Network performance monitoring in hybrid infrastructure

Abstract

Monitoring network performance in a modern hybrid environment that utilizes cloud computing resources together with on-premises infrastructure is crucial to provide quality of service for users and maintain continuous network operations for business-critical services. Monitoring performance in these environments possesses challenges due to the complexity of networks and with the large number of technologies involved. The objective of this thesis was to study how to effectively monitor network performance in a hybrid infrastructure, what kind of monitoring solutions existed in the market, and to compare their characteristics, as well as to provide aspects of what organizations need to consider when deploying the solutions. Qualitative methods were used to select the monitoring solutions for this study by interviewing networking and monitoring specialists from Telia Cygate Oy and researching the current market selection. Information about the monitoring technologies was gathered from the product documentation provided by the manufacturers. The study showed that monitoring performance in a hybrid infrastructure was possible with the presented monitoring solutions. However, each of them is best suited for a specific environment and the decision of which solution might be suitable for an organization should be based on the current and future technologies in use within the network. Combining cloud providers native monitoring tools with an external monitoring solution might provide the widest overall picture of network performance in a hybrid environment.