Scout the Network!!
Updated January 23, 2020

Scout the Network!!

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with NetScout nGeniusONE

We currently use NetScout as a way of monitoring multiple links between branch offices within our company. The main purpose has been for packet tracing. We have multiple platforms; Microsoft, Unix, Mainframe which we must ensure traffic is not only flowing correctly but within a reasonable timeframe. NetScout has given us this with a graphical interface that can display traffic statics in a way that is easy to read as well as allowing an engineer to dig into the packets even deeper.
  • The graphical interface has to be the key benefit of NetScout. I am more of a packet analyzer but the interface gives the upper levels easier view into the network.
  • The breakdown of sites is useful.
  • The ability of the break the traffic down and go into the packet analyzer straight from the graphical interface. Saves a lot of time writing filters with just simple clicks.
  • Possibly the setup. The organization of setting up the sites weren't as easy as I would have liked.
  • Packet tracing has been positive. The ROI comes from being able to narrow the packet down fast to determine the network issue.
  • A network diagram based on packet routing would be nice.
Wireshark has been around for years and has been used primarily for packet analyzing. NetScout does this and goes above and beyond with the graphics interface analyzes and customer filtering for packet analyzes. You can go straight to the packet analyze within NetScout but you will find that to be more work, this would be like starting with Wireshark. Instead, begin with the graphical interface to narrow down the traffic, a visual effect. Then go to the packet analyzer, time saver. As for PRTG, it's a NetFlow/SNMP collector with a quick and dirty look at traffic but lacks the tools to dig into the information it provides.
Packet tracing is its main purpose and well suited for. Unfortunately, I am not a mainframe expert but know enough to know the danger. We have, what I call, a version 1 mainframe which requires a separate stack for its TCP/IP access per program, unlike Microsoft and Unix. With the use of NetScout, we were able to determine a routing issue as well as the incorrect stack that the TCP traffic was routing too. Beginning with the graphical interface we were able to narrow the path down between multiple devices and then analyzing the packet trace generated by NetScout.

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Feature Ratings

Automated network device discovery
8
Network monitoring
9
Baseline threshold calculation
9
Alerts
9
Network capacity planning
7
Packet capture analysis
10
Network mapping
7
Customizable reports
8
Wireless infrastructure monitoring
6
Hardware health monitoring
7