Anturis monitors Java and Parallels Plesk applications

It was clearly going to be one of those days. Anturis CEO, Sergey Nevstruev, and I were going to discuss Anturis 2.0 and its abilities to help SMBs and web hosting companies monitor and troubleshoot applications. The conversation just didn't happen. Our telephone connections were unuseable due to considerable echo and distortion, and Skype wasn't working much better.

However, I was able to glean some useful information by reviewing Anturis' launch materials.

Here's what Anturis has to say about version 2.0

Antaris today announced Anturis 2.0, a new and enhanced version of its easy-to-use IT monitoring and troubleshooting solution. Anturis 2.0 provides enterprise-grade IT monitoring and troubleshooting for small to medium sized businesses and web hosters. Anturis’ latest solution enables users to optimize their Java applications with Anturis Java Virtual Machine (JVM) monitoring. Anturis 2.0 also features Parallels Plesk Uptime monitoring capabilities.

The JVM is an integral part of an IT system’s Java application. Java was designed to allow programs to be built once and then run on any platform. JVM makes this possible by interpreting Java binary code for various hardware platforms, so that they can perform a Java program's instructions. However, Enterprise Java Applications are complex and the JVM hides its memory handling details. Improper clean-up of JVM memory can cause the application to slow. As a result, application administrators need to ensure optimal JVM configuration and monitor JVM memory and performance.

To simplify this complex process, Anturis JVM monitoring allows users to monitor total memory usage, heap, non-heap and pool memory usages, threads and classes of JVMs, to ensure the best performance. With Anturis JVM monitoring, users can monitor all of their Java applications in one web-console. Users can also set up warning and error thresholds for each parameter for each Java application running in the JVM. Anturis provides alarms and notifications to enable system administrators to take corrective actions and improve Java Application performance.

Anturis Version 2.0 also includes Parallels Plesk Uptime Monitor, a new feature of Anturis Parallels Plesk plugin. This new Plesk Uptime Monitor periodically checks if servers are reachable and function properly. Users can start basic monitoring of their servers in the Parallels Plesk Panel - even if they don’t have an Anturis account. For users who require more advanced monitoring features (including transactions monitoring, email, SMS or voice call alerts, reports, detailed graphs, dashboards etc.), they can create an Anturis account easily through the Plesk Panel. Users can share server uptime status on their websites via the new Anturis Uptime widget, which shows website uptime percentage. This widget is a great way for businesses to show their customers that their web service is reliable.

Snapshot analysis

Anturis is one of a number of companies offering monitoring as a cloud-based service. It can monitor an organization's own web services as well as offer internal monitoring of its applications and IT infrastructure. I've been tracking the company since its inception and have been impressed with its technology. The company has gathered expertise from a number of companies including Parallels, Kaspersky Lab, Amdocs, Atempo, Veeam and Kerio.

Here's a diagram of Anturis' solution:

The company has focused on providing tools that allow SMBs and web hosting companies to have the same level of insight into IT operations that are provided by much more costly and complex products offered by others.

It's important to note that Anturis 2.0 isn't a feature-reduced version of an enterprise product. The technology was designed from the ground up to to simply and easily answer the questions smaller organizations are going to ask about the operations and health of their internal and external applications.

I'd suggest that you see a demo of this product to decide for yourself if it would be a useful addition to your company's management and monitoring portfolio.