Network configuration management with PRTG

A network configuration manager (NCM) helps companies optimize the organization of their networks by monitoring, managing, operating, and maintaining their networks and network components, and by consolidating all configuration-related information in a single place.

With a network configuration management tool, administrators can simultaneously make changes to several network devices (e.g., routers or switches) in both cloud and on-premise environments. What’s more, updates can be sent to laptops, company cell phones, and other network devices remotely, without someone having to be on-site. Configuration management therefore improves the flow of traffic within the company and optimizes the security and stability of the entire network.

Functions of a network configuration manager include automatically collecting data, creating reports, modifying the configurations of bulk operations, resetting network settings, optimally maintaining and repairing devices and connections, restarting devices in the event of failures, configuring servers, and more.

Network configuration management is essential because it ensures that network devices like routers, switches, firewalls, and load balancers are configured correctly, secure, and up-to-date, leading to network stability, efficiency, and security. Here are key reasons why it’s important:

• Consistent security policies: Configuration management helps enforce consistent security settings across devices, reducing the chance of unauthorized access.
• Patch management: Ensures that devices are up-to-date with the latest security patches, protecting against vulnerabilities.
• Compliance: Organizations can more easily comply with regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) by having documented and verifiable security configurations.
• Fewer configuration errors: Misconfigurations are one of the most common causes of network downtime. Automated configuration management reduces manual intervention, minimizing human errors.
• Quick rollback and recovery: With versioned configurations, administrators can roll back to previous settings if a configuration change causes issues, improving Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR).
• Automation: Automated configuration management saves time by allowing routine configurations and updates to be applied across multiple devices at once.
• Configuration backups and history: Configuration management keeps a history of changes, providing a documented trail of who changed what and when. This is vital for troubleshooting, audits, and disaster recovery.
• Support for disaster recovery: In case of a failure or security incident, configuration management allows for quick restoration of the network to its last stable state, reducing potential data loss and downtime.
• Enhanced troubleshooting: Having a documented configuration history and automated alerts for configuration drifts (when configurations deviate from intended settings) helps in pinpointing and resolving issues faster.

Paessler PRTG assists with network configuration management by providing tools that support network administrators in monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting configurations.

PRTG continuously monitors network devices for configuration changes and alerts administrators in real-time if it detects any unauthorized or unintended changes. This minimizes configuration drift and helps maintain consistency across the network. It also tracks configuration changes over time, making it easier to see what was altered and to understand how configurations evolve. This is especially useful in troubleshooting when a recent change causes an unexpected network issue.

Although PRTG doesn’t directly perform rollbacks, it integrates with other tools that can help restore configurations. With visibility into past configurations, administrators can revert to previous settings if necessary, minimizing downtime.

In addition, PRTG automatically discovers network devices, which helps keep an up-to-date inventory of network assets and their configurations. By detecting new devices and monitoring existing ones, PRTG ensures configuration policies are applied consistently across the network, improving security and operational efficiency.

Moreover, PRTG combines configuration monitoring with overall network performance data, providing insights into how configuration changes impact device and network health. By correlating configuration changes with performance metrics (like CPU, memory usage, or network throughput), administrators can better troubleshoot and identify if a specific configuration adjustment is causing performance degradation.

Paessler PRTG natively supports common IT protocols such as SNMP, WMI and Windows performance counters, SSH, SSL, FTP, HTTP and HTTPS, packet sniffing, or flow (NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow, IPFIX). For data centers and industrial IT/OT monitoring, it also supports technologies such as IPMI, Redfish, OPC UA, MQTT, and Modbus.

In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive. On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.