LiveAction & ThousandEyes: Complementary Features & Key Differences

LiveAction and Cisco ThousandEyes stand out as leading solutions in network monitoring and performance management, each offering distinctive capabilities tailored to diverse network demands. This overview explores how LiveAction’s in-depth monitoring and diagnostic capabilities harmoniously complement ThousandEyes’ holistic view of the digital experience across the end-to-end service delivery chain.

By delineating their unique features and key differences, we aim to provide insights into how organizations can effectively utilize these tools to enhance network visibility, performance management, and IT operational efficiency. Whether prioritizing internal diagnostics with LiveAction or extending monitoring scope to external networks with ThousandEyes, understanding their synergies and distinctions equips businesses with the knowledge to optimize their network performance strategies.

Complementing Features

LiveAction: In-depth Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics

• LiveAction focuses on deep network performance monitoring and diagnostics. It provides detailed visibility into network traffic, utilizing SNMP, NetFlow, packet data and APIs to offer insights into network behavior, application performance, and potential issues.
• LiveAction excels in real-time and historical analysis, allowing for proactive troubleshooting and optimization of network infrastructure. It’s graphical visualization of the network topology and traffic flows makes it easier for network teams to understand complex network conditions and performance metrics.

Cisco ThousandEyes: End-to-End Internet and Cloud Intelligence

• ThousandEyes provides proactive visibility into the delivery of web applications across any network, to detect issues proactively, and deliver improved experiences.
• ThousandEyes extends visibility beyond traditional enterprise network boundaries into the internet, cloud, and SaaS applications. It is designed to monitor end-user experiences across these areas, providing insights into how external factors affect application delivery and performance.
• ThousandEyes uses a combination of synthetic monitoring (active testing) and path visualization to identify performance issues across the entire service delivery path, including ISP, cloud provider, and SaaS application networks.

Key Differences

Focus and Scope of Monitoring

• LiveAction provides real-time insights and analytics for customers on-premises networks, data centers and enterprise WANs (Wide Area Network). This helps network engineers drill down into the specifics of their network performance issues within their enterprise infrastructure.
• ThousandEyes offers high-level visibility into external network environments, including the internet, cloud networks, and third-party services. This external focus is crucial for diagnosing issues that originate outside the enterprise network boundary.

Data Collection and Analysis

• LiveAction utilizes network telemetry data such as NetFlow and packet capture to analyze network performance and identify issues. This approach offers a detailed understanding of what is happening within the network, including bandwidth usage, application performance, and potential security threats.
• ThousandEyes uses synthetic transactions (active testing) to simulate user access to applications and services. This method helps identify connectivity and performance issues across the internet and cloud services, providing insights into how these issues impact end-user experience.

Use Cases

• LiveAction is built for network operations teams that manage their network and application performance, QoS (Quality of Service) policy optimization, troubleshooting, and security monitoring. LiveAction provides real time visibility for data and applications traversing through the network, helping reduce response time for security and incidents. The solution is ideal for organizations looking to ensure optimal performance of their core network infrastructure and services.
• ThousandEyes is geared towards organizations that rely heavily on cloud services, SaaS applications, and need to monitor the performance of their digital experience across the internet. It is valuable for IT teams responsible for ensuring end-user experience and troubleshooting external connectivity and performance issues.

Conclusion

Together, Live Action and ThousandEyes they offer a comprehensive solution for monitoring and managing network performance both within the enterprise and beyond its traditional boundaries. LiveAction’s in-depth insights into internal networks complements ThousandEyes’ capability to illuminate the performance of digital experiences across the global internet, cloud, and SaaS applications. This combination enables organizations to achieve unparalleled visibility and control over their network infrastructure, ensuring the reliability and performance of their services in both internal and external contexts.

By leveraging the strengths of both LiveAction and ThousandEyes, businesses can navigate the complexities of modern network environments with greater agility and foresight, leading to improved operational efficiencies, reduced downtimes, and enhanced user experiences. As networks continue to evolve and expand in complexity, the integration of these powerful tools will be pivotal for organizations aiming to maintain a competitive edge in managing their network performance and ensuring the satisfaction of their end-users.