NETWORK INSTRUMENTS UNVEILS GIGASTOR PROBE.

Network Instruments, Minneapolis, a developer of network analysis, monitoring and management solutions, has unveiled its new second generation GigaStor Probe, designed to capture and store massive amounts of gigabit traffic at line rate. The GigaStor Probe includes the Gen2 Capture Card, which allows granular analysis on individual ports or up to four full- duplex gigabit trunked links. Available in both 4 TB storage and an industry-leading 8 TB storage to meet different requirements for data retention, the GigaStor Probe gives administrators a longer window of time for "after-the-fact" analysis. The GigaStor Probe also localizes processing and decoding to minimize network overhead.

"The GigaStor Probe allows IT professionals to dig into large amounts of data, boost troubleshooting power through its granular analysis, and monitor issues for long periods of time," said Douglas Smith, president of Network Instruments. "Because the GigaStor can capture to disk up to 250 megabytes per second on full-duplex gigabit links, end users are guaranteed to capture every bit of data that passes through those links."

For example, if an end user is inconsistently losing connection to a server, an administrator can go back through time and determine specifically when the problem occurs and concurrent network conditions. This speeds troubleshooting by eliminating the guesswork, allowing the administrator to actually see the problem playing out as it occurred rather than guessing as to what happened or waiting hours to catch the problem.

In a legal environment, comprehensive data retention is critical for investigations that require network forensics. Without it, evidence may be lost or compromised.

"The roadblock to network forensics is tracking huge amounts of data at line rate," Smith said. "The second generation GigaStor Probe obliterates that roadblock by capturing up to 8 terabytes of data at gigabit line-rate speed. IT professionals can be confident that they will always have the evidence that is demanded from them."

The GigaStor helps companies retain all communications on certain digital links, thus complying with industry regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley. The appliance also aids the troubleshooting and network usage policy enforcement by enabling IT professionals to sift through all recent traffic on highly-saturated links.

The GigaStor not only shows communications took place, it also saves the actual data behind the transmissions -- providing hard evidence such as phone conversations, instant messages, or e-mails.

All data processing and decoding occurs at the GigaStor Probe, which means only screen updates are sent to the console, thereby reducing network overhead.

As with all Network Instruments products, the GigaStor Probe is part of Network Instruments' NI-DNA(TM) architecture. The probe works with the award-winning Expert Observer(R) and Observer Suite consoles to deliver a consistent user experience regardless of which appliance is capturing or analyzing the data. The GigaStor also implements small form-factor pluggable (SFP) technology, which allows you to monitor either optical or copper links as needed.

"With the combined functionality of the Observer console, the GigaStor Probe provides the most granular and comprehensive view of network activity available in the market," Smith said. "The incredible capture speed, write rate, storage capacity, and trunking capability make the GigaStor an essential appliance for those IT professionals working under pressure to meet company demands and compliance requirements."

In addition to storage capacity of 4 TB or 8 TB, the GigaStor comes with the choice of monitoring two or four full-duplex links. Pricing starts at $35,000 for the 4-TB, two-link configuration and includes all the required cabling and necessary nTAPs. For more information about the second generation GigaStor Probe, visit www.networkinstruments.com.

About Network Instruments

Network Instruments is the industry-leading developer of distributed, user-friendly and affordable network management, analysis and troubleshooting solutions. The award-winning Observer family of products combines a comprehensive management and analysis console with high-performance probes and network TAPs to provide integrated monitoring and management for the entire network (LAN, 802.11 a/b/g, gigabit, WAN). All Network Instruments products are designed utilizing a Distributed Network Analysis (NI-DNA(TM)) architecture. With NI-DNA, the Observer solution set simplifies network troubleshooting and management, optimizes network and application performance and scales to meet the needs of any organization. Founded in 1994, Network Instruments is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with offices in London, Munich, Paris, Toronto, and multiple cities throughout the United States with distributors in over 50 countries.

For more information, visit http://www.networkinstruments.com or call 952/932-9899.