Brought to you by Keysight Technologies
By Allison Freedman
In the dynamic world of modern technology where the intricacies of network systems continue to evolve at a rapid pace, the role of network visualisation stands as a game-changer in unravelling the mysteries of network modelling.
Network visualisation provides a real-time view of network traffic and resource utilisation and can be used to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and potential security vulnerabilities.
Beyond its apparent utility in simplifying complex data, network visualisation harbours a trove of unexpected benefits that can revolutionise the way businesses perceive, manage, and optimise their network infrastructures.
Let’s delve into five surprising advantages that network visualisation brings to the realm of network modelling:
1. The power of foresight
Network visualisation empowers organisations to proactively manage their networks by identifying and mitigating potential risks and optimising network performance.
For example, a large telecommunications company uses network visualisation to monitor for congestion and potential outages. When a particular link in their network starts to experience high levels of congestion, they can immediately trace the source of the congestion and identify the devices and applications that are generating the most traffic.
By offloading some of the traffic to other links or reconfiguring the network, they can quickly reduce the congestion. Network visualisation has made their infrastructure more agile and responsive to changing demands.
2. Streamlined collaboration and communication
Network visualisation helps bridge the gap between teams within your organisation. Cross-functional teams can leverage the visual medium of the tool to articulate intricate network concepts with remarkable clarity. Barriers and silos dissolve and a collaborative ecosystem takes its place, fostering a culture of innovation that propels your network modelling initiatives forward.
For example, say, an engineering team is developing a new waveform for their radio network, and they create a visual model of their network that is then shared with the testing team. The detailed visualisation shows both teams the dependencies and interconnected parts of the project, as well as possible overlaps or integration issues.
3. Optimised resource allocation
Discover the hidden potential of efficiency by identifying underutilised resources and streamlining your network configurations for maximum efficiency.
For example, a large airline uses network visualisation to see how its network resources are being used and how demand changes over time, so it can improve capacity planning and ensure the network meets demand with sufficient capacity and without over-provisioning resources. Network visualisation helps eliminate waste and optimise resource allocation, saving them money and time.
4. A fortified defence
Visualising network vulnerabilities and potential threats allows you to fortify your defences and pre-emptively negate security breaches.
For example, if your network security team notices an unusual spike in traffic to a particular server, they can use the network visualisation map to trace the source of the traffic. Upon discovering that it comes from a foreign IP address, your security team can investigate and determine if your server has been compromised by an attacker. They can then quickly contain the breach and prevent the attacker from gaining access to any other parts of the network.
Network visualisation brings peace of mind knowing your network is protected against bad actors.
5. Dynamic scalability and adaptability
Network visualisation gives your network infrastructure the agility to adeptly pivot with the evolving demands of your enterprise.
If your company is planning to deploy a new cloud-based application, your network team could use a visualisation tool to model the impact of the new application on your network. This lets you identify any potential bottlenecks or capacity issues and make any necessary changes to the network before the new application is deployed. Resilience amidst the fluidity of market dynamics lays the groundwork for your unparalleled business growth.
In conclusion, network visualisation delivers a multitude of surprising benefits that redefine the boundaries of what is achievable in network modelling. By harnessing the power of predictive analytics, streamlined collaboration, optimised resource allocation, proactive security measures, and dynamic scalability, businesses can pave the way for unprecedented success and resilience in the face of evolving technological landscapes.
There are standalone network visualisation tools of course, but finding a network modelling tool that includes network visualisation as a feature is the way to bring network performance, reliability, security, and agility of your network to its highest level.
Keysight EXata is the industry-leading network modelling tool that facilitates the creation of a precise network digital twin, allowing for real-time network simulation and emulation that mirrors the exact behaviour of the targeted network.
By providing a faithful replication of external behaviour, the emulator ensures a high-fidelity representation, virtually identical to the real system. This approach presents a cost-effective means of evaluating new network technologies before the physical construction of systems or networks.
Allison Freedman is product marketing manager for the aerospace and defence industry at Keysight Technologies
