Oftentimes, you must have come across people who tend to confuse between network monitoring and application monitoring and its performance. But these are 2 different things. While network monitoring, means to keep an eye on the working of all the devices and programs that are on the network, application monitoring means watching for discrepancies when users are not able to make use of a particular application. So, it is a well known fact that every organization has several applications running in their websites.
When you find that users are not able to access any of these applications, the trouble lies there. The main aim of installing an application monitoring tool is to make sure that no serious issues arise out of anomalies observed in the working of the applications and that it can be prevented before it goes out of control.
With the help of application monitoring, the moment an administrator comes to know that an application has gone haywire; he can promptly rise to the situation and take all the necessary steps that can ensure the smooth running of the application(s). A reliable tool will notify you about the performance, generate reports and analyze performance and locate the trouble as well as the growth areas.
Working of application monitoring tool
A server that has been centrally deployed is perhaps the best way to monitor application performance in any organization. The software that will be used for application monitoring is usually installed on the centralized server and from here it gathers data from various applications. You have the option of choosing between Linux and Windows server as the choice for the centralized server. As far as gathering data from the applications is concerned, there are 2 ways that are usually followed- the polling method and the agent-push process.
How will you select a good application monitoring tool?
When it is time to choose a good application monitoring tool, it may be quite tricky. But get one as per your needs. While you may find a particular feature in one tool, you may not find another in the same tool. So, it is essential to weigh the pros and the cons before you settle for the right one. Opt for Enterprise monitoring plans that will address most of your business needs as far as application monitoring is concerned. You have the liberty to mix and match these application monitoring tools. You can invest in either open source or commercial monitoring tools.
To wrap it up, you can look out for the following features before you settle for one such solution that will monitor your applications properly. These are as follows -
The tool should have a reporting system so that any data that is generated is stored in form a report that can be used later to assess performance of the application. The data obtained also helps you in identifying trends
It should also be able to monitor disk input and output, response time, memory usage, as well as CPU usage.
Ref: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/prevent-server-downtime-with-effective-monitoring-application-performance-5873296.html