Kentik Blog

Cisco’s recently announced Tetration Analytics platform is designed to provide large and medium data centers with pervasive real-time visibility into all aspects of traffic and activity. Analyst Jim Metzler says that the new platform validates the need for a Big Data approach to network analytics as network traffic grows. But will operations teams embrace a hardware-centric platform, or will they be looking for a solution that’s highly scalable, supports multiple vendors, doesn’t involve large up-front costs, and is easy to configure and use?

Cisco’s announcement of Tetration Analytics means that IT and network leaders can no longer ignore the need for Big Data intelligence. In this post, Kentik CEO Avi Freedman explains how that’s good for Kentik, which has been pushing hard for this particular industry transition. Cisco’s appliance-based approach is distinct from the SaaS option that most customers choose for Kentik Detect, but Tetration’s focus on Big Data analytics provides important validation that Kentik is on the right track.

Network security depends on comprehensive, timely understanding of what’s happening on your network. As explained by information security executive and analyst David Monahan, among the key value-adds of Kentik Detect are the ways in which it enables network data to be applied — without add-ons or additional charges — to identify and resolve security issues. Monahan provides two use cases that illustrate how the ability to filter out and/or drill-down on dimensions such as GeoIP and protocol can tip you off to security threats.

CIOs focus on operational issues like network and application performance, uptime, and workflows, while CISOs stress about malware, access control, and data exfiltration. The intersection of these concerns is the network, so it seems evident that CIOs and CISOs should work together instead of clashing over budgets and tools. In this post, network security analyst David Monahan makes the case for finding a solution that can keep both departments continuously and comprehensively well-informed about infrastructure, systems, and applications.

This guest post brings a security perspective to bear on network visibility and analysis. Information security executive and analyst David Monahan underscores the importance of being able to collect and contextualize information in order to protect the network from malicious activity. Monahan explores the capabilities needed to support numerous network and security operations use cases, and describes Kentik Detect as a next-generation flow analytics solution with high performance, scalability, and flexibility.

Today’s MSPs frequently find themselves without the insights needed to answer customer questions about network performance and security. To maintain customer confidence, MSPs need answers that they can only get by pairing infrastructure visibility with traffic analysis. In this post, guest contributor Alex Hoff of Auvik Networks explains how a solution combining those capabilities enables MSPs to win based on customer service.

Intelligent use of network management data can enable virtually any company to transform itself into a successful digital business. In our third post in this series, we look at areas where traditional network data management approaches are falling short, and we consider how a Big Data platform that provides real-time answers to ad-hoc queries can empower IT organizations and drive continuous improvement in both business and IT operations.

Traffic can get from anywhere to anywhere on the Internet, but that doesn’t mean all networks are directly connected. Instead, each network operator chooses the networks with which to connect. Both business and technical considerations are involved, and the ability to identify prime candidates for peering or transit offers significant competitive advantages. In this post we look at the benefits of intelligent interconnects and how networks can find the best peers to connect with.

The network data collected by Kentik Detect isn’t limited to portal-only access; it can also be queried via SQL client or using Kentik’s RESTful APIs. In this how-to, we look how service providers can use our Data Explorer API to integrate traffic graphs into a customer portal, creating added-value content that can differentiate a provider from its competitors while keeping customers committed and engaged.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s economy, today’s savvy companies are transitioning into the world of digital business. In this post — the second of a three-part series — guest contributor Jim Metzler examines the key role that Big Data can play in that transformation. By revolutionizing how operations teams collect, store, access, and analyze network data, a Big Data approach to network management enables the agility that companies will need to adapt and thrive.