Bluecurve tests network performance
The small software company is aligning its specialty in tools for network capacity planning with the booming market for Microsoft's Windows NT operating system.
A new release of the company's software, called Dynameasure 2.0, allows companies to ratchet up network performance tests until response time is compromised, giving administrators an accurate reading of their network's capacity and where potential problems might exist.
The software can stress test clients and servers for throughput and response time. The software now supports Microsoft's SQL Server and Exchange, as well as Oracle's database software. Support for Microsoft's Internet Information Server will arrive sometime next year.
Tom Grubb, Bluecurve's vice president of marketing, said the company has developed a close partnership with the Redmond, Washington-based software giant, essentially acting as a point company for capacity planning issues as Windows NT is adopted by more and more corporate networks.
What tools such as Dynameasure offer is a method for administrators to get a handle on the connected technology on their network. Too often networks are built in a hodge-podge manner as the requirements of users expand, making it hard for the managers charged with overseeing the layout to gain insight into the network's true capabilities. Bluecurve says it believes capacity planning software will eventually become a $1 billion business as Windows NT gains popularity in enterprise networks.
Controlled stress tests can be applied to clients and servers running Unix flavors and Novell NetWare as well.
Also new in Dynameasure 2.0 is a "transaction editor" feature that allows administrators to create their own types of transactions to use within the network capacity tests. The tool also provides a series of utilization reports on network, server, and client performance data.
Bluecurve was formed in September of 1995.
Dynameasure 2.0 will be available by the end of the year. The software comes in "standard" and "professional" editions, with prices starting at $195 and going as high as $29,995, based on network size.