Enterasys’ focus on usability and polish have continued in their 4.3 release of Netsight. Most significantly, the focus on OneView and incorporating NAC as Identity and Access is a very encouraging step toward a unified, refined application that is useful both for a Netsight administrator to directors/managers and IT helpdesks. Case in point:
Improved visuals for the Dashboard
The new charts break out, allowing you to view some very high-level information easily. The chart tracking authentication types over time is interesting/helpful, as well.
Because not all IT shops are identical (and UNI tends to be non-mainstream at times), I’d love to be able to customize which charts and information are shown on the Dashboard. Adding the ability to further filter on a particular chart/graph would also be helpful. For instance, if I’m only looking at Registered Users, how many of those are the various device families? Or of those devices that are disconnected, how many have the Registered Profile? The new charts provide a great first step toward information awareness about what is happening within Identity and Access and I look forward to its continued evolution.
Usability enhancements continue with the integration of other features. One that will be helpful for troubleshooting in the future is the PortView feature, which was added a version back but continues to be more closely integrated:
Right-clicking on an end-system reveals the PortView feature.
Choosing the PortView option, you get presented with the following screen:
PortView info
It shows the path your device takes across the network, as well as the link state across there (this takes some time to show the link, which is why one link is green and the other isn’t yet green). You can’t see it here, but when you highlight each device in the path, there’s a very tiny dot beside each device that will reveal different information (IP, uptime, date seen, etc.). I’d love to see the information displayed here continue to be refined. For instance, swapping out the dots for icons that display something meaningful for each grouping of data. Or possibly allowing additional info to be showing as a highlighted overlay on each device. I’m still amazed at this level of detail Enterasys has provided.
Finally, sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference. Before, if I wanted to search for a MAC, it had to be in this format:
12:34:56:78:90:AB
Now I can also search for this as:
1234567890AB
12-34-56-78-90-AB
and get the same results! Of course, partial matches still apply, but it’s a nice improvement for usability.
Enterasys’ team has really done a great job of adding value to the tools they provide and making them more accessible. From high-level details (charts/graphs) to tighter integration (PortView) down to little details like searching for devices in various ways, refinements continue to our benefit and those of our users.
