which is completely controlled by the vendor. But with open source, you can get into the code and do what you want with it,” says Goodman. “So the only way we can interoperate with the proprietary tools is through the API, meaning that we can’t really integrate with them, but we can monitor and manage them,” he says.
The pt360 PRO, which costs $999, was released for general availability in March. The company also has a trial version for download on its Web site.
 Focus On Open Source
The decision to focus on users of open-source tools, says Goodman, stemmed from the fact that so many middle-market firms use open-source tools out of financial necessity, not necessarily because they want to customize them or because they like the Spartan look of many open-source products.
“We’ve found that 95% of the installations of open-source products we’ve seen have not been customized at all. They’re there because they’re free,” says Goodman. “Most of them look like Windows 95 applications. So we wanted to make a product that could take these tools and give them a Web 2.0 or iGoogle-like interface.”
The product’s ptControl Dashboard, like the rest of the product, is built on a .NET and Web services architecture and can incorporate open-source tools that are browser-based. It can also monitor many commercial applications either through the API or via SNMP and display the data on the dashboard.
The dashboard can be customized with drag-and-drop “gadgets” that include charts, gauges, lists, text, and Web links. It also offers a full-screen mode to maximize the screen real estate. The network manager can use the dashboard to display information, such as monitor availability, CPU load, memory, disk space utilization, network interface traffic, network latency, and packet loss.
While designed to incorporate open-source tools, the pt360 PRO also comes with its own complete set of network diagnostic tools, including Network Discovery for finding devices on the network, Network Inventory for creating a detailed repository of devices on the network, and Application Monitoring to provide in-depth visibility of processes and performance counters for mission-critical applications such as Exchange and Active Directory.
A Quick Launch product provides one-click access to different parts of the suite and for flowing results between the tools. There is also an Encrypted Credential Store using 256-bit AES encryption. Wake On LAN will boot any networked machine from a remote location. Other features include Syslog Server, TFTP Server, DNS Audit, Ping Scan, Port Scan, SNMP Scan, Enhanced Ping, Graphical Ping, Trace Route, MAC Scan, and WHOIS.
The next step for PacketTrap is to release a server-based version. Currently, the software runs on a workstation or desktop. The drawback to that is that while two network managers may each have it running on their computers, they can’t see the exact same information at the same time; the applications operate independently of each other. PacketTrap plans to release its server-based product in mid- to late summer, which will provide concurrent viewing and updating capabilities.
Rapid Prototyping, Constant Feedback Keys To Success
PacketTrap’s development process is a reflection of the company’s small-company, close-to-the-customer character. Customers are encouraged to suggest changes by clicking a Feedback icon within the dashboard. It’s a feature that customers use often, says Goodman—typically 10 to 15 suggestions come in each day. When the company gets a number of similar suggestions—often around 40 or so—they collect them and begin interviewing the customers to get more details on the request. If the change looks good, says Goodman, it is developed into a prototype.
“When a group of customers asking for something reaches a critical mass, we can build a prototype of it within days, push it out to those customers, and say ‘Is this specifically what you were looking for?’ If the majority of them say yes, then we’ll roll it into the next release,” says Goodman.
The whole process from feedback to prototype to inclusion into the code base often takes only a few weeks, says Goodman.
He notes that such constant and fast prototyping of new features is easier for PacketTrap to do because it is a small, early-stage company and is thus unencumbered by too many layers of management and approval processes.
Such responsiveness also helps to generate goodwill and word-of-mouth marketing.
“When a customer realizes he’s part of the input process, he’s more likely to give us a second chance if we have a problem later. And they talk about it on forums and discussion groups, so it becomes viral,” Goodman notes. 
by Sue Hildreth
Company Information
Company Name: PacketTrap Networks
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
URL: www.packettrap.com
Date Founded: 2007
Interesting Fact: PacketTrap continuously prototypes new features—almost all of them generated from customer requests—and adds them to the code base. There is no formal upgrade or new version of the application; licensed customers get new features at no extra charge. |
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