Inside Products specializes in computer networks. We provide tools to understand what is happening on your network, classes to improve the knowledge base of your staff, and consulting for the times when you need help to design a new or expanded network.

Monitoring your network

In order to effectively manage your network, you have to monitor what is happening on it. And you do monitor it, but perhaps not formally. Preferably, you have software tools which spot problems and alert you to them. Otherwise, the way you get alerted to problems is by the users calling in to complain. How much better to be already working on a solution by the time that happens. Inside the Stack provides a complete TCP/IP monitor. It provides case studies and structured knowledge integrated with live data from your z/OS system, so you can solve complex performance problems quickly.

Even better, intelligent software can spot problems before they actually inpact your users. Our Early Warning System tool provides a 'heads-up' for TCP connections or applications which may be heading for trouble. That includes both those which are currently experiencing performance problems, and those where they will soon be experiencing performance problems.

Analyzing network problems

When you have a problem on your network, the first challenge is to determine what is causing the problem and where the problem actually is. The standard methodology is to take a trace and analyze it. However even for a relatively simple network, a trace can involve hiundreds of thousands of records. Analyzing this manually takes days, even for an expert; if you have a trace involving millions of records, it may take weeks. All the while, the problem continues, and your users get progressively more unhappy. But if you can automate the analysis, you don't have to wait.

Even once a trace has been analyzed, you still need to understand what it means and what you should do to address the problems that it reveals. Our IP Problem Finder products turn traces into English. Our EE Problem Finder does the same for networks using Enterprise Extender. A journeyman network analyst can now do the job you used to need an expert for. And do it in hours, rather than days.

Expert network analysts are made, not born. You need someone who both understands your network, and understands how networks in general work. That means taking your own people, and giving them training to build on the local knowledge that they have.

Our classes start out with the basics: how IP networks work, and how various network protocols control what happens to network traffic. From there, we move on to details of how to analyze what is happening on your network when there are problems.

There is a Federal mandate for all agencies to become IPv6 compatible. We also provide classes on how IPv6 works, so your staff will be able to support this new protocol.

Even with a lot of staff expertise, sometimes you need a level of knoweldge and experience that is simply not available in-house. Inside Products consultants have decades of experience in designing and troubleshooting networks of all sizes. Sometimes, it is a matter of needing help with a particularly intractable problem. Our consultants experience means that they can help you find the source of the problem fast.

Other times, it's a matter of designing a something new. Our consultants have extensive network design experience. We even have consultants who have experience designing and setting up IPv6 networks. If you need to move forward to meet the Federal mandate that all networks be IPv6 compatable, we can help.

A summary of our capabilities is available here.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact Inside Products at sales@insidethestack.com or call (831) 659-8360.