Analyser pinpoints app faults and security holes

Network tools vendor Fluke Networks has upgraded its Optiview Integrated Network Analyser

Network analysis tools vendor Fluke Networks has upgraded its Optiview Integrated Network Analyser (INA) with new features that focus on managing application performance issues and securing the network from internal threats.

Among Optiview III INA’s new features is a Free String Match function that allows network staff to search unencrypted network traffic in real-time for matching words or phrases. Users could, for example, search traffic for specific application error messages, and set a trigger to collect network data before and after the error, allowing easier resolution of application faults.

The upgrade has also given Optiview access to port-based network access control IEEE 802.1x authentication. This gives network troubleshooters the ability to validate the authentication mechanism, monitor network links that require authentication to use, or validate the credentials of a PC user with authentication issues.

Optiview III’s main motherboard has been re-engineered to allow copper gigabit connectivity, as well as small form factor pluggable (SFP) support for metropolitan Ethernet fibre.

Fluke product manager Barry Lindsley said, “Even though there’s a lot of failover systems being deployed, network staff are still having to go out into the field to fix problems that our research indicates can be attributed to the network only 10 percent of the time.”

The Optiview III runs Windows XP and should run for up to four hours on battery power.

Fluke’s Optiview III is available now in three versions: a wired-only version costing £12,750 + VAT, a wireless version costing £14,650 + VAT and a high-end version offering extra packet analysis and VoIP troubleshooting functions costing £17,850 + VAT.