What is Network Performance Monitoring?

Network performance issues can cause disruptions that are both costly and detrimental to productivity. To avoid this, businesses must maintain a clear view of how their network is performing at all times. Network performance monitoring (NPM) is the key to gaining that visibility, offering real-time insights into traffic flow, network health, and potential vulnerabilities.

In this article, we’ll explore what network performance monitoring is, how it works, and why it’s essential for ensuring both network performance and cybersecurity. We’ll also walk you through the various types of NPM tools, their key features, and how they can help you maintain a secure, efficient network.

What is Network Performance Monitoring?

Network performance monitoring (NPM) refers to the continuous process of monitoring and assessing the health and performance of a network. It provides detailed visibility into how network traffic flows and behaves, allowing organizations to spot performance issues and potential security threats early on.

Unlike traditional network monitoring, which simply checks whether a network is online or operating within expected parameters, NPM goes further by:

• Tracking traffic intent
• Measuring flow volume
• Monitoring network behavior over time

By continuously collecting data across different parts of your infrastructure (routers, firewalls, switches, and servers) NPM helps build a comprehensive picture of how your network is functioning at any given moment.

NPM vs Network Security Monitoring (NSM)

Although NPM and network security monitoring (NSM) are related, they serve distinct purposes:

• NPM focuses on monitoring network performance to make sure that your network runs efficiently and is free from bottlenecks, downtime, or configuration issues.
• NSM, on the other hand, focuses on identifying security threats, such as unauthorized access attempts, malware infections, and data exfiltration.

While NPM and NSM address different aspects of network management, they work best when used together. NPM can uncover signs of a security breach, while NSM can help investigate and mitigate threats. Combined, they provide a comprehensive approach to managing both network performance and security.

How NPM Works

Network performance monitoring tools operate by collecting and analyzing data from across your network infrastructure. They provide real-time visibility into network health, enabling IT teams to address network problems early on.

Here’s a breakdown of how the process works:

1. Data Collection: NPM tools collect data from a wide array of network components, including routers, firewalls, and switches, using protocols that provide rich data about network traffic flows, including source and destination IPs, application types, and data transfer rates.
   
2. Data Analysis: Once data is collected, NPM tools analyze it to provide actionable insights. Metrics like latency, packet loss, and throughput are tracked in real-time, offering visibility into any changes in network performance. Tools also aggregate historical data, allowing for in-depth trend analysis.
   
3. Anomaly Detection: NPM tools can identify patterns and establish performance baselines for normal network behavior. Once baselines are established, deviations from these norms—such as sudden spikes in traffic or drops in throughput—are flagged as potential issues. These anomalies could indicate anything from a configuration problem to a malicious attack like a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service).

Through technologies like NetFlow, IPFIX, SNMP and sFlow, NPM enables you to see where traffic is coming from, where it’s going, and how it’s affecting network performance. This deeper level of insight helps businesses detect issues such as network congestion, faulty configurations, or even security breaches before they disrupt operations.

Network Performance Monitoring Metrics

To truly understand the health of a network, it’s important to monitor the right network performance metrics. Here are the key performance indicators tracked by NPM tools:

• Latency: The amount of time it takes for data to travel from one point to another in the network. High latency can result in slow application performance, particularly for real-time communications like video conferencing or VoIP calls.
  
• Packet Loss: Refers to the percentage of data packets that fail to reach their intended destination. Even small amounts of packet loss can significantly affect the user experience, causing disruptions and delays.
  
• Throughput: Measures the actual rate at which data is successfully transmitted through the network. A drop in throughput could indicate a bottleneck, under-utilized bandwidth, or a network misconfiguration.
  
• Bandwidth Utilization: This metric tracks how much of the available bandwidth is being used. If your network is constantly maxing out its available bandwidth, it’s time to upgrade or optimize your network design.
  
• Flow Volume: Measures the amount of data passing through the network. Unusual spikes in flow volume can indicate traffic surges, potential security threats, or unauthorized data transfers.

These metrics help to understand the health of your network. By detecting abnormalities in these metrics, NPM tools can provide early warnings. This enables network managers to investigate potential network issues before they lead to performance disruptions.

Why Network Performance Monitoring Matters for Cybersecurity

Network performance monitoring is foundational for cybersecurity because performance anomalies are often early indicators of security incidents.

For example, a sudden spike in network traffic could point to a DDoS attack or a botnet compromising your systems. Unusual packet loss might indicate that an attacker is trying to exfiltrate data from your network. And a significant drop in throughput could be caused by a malware infection spreading across the network.

NPM enhances the ability of Security Operations Centers (SOCs) to detect threats early by correlating performance issues with known attack patterns. It also helps Network Operations Centers (NOCs) respond quickly to performance degradation, ensuring that the network remains secure and functional.

Types of Network Performance Monitoring Tools

Network performance monitoring tools come in several varieties, each with its unique strengths:

• Flow-based NPM Solutions: These tools analyze traffic flows across your network to provide high-level visibility. They are particularly effective for detecting large-scale patterns and network-wide anomalies but may lack the deep packet-level insights needed for detailed troubleshooting.
  
• Packet-Based Analyzers: These tools examine the entire data packet, offering deep insights into individual network conversations. They offer the most depth for investigating specific issues but are more resource-intensive.
  
• Synthetic Monitoring Tools: These simulate traffic across the network to measure performance and reliability. They’re useful for proactively testing the network but don’t offer the same depth of analysis as flow-based or packet-based tools.
  
• Hybrid Platforms: These combine both flow and packet analysis, offering a complete view of network performance. They are best suited for large organizations that need comprehensive network visibility into both general trends and specific incidents.

Key Capabilities of Modern Network Performance Monitoring Tools

To get the most out of your network performance monitoring solution, we suggest you consider tools that offer the following advanced features:

• AI-Driven Insights: Advanced machine learning algorithms continuously analyze network data, helping detect potential anomalies and deliver proactive alerts. With AI’s ability to learn and adapt over time, it continually improves detection accuracy, minimizing false positives and enhancing overall network health monitoring.
  
• Real-Time Monitoring: Whether it’s slowdowns, congestion, or spikes in traffic, real-time monitoring allows teams to act swiftly, preventing network performance degradation from affecting operations or security.
  
• Anomaly Detection: Using machine learning and pattern recognition, modern NPM tools identify abnormal traffic or unusual performance shifts that could be indicative of a security breach or misconfiguration. This capability empowers organizations to spot issues like a sudden surge in traffic pointing to a potential DDoS attack.
  
• Integrations with SIEM and SOAR Platforms: The most effective NPM solutions offer seamless integrations with SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) and SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) platforms, ensuring that performance monitoring and security operations are not isolated. 

With these integrations, your NOC and SOC teams can work in tandem, leveraging shared data to improve incident and threat detection, response time, and resolution accuracy.

These capabilities are critical for ensuring that your NPM tools don’t just monitor network health. They actively help protect your infrastructure and optimize network performance proactively.

Every Organization Needs Network Performance Monitoring

Network performance monitoring is a vital component of both network health and cybersecurity. With real-time visibility into performance metrics, businesses can detect issues before they disrupt operations and spot potential security threats early.

Robust NPM tools like Plixer One help organizations stay ahead of network performance challenges and security threats.

Book a demo today to learn how our NPM capabilities and solutions can help you optimize and secure your network.