NOTE: The Network View is offering a series of reviews on network visibility-related resources and blogs available online. If you have a URL which we should consider reviewing, please send to tlandry (at) anuesystems (dot) com.
Last week, we highlighted Network Performance Daily, the primary blog managed by NetQoS. Today, we turn to a resource that focuses on a similar topic area:
Network Observations Screenshot
Network Observations is authored and managed by Network Instruments, a provider of network and application monitoring solutions. According to the blog archives, this resource appears to have been live and available since May, 2007, so it has been around for a couple of years now. Topic areas are focused on emerging trends in networking, as well as network analysis commentary and technical issues.
This blog is written by three members of Network Instruments. Stephen Brown is the company’s Product Marketing Manager, bringing “nearly a decade of experience in network management and security.” William McClain serves in the role of Marketing Communications Specialist, and he authors white papers and networking related articles in addition to contributing to the blog. Finally, and most interestingly, we have “SecurityDude”. Although SD remains anonymous for an unspecified reason, he offers a wealth of knowledge on storage and security, which we all know are crucial topics in monitoring. He is also a certified CISSP-ISSAP with 20 years of experience in secure networking infrastructures.
Primary topics of focus on the blog are:
Another nice feature that we don’t see on many blogs is their list of “Recommended Posts”. Specifically, the following posts caught my interest:
Even though postings are infrequent (app. monthly), the blog managers/writers do a great job of mixing commentary on issues, their own messaging, and links to relevant topics of interest. For example, on December 10, 2008 they posted some interesting Network Management Links. Earlier, SecurityDude included a list of “Greatest Hits” from his first year on the blog. Take a look at the information in those two posts to get a flavor for what they are doing. The great part about this blog is that you don’t need to check back daily or weekly to catch up on what they are discussing. Just poke your head in the door every few weeks to see what hot topics they’ve taken on most recently.
Come back once you review the site and let us know what you think in the comments section. And if you know of another resource that is deserving of our attention, please feel free to reach out to us directly. Enjoy!
