For organizations that rely on their network to support their daily operations, how well the network operates can make or break their business. As a network admin, your core objective is to ensure that day-to-day business operations are carried out successfully. This involves optimizing the network for maximum performance and minimizing service disruptions.

It’s interesting to observe how encryption and network performance monitoring (NPM) have evolved over time. When I first entered the networking industry right out of college, many applications sent passwords over the network in clear text, unencrypted. Since just about everyone’s PC was wired back to a repeater (i.e., not a switch), we could observe each other’s traffic with free packet analyzers and laugh.

With the increase in the number of organizations that have a sizable network infrastructure, the need for a network monitor also increases substantially. With properly established network monitoring protocols in place, organizations can work more efficiently, have more visibility over their network devices, and avoid unexpected downtimes and network issues.

In today’s digital world, almost every business is driven by technology, whether big or small. With the advancement of technology, the associated threats to the security of the IT infrastructure come hand in hand. Therefore, businesses need network traffic analysis tools to keep an eye on their network. Monitoring network traffic continuously gives a business the insight to optimize and manage performance, minimize attack surfaces, intensify security, and better manage its resources.

In episode 2 of Network AF, meet Nina Bargisen. Nina has spent over two decades in network engineering and talks to podcast host Avi Freedman about her history in interconnection and peering. She’s worked for companies like Netflix and TDC (formerly Tele Danmark Communications). Now Nina is Kentik’s director of GTM strategy focused on supporting service providers. Nina joins Avi on the Network AF podcast to discuss: Nina’s entry into networking was non-standard.

This blog post is part of our data centre networking series.