3Com SuperStack II Switch 3000 10/100, User Manual

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5-24 C
HAPTER
5: A
DVANCED
M
ANAGEMENT
Benefits of RMON
Using the RMON features of your Switch has three
main advantages:
■
It improves your efficiency
■
It allows you to manage your network in a more
proactive manner
■
It reduces the load on the network and the man-
agement workstation
How RMON Improves Your Efficiency
Using RMON probes allows you to remain at one
workstation and collect information from widely dis-
persed LAN segments or VLANs. This means that the
time taken to reach a problem site, set up equip-
ment, and begin collecting information is largely
eliminated.
How RMON Allows Proactive Management
If they are configured correctly, RMON probes
deliver information before problems occur. This
means that you can take action before they impact
on users. In addition, probes record the behavior of
your network, so that you can analyze the causes of
problems.
How RMON Reduces the Traffic Load
Traditional network management involves a man-
agement workstation polling network devices at
regular intervals to gather statistics and identify
problems or trends. As network sizes and traffic
levels grow, this approach places a strain on the
management workstation and also generates large
amounts of traffic.
An RMON probe, however, autonomously looks at
the network on behalf of the management worksta-
tion without affecting the characteristics and perfor-
mance of the network. The probe reports by
exception, which means that it only informs the
management workstation when the network has
entered an abnormal state.