Network monitoring solution heals network ailments at The Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine

Reseller Grant McGregor put forward the Ipswitch solution that will monitor the connected devices of 2,500 staff users across a large campus, the core infrastructure and the environmental conditions of three server rooms.

Core infrastructure manager at the school, Stephen Hoensch, describes the challenges that he has been facing: “Currently, we have a number of bespoke systems that monitor our internal systems/network but there is no centrally monitored solution, having a number of separate systems means delay in receiving alerts or complications in getting new monitors/alerts installed and working together as one.

David Bell, software technical consultant, Grant McGregor, outlines the school’s specific requirements that were considered in the selection process: “Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine specified that the solution needed to be able to monitor core infrastructure such as key services email, AD, websites, databases and wireless. It needed to be compatible with the sensor equipment that the school plans to purchase, which will protect against fire, flood or a security breach in the server rooms.

The customer also wanted alerts to be sent out of hours, with SMS messaging for critical failures and email alerts for the less serious issues. Most importantly, the solution had to be scalable, as the school is incorporating many remote sites and future plans to join with other schools could lead to needing to monitor a network which will more than double its current size.”

Bell offered three products from different vendors to Hoensch for 30-day trial periods. Within five days, Hoensch had decided that WhatsUp Gold was the most suitable for enterprise and was the most straightforward to install. Within half an hour of the free trial starting, Hoensch was able to begin testing the WhatsUp Gold product without any support. Additionally, he is impressed with the yearly support contract Ipswitch offers to universities. This means that he will have access to the latest versions of the software as the school continues to grow.

With support from Grant McGregor, Hoensch will install the latest incarnation of WhatsUp Gold (version 16.2, premium edition) with 300 devices this summer.
Upon completion of the installation, Hoensch will be able to reap the benefits of a well-monitored network. WhatsUp Gold’s alerts will mean that he is able to fix many network problems before any users are affected. This includes protecting the servers from physical damage. WhatsUp Gold will work with environmental sensors, to monitor the server rooms to prevent any damage and will send an alert in the event of a smoke, heat, flood or security breach.

He will also be able to enforce fair usage of the network, as he will be able to quickly identify any users abusing wireless rules, detecting rogue devices on the internal network and allow detailed monitoring of both network security and bandwidth. It will also support the school’s BYOD policy, ensuring that personal devices connected to the network are also monitored.

Stephen Demianyk, UK channel manager, Ipswitch concludes: “WhatsUp Gold is an ideal solution for the Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, as it is well-suited to an enterprise environment. A university network supports a broad population of students, faculty and others who all rely on a wireless network to do their work. Consider the user population. A big segment of it grew up with the Internet and they have little patience for dead spots that don’t provide access to it.

The WhatsUp Gold solution is affordable with the customer in this case being an educational institution, budget constraints are always an important consideration.”