GroundWork Releases Network Management Suite 2.1

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—October 28, 2008—GroundWork Open Source, Inc. (www.groundworkopensource.com), the leader in commercial open source systems and network management software, today announced the release of Network Management Suite (NMS) 2.1. In addition to the new release, GroundWork will also be offering a 2 day NMS training course from GroundWork University.

The new version of NMS, a part of the GroundWork Monitor Enterprise family, is composed of four modules including: Network Discovery with NeDi, Traffic Graphing with Cacti, Protocol Analysis with ntop and Network Mapping with Network WeatherMap. These popular network management projects have been downloaded over 700,000 times. GroundWork has integrated and extensively tested the latest, stable versions of these open source projects to ensure they will work seamlessly with GroundWork Monitor Enterprise. Some of the key benefits of NMS 2.1are single sign-on, simplified installation, consolidated monitoring data and comprehensive online user documentation integrated with GroundWork Monitor.

“In hard economic times like today, saving IT resources and costs is as important as maximizing the return on all IT investments. GroundWork NMS 2.1 consolidates open source point solutions that are in widespread use, into a cohesive whole, reducing deployment and support costs that are typically encountered in open source solutions. ” said Dave Lilly, Co-founder and CEO for GroundWork Open Source. “Enterprise customers select GroundWork to obtain commercial support for these successful open source projects as well as integration between the different tools and GroundWork Monitor which provides the most flexible, cost effective network and system monitoring software solution that is available.”

“We are always pleased when individuals and companies expand upon the Cacti project,” said Ian Berry, lead developer and creator of Cacti. “GroundWork has generously reached out to partner with our project team and integrate Cacti’s technology into its network management suite, providing a comprehensive and supported solution our shared customers.”

Besides GroundWork’s focus on integrating and extensively testing all four modules with GroundWork Monitor Enterprise so they work in concert, each module of NMS adds unique functionality to the overall capabilities:

• Network Discovery Module - Automatically discovers network topology and component configurations for network devices and servers. NeDi discovers what devices are connected to what other devices and what nodes are attached to each device. It has an extensive library of preprogrammed SNMP queries to extract information about each device and presents that information in a very digestible format. This gives system administrators operating visibility into network devices.
• Traffic Graphing Module - Automatically discovers SNMP accessible performance related parameters that can be collected and subsequently graphed. Using Cacti’s extensive list of powerful templates, users can quickly flag which parameters they want to monitor. These graphs can then be integrated into GroundWork Monitor displays such as Status View and Dashboards.
• Protocol Analysis Module – Provides diagnostic functionality when bottlenecks are detected by either the GroundWork Monitor alarms or the graphs generated by Cacti. It can be configured to listen and profile the traffic protocols on any network segment. This functionality allows users to quickly diagnose detected network problems.
• Network Map Module – provides active status maps to display status and circuit utilization of any network. For further diagnosis users can click-through to device status, performance data, or network flow displays. Additionally it supports multiple tiers of maps for at-a-glance traffic comprehension.

Pricing:

The four components of the NMS suite are available in a bundle priced at $14,000 for an annual subscription. Individual modules can be purchased alone at the cost of $6,000 for the network discovery or traffic graphing modules and $2,000 for the protocol analysis or network map modules.

Training:

For more information or to sign up for the NMS training course please visit: http://tinyurl.com/5vxydr

For additional information on NMS please visit: http://groundworkopensource.com/products/enterprise/

About GroundWork

San Francisco-based GroundWork Open Source, Inc. (http://www.groundworkopensource.com) is the market leader in commercial open source network and systems management software, delivering enterprise-class network, system and application management solutions at a fraction of the cost of proprietary solutions.

GroundWork's best of breed approach gives customers the flexibility to use diverse open source and proprietary technologies together under a unified interface, allowing users to leverage the advantages of open source while simultaneously preserving existing investments in legacy management tools. GroundWork’s solutions are in use at organizations like Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, SAIC, Seton Hall University, Siemens, and World Bank. GroundWork’s solutions are available from GroundWork, its partners including Red Hat, Unisys, Fujitsu, and a worldwide network of channel partners. The company is privately held, with investments from Canaan Partners, Mayfield Fund, JAFCO Ventures and SAP Ventures.