What are cloud agents?
Cloud agents, AKA external agents, are network monitoring systems that run synthetic tests to measure application performance from external locations, such as cloud providers or third-party networks. Network teams in charge of end-user experience monitoring rely on multiple agents to constantly check connectivity and loading time to key Internet websites and SaaS applications. By doing so, the agents can proactively detect outages or performance issues, and identify the root-cause that impacts end-users.
An advantage of using external agents is their ability to enhance monitoring by providing detailed performance insights, and easier troubleshooting.
As more applications move to the cloud, these agents are becoming a necessity to ensure smooth operations. The ability of synthetic monitoring agents to proactively detect and resolve issues is a key requirement to reduce Time To Resolution (TTR) and minimize network downtime.
Introduction to Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a transformative approach to deliver computing services over the Internet. Instead of relying on traditional on-premises servers, companies can leverage the power of Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud. Through them they can access servers, storage, databases, and more. This allows for scaling, paying only for what they use, while benefitting from technology without the burden of physical hardware.
By utilizing cloud services, businesses can host their applications, store and process data with greater agility and efficiency. The cloud enables to access powerful computing resources from anywhere with an internet connection, making it easier to support remote teams, global operations, and dynamic workloads. With providers like Google and Oracle handling the underlying infrastructure, enterprises can focus on growth, rather than server management.
Cloud Service Providers
Cloud service providers, including industry leaders like Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), offer services designed to meet the diverse needs of modern industries. These services are typically categorized into infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). They give users the flexibility to choose the right level of configuration and management for their applications.
Benefits of using cloud agents
Proactive detection of SaaS outages with cloud agents
Cloud agents play a crucial role in the proactive detection of SaaS outages. These agents simulate user interactions with web pages and SaaS applications, running continuous tests to check connectivity, response times, and service availability. External agents also continuously check the status of SaaS applications to ensure service availability and quickly identify any operational issues. Since cloud agents operate outside the corporate network and from diverse global vantage points, they provide an objective view of service performance. This minimizes false positives by ensuring that alerts aren’t triggered by localized network issues.
Thanks to real-time performance metrics collected by cloud agents, network monitoring systems can promptly alert IT teams, enabling them to act quickly. This early detection capability helps identify and resolve outages or performance degradations before they affect business operations.
Efficient root-cause analysis with cloud agents
Another benefit of cloud agents is that of performing root-cause analysis of websites, cloud, or SaaS applications. By collecting end-to-end network and application performance metrics from multiple external locations, cloud agents can accurately pinpoint both the OSI layer and the geographic location where issues are occurring.
Network metrics include latency, packet loss, jitter, and routing information. Application performance metrics cover a broad range of measurements; including HTTP statistics like Time to First Byte (TTFB), JavaScript execution times, and DNS resolution times. These metrics provide deep visibility into how applications are behaving from the end-user perspective. This helps IT teams quickly diagnose slowdowns, identify bottlenecks, and ensure optimal digital experience.
Ultimately, the comprehensive view allows IT teams to pinpoint where performance issues or outages originate. For example, within the organization’s own infrastructure, a cloud provider, an ISP, or a SaaS vendor.
External agents can trace the exact point of failure across complex, multi-cloud and hybrid environments, enabling faster diagnosis and resolution. Additionally, the agents provide historical performance data and trend analysis. This helps teams identify recurring problems and optimize network configurations for improved reliability and user experience.
Performance management with cloud agents
For SaaS and service providers, external agents play a vital role in performance management thanks to continuously monitoring network and application metrics from diverse external locations. Companies that offer a service to their customers can ensure that they meet the defined service level agreements (SLAs). They provide real-time insights into latency, packet loss, throughput, and response times. This allows them to track service levels and user experience across different regions and networks.
Network monitoring solutions employing external agents can also adjust performance setting thresholds based on insights gathered to better maintain optimal operations.
By leveraging these agents, IT teams can quickly identify performance bottlenecks and verify the effectiveness of network changes. Furthermore, external agents enable benchmarking against industry standards and competitors, helping businesses optimize their infrastructure and deliver a seamless experience.
Types of cloud agents
Provider hosted cloud agents
Provider hosted cloud agents are run by SaaS network monitoring tools vendors. They host the cloud agents within their own private infrastructure or employ public cloud providers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google cloud). The benefits of provider-hosted agents is the quick access to monitoring capabilities without the maintenance of their own hardware or software.
In some cases, provider hosted cloud agents are installed by default on supported platform images, making setup straightforward for users. Positioned strategically across various geographical regions and network environments, provider hosted cloud agents deliver comprehensive visibility into application and network performance from multiple vantage points.
These agents remain connected to the provider’s infrastructure for continuous monitoring.
Shared vs. dedicated agents
When external agents are hosted by monitoring vendors, they typically offer two deployment models: shared and dedicated cloud agents. Understanding the differences between these options helps administrators choose the right solution based on their monitoring needs, security requirements, and budget.
