Entuity announced the immediate availability of SurePath 1.0, a significant new software solution that discovers the actual path an application takes between two endpoints in a network in less than 30 seconds.

It also provides live path topology and status, tracks path history and alerts on path changes in real time. With the advent of SurePath, Entuity is able to provide application driven network insight for those needing to ensure the best possible service and performance of their key applications.

SurePath is not primarily about discovering network problems. The network may appear to be working fine, but a path may have been unintentionally shifted to a circuitous route triggering application latency and the ensuing fire drill. In contrast, SurePath can notify application management, network management, and business units in seconds of the event and can help remediate before the problem impacts the business.

According to Michael Jannery, Entuity President and CEO, "I meet with scores of customers and companies every year, and more and more I am hearing demand for two key things: network dependency insight for the support teams on the business unit side of the enterprise, and application oriented network service on the IT side. We designed SurePath to fill this gap for both constituencies, whether working separately or together."

With SurePath, IT and business application support teams can use insight about network paths, upon which their applications depend, to deliver and ensure high quality services and promote end-user satisfaction. It provides a powerful complement to APM solutions that don’t have visibility into the actual application network path.

Ensuring high application performance requires knowing precisely which parts of the network support which applications at all times. For years, information about how the network underpins applications has been a critical missing link in application performance management.

“The path taken through the network can have a significant impact on application performance and end user quality of experience, and changes in that path can occur without warning,” said Jim Frey, vice president, Enterprise Management Associates. “Whether troubleshooting performance issues or keeping an eye on critical applications, a clear and accurate understanding of the current, active network path as well as recent/historical and reference paths between network endpoints is immensely helpful for recognizing and addressing path-related performance problems. While path analysis has been possible with a variety of solutions in the network management space, traditional approaches are costly and complex and typically struggle to keep pace with the constant changes that occur in today’s dynamic network environments. Entuity has developed SurePath to take on this challenge and provide discrete, accurate visibility into network paths in a way that can benefit the entire operations organization, including both networking and application teams.”

Other path analysis solutions are available, however, their insight may be limited. For example, some only provide Layer 3 visibility or simulate network paths, while others use packet capture technology, making them so resource intensive, that path information may be out of date by the time it is produced. In comparison to SurePath, this makes them expensive, hard to deploy and upgrade, and impractical for many organizations that require this level of detail to ensure a smooth running application environment.

Fast and accurate, SurePath reports back every device and port that can be found along the path in real-time. It is ideal for those businesses wanting a practical solution for monitoring the actual paths of key applications and representative users.

SurePath uses patented Entuity RapidPath algorithms to automatically discover the exact path(s) that interconnect clients and servers (or servers and servers) responsible for delivering an application service between two points anywhere on the network, with layers 2 and 3 visibility.

SurePath closes a critical gap between applications and network infrastructure by answering questions, such as:

- What path did an application take before a network failure?

- Which network components deserve more focus if the network is causing an application to run slowly?

- Is the network responsible for an application slowdown, and if so, which components are causing it?

- Which network devices and ports are critical to the performance of an application, even as the path changes over time?

SurePath doesn’t stop at only discovering the actual application paths, it also allows for their ongoing monitoring, including:

- Scheduled and automatic re-discovery for re-verification of path details and status.

- Stored Reference Paths that show how the current paths deviate from the reference paths.

- Automatic alerts to changes in the path.

- Monitoring of path flapping.

It can be used either as a standalone program or in conjunction with the complete Entuity 14.5 network management solution, whose general availability was announced on 10 June.

SurePath 1.0 is considered an early adopters release and is being offered exclusively to existing Entuity customers.