WiseWan's brain is the WanXplorer server, a Sun Microsystems SPARC-hosted application running under Solaris that gathers data from remote probes and places it in a Sybase database. A Windows NT-based version is expected for version 2 later this fall.

Giving You the Info You Need On our test network, I installed WiseWan 200 probes in four remote sites on the MCI Hyperstream Frame Relay network. Each probe can monitor up to four leased-line or frame relay circuits at the V.35 interface, running at up to 2 Mbps. NetReality expects to introduce the ability to monitor the digital WAN interface soon. This will provide T1/E1 physical and data-link layer information, such as frame slips and erred seconds. In addition, this functionality will match the capabilities found in rival products that use CSU/DSU-based agents, and is expected to ship for the same price as current models that don't monitor these interfaces.

Installing the WiseWan 200 probes is trivial, requiring only basic addressing and line-configuration information via a directly connected console. Further configuration duties are handled via the WanXplorer client, a Java-based application. In my tests, I used a Windows98 client with the Sun Java Runtime Environment version 1.1.6. It was remarkably stable, particularly given that it's one of the most full-featured Java applications I've seen.

The WanXplorer client breaks the mold for Java-based programs, offering an interface rivaling that of the best native GUI applications. Objects can be moved around via drag-and-drop. Right-click-based menus are consistent and intuitive. Data may be sorted by a simple click on a column header. Graphs display underlying values when the mouse hovers over a data point. During testing, I was able to drill into data behind most graphs quite easily, revealing increasingly more detail. The best testament to the interface: You stop noticing it's a Java application and start noticing what your network is doing.

WanXplorer organizes the network into a tree. At the first level below the top lies a probe (a physical site). At the next level is access lines, then comes specific DLCIs, which denote PVC endpoints. At any level, a right-click menu displays object properties, events, reports and other relevant information. To aid in management and reporting, objects (probes, lines and DLCIs) may be grouped together as a single object.

In addition to measurements specific to frame relay, WiseWan provides details on IP, IPX, SNA, Banyan VINES and DECnet traffic--a larger list than is found in most frame relay network management packages. It can also monitor custom TCP/IP or UDP/IP protocols if you supply a target port number. This protocol selection drives Protocol, Conversation and Host Distribution reports at both the network and application layers. Note that unlike high-end RMON management platforms and some other proprietary frame relay management packages, WiseWan does not provide any protocol capture and decode capabilities.

Color-Coded Alarms WiseWan's event management is exceptional, with features found in few competing management packages. As noted above, alarms change from red to gray when a condition is corrected--for instance, when high line utilization returns to normal. I didn't have to correlate events mentally and update entries manually. I filtered events by probe and severity and sorted the alarms in a variety of ways. I attached memos to events, which provided a useful historical record. (Memos might describe work being done on a problem and what action was taken to resolve the problem.) It's also easy to jump from an alert to its source on the topology tree via a right-click menu item.

WiseWAN version 2 will introduce the ability to set thresholds based on the round-trip network delay to any host that can respond to a ping. While this functionality allows for latency measurements to a single critical host per probe, it is not as accurate as the one-way delay measurement techniques found in some rival WAN-analysis systems.

The most significant weakness in WiseWan's monitoring capabilities is its stringent device-polling requirements. The system will lose data unless the WanXplorer server collects data from each probe at least every 90 minutes.

In contrast, competing systems can go days without harvesting information from probes, and they provide more flexible control over polling intervals. WiseWan simply won't report proper information without frequent connections to the network management system.

Ironically, if the WAN suffers from instability, you'll lose the ability to analyze problems. This dependency on frequent polling may also make WiseWan unusable for some WAN topologies that lack full-time connections between the probes and the network management system.

The included adaptive bandwidth shaping option, WanShaper, was still in development during my tests of this product. I was able to set traffic priorities--and successfully block traffic--based on source/destination address and application port. WanShaper's planned capabilities include an adaptive shaping mechanism that applies policies to different protocol types, networks and hosts. The shaping mechanism can restrict utilization by time of day, limit bandwidth to a set amount and set aside bandwidth for services that need a guaranteed minimum, such as a video over IP session. It's also important to note that the bandwidth management occurs right at the edge of the WAN, instead of at the LAN side of a WAN router. This approach eliminates inaccurate or conflicting prioritization policies introduced by intermediate nodes, such as routers.

WiseWan's cost is competitive, but not groundbreaking. Prices start at about $2,000. Shaping capabilities typically add 50 percent to the cost for a site. Consoles begin at $4,995 for the Windows NT version. Future capabilities include a voice-services module and a billing module.

Send comments on this article to David Willis at dwillis@nwc.com.