Apparent Networks, a provider of network fault and performance management solutions, has announced Version 2 of its PathView tool for network performance management.

This new release marks the extension of PathView’s unique, path-based performance management capabilities into virtual environments to improve the reliability and quality of virtual service delivery. Version 2 offers support for PathView Report Server, a module with next-generation reporting capabilities jointly developed with PathView customers.

“Path management for virtual service delivery is the hottest growth area of our business today,” said Jim Melvin, president and CMO of Apparent Networks (News - Alert), in a statement. “Virtual service delivery offers tremendous value to our customers, but it also brings them several more layers of complexity. End-to-end network performance, including the virtual layers, is critical to next-generation data center success. Our path-based approach uniquely addresses the challenges of network performance management in virtual environments.”

The patented PathView technology is designed to troubleshoot network performance problems, monitor service levels and assess network readiness for new applications in order to report on service delivery. Such tools provide comprehensive views into physical and virtual infrastructures and their associated service levels. As a result, IT teams have access to a complete picture of the health of their end-to-end networks.

“Virtualization is rapidly changing how enterprise IT is deployed and operated, and enabling exciting new system design alternatives such as virtual appliances,” said Peter Christy, principal analyst at the Internet Research Group. “But virtualization doesn’t diminish the need for careful performance monitoring – if anything it increases it. The ability to include all virtual and physical devices in your application delivery ‘line of sight’ is essential for effective management of network performance and service delivery.”

The new version of PathView is designed to enable better, more thorough management of virtual service delivery. This solution extends its train dispersion analysis into virtual environments, specifically the virtual TCP/IP stack.

As a result, IT teams have the visibility they need to see, measure and understand the performance characteristics of the virtual machines over which their application traffic passes. This version can also be hosted on a virtual machine to provide visibility from within the machine out to any client device.

The new PathView Report Server is a product that works in conjunction with PathView as it extends the solution’s built-in reporting with features that make it easy for any staff member to customize and brand reports, as well as automation their generation and distribution.

Apparent Networks recently posted the findings from a recent study that says network issues delay 36 percent of IP telephony deployments. At the same time, 34 percent of respondents attributed bandwidth issues at a third-party Internet service provider or application providers as the most troublesome for applications such as VoIP, video and unified communications.

When companies turn to providers such as Apparent Networks, they have access to options designed to eliminate delays and ensure the network and all applications run as necessary.