Allegro Packets Wins Max Planck Institutes as Customer
Max Planck Institutions and Institutes in Berlin and Brandenburg Rely on Allegro Packets for Network Troubleshooting
Leipzig/Berlin, 06. September 2019 - The Allegro Network Multimeter network analysis tool is now being used by the Max Planck Facilities and Institutes in Berlin/Brandenburg for network troubleshooting and long-term network security. These tools from Allegro Packets impressed the staff at these locations with their fast diagnostic capability, ease of use and portability.
The fifteen facilities of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG) located in the Berlin/Brandenburg region are connected via the Joint Network Centre (GNZ) of the Berlin/Brandenburg Max Planck Institutes located at the Fritz Haber Institute.
An Allegro 1000, optimised for monitoring and troubleshooting for all environments with Gigabit and 10-Gigabit cabling has become an integral part of the IT architecture. Gerd Schnapka, head of the GNZ, explained in an interview which criteria led to the selection of the Allegro Network Multimeter.
Mr. Schnapka, what was decisive for the selection of the Allegro Packets solution?
Gerd Schnapka: Above all, the Allegro Network Multimeter impressed us with how few clicks are required to view and analyse certain traffic data. In the past, we used several tools that occasionally caused problems. The mobility of the device was also important to us. We act as a service provider for all institutes and facilities of the MPG in Berlin and Brandenburg. However, not all problems can be checked remotely. In such a case, the Allegro can easily be taken along or sent.
How do you use the Allegro?
Gerd Schnapka: For us, the Allegro 1000 is both a monitoring and troubleshooting tool. Currently, the connection between backbone switch and firewall is mirrored to the Allegro 1000 and analysed in detail to identify weak points and possible error causes. In the future, we are planning to gradually mirror one building, one cabinet row or one network area at a time to analyse the traffic and optimise it with the help of the Allegro Network Multimeter. All in all, we use it to make ourselves even more productive. We see errors faster and can take action before problems arise.
Have you already diagnosed vulnerabilities with the Allegro 100?
Gerd Schnapka: Yes, right from the start we recognised problems that we either haven’t seen before or only with a lot of effort. On the one hand, we had network traffic which from time to time put a lot of strain on the firewall. This was caused by the use of network storage and other connections that traversed the firewall several times due to unfavorable installations. On the other hand, we found unusual traffic in VLANs that had not been noticed before. Both vulnerabilities were fixed as soon as they were detected.
The Allegro Network Multimeter measures network traffic from Layer 2 to 7 and displays it in real-time. With just a few clicks you can navigate from the dashboard to the most important parameters (most active protocols and IPs, largest connections, etc.) to unusual traffic. You can also examine previous incidents in detail using pcaps. The Allegro 1000 Series allow you to monitor the last 80,000 seen IP addresses and up to 32 million connections for retroactive debugging and investigation.