Shared Cloud Agents
These agents are multi-tenant resources hosted by the vendor and used concurrently by multiple customers. These agents are deployed in common infrastructure within public cloud environments or vendor data centers. Because the underlying hardware and software are shared, shared agents provide a cost-effective and scalable monitoring solution.
They are ideal for users that need broad visibility across multiple regions. Or for users who want to start quickly monitoring without having to take care of the infrastructure. However, since resources are shared, there may be limitations on customization, and data isolation depends on the vendor’s security checks.
Dedicated Cloud Agents
Dedicated cloud agents, on the other hand, are single-tenant units provisioned exclusively for one customer. These agents run on a vendor’s public or private cloud based on a customer’s chosen cloud environment and region. Dedicated agents offer greater scrutiny over configuration, security, and data privacy. This makes them suitable for companies with strict compliance requirements or complex monitoring scenarios.
Additionally, dedicated agents can be customized to align with specific network segments or application environments, providing better performance insights. Dedicated agents can also be handled by a designated team for accountability and administration. The trade-off is typically higher cost and potentially longer setup time when compared to shared agents.
In summary, shared cloud agents provide an efficient and cost-effective way to gain broad monitoring coverage with minimal management overhead. Dedicated cloud agents deliver enhanced security and customization for firms with specialized needs. Many monitoring vendors offer both options, allowing cloud customers to select the best fit for their business.
Self-hosted cloud agents
Self-hosted cloud agents are deployed and managed directly by enterprises within their own infrastructure, such as data centers, branch offices, or public cloud environments. IT teams that select this option need to configure self-hosted cloud agents to match their network requirements.
Unlike provider hosted agents, these agents give businesses full access over monitoring configurations. This enables tailored testing aligned with specific network segments or applications and detailed network performance analysis from within the organization’s environment.
They are ideal for gaining deep visibility into internal network behavior, hybrid-cloud setups, and private SaaS deployments. It is essential that self-hosted agents are properly configured for optimal performance and successful integration with existing systems.
Cloud Agent Security
Ensuring the security of cloud agents is essential for protecting both the applications they manage and the underlying cloud infrastructure. Cloud agent security encompasses a range of practices and technologies designed to safeguard data, control access, and maintain compliance with organizational and regulatory requirements. Key aspects include strong authentication and authorization mechanisms, encryption of data in transit and at rest, and continuous monitoring of agent activity.
Cloud providers such as Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure offer a variety of security tools and features to help users secure their cloud agents and the services they manage. These include identity and access management (IAM) systems, network security controls, and advanced data protection solutions. By leveraging these tools, IT teams can ensure that only authorized users and processes have access to critical resources, monitor for suspicious activity, and respond quickly to potential threats. Effective cloud agent security not only protects sensitive data but also helps maintain the integrity and reliability of cloud-based services, giving users confidence in their cloud deployments.
NetBeez cloud agents
NetBeez Cloud Agents enable comprehensive website monitoring by deploying lightweight, distributed agents across various private and public cloud providers and internet service networks. These agents simulate real user interactions by continuously performing network and application-layer tests. For example, HTTP requests, DNS resolution, and connectivity checks from multiple geographic locations.
Cloud agents are created and deployed as virtual machine instances, allowing IT teams to set up monitoring quickly and efficiently. The NetBeez dashboard serves as a tool for managing these cloud agents, providing a centralized interface for configuration and monitoring. Users can log into the dashboard to check agent status, ensuring agents are communicating properly. The agents page allows users to view, manage, and configure all deployed agents. For detailed setup and troubleshooting guidance, users can refer to the NetBeez documentation.
The Cloud Agents operate from strategic vantage points within cloud infrastructures, allowing support teams to detect outages, latency spikes, or routing issues affecting their websites. NetBeez aggregates the collected data into a centralized dashboard, offering detailed insights and alerts for proactive troubleshooting. This external monitoring approach helps IT teams quickly identify whether website performance problems stem from the web server, network path, or third-party dependencies, enabling quick root-cause analysis and ensuring optimal user experience.
NetBeez offers two deployment options:
- Self-hosted agents – NetBeez users can easily install cloud agents on the Linux operating system. Linux is not the only platform supported. NetBeez also provides a Docker container image, as well as install options for Windows servers and Mac OS operating systems. Agents must be installed and enabled for monitoring to ensure proper operation.
- NetBeez hosted dedicated agents – In the situation where an IT team prefers NetBeez host the cloud agents, several global regions are available to chose from. NetBeez manages the whole life cycle of installing and maintaining the agent pool.
Monitoring a SaaS application with NetBeez
1: Go to the Targets section and create a new target
2: Select the “SaaS Targets” option
3: Check the SaaS applications to monitor
4: Select the agents to monitor the SaaS app
Monitoring a Web application with NetBeez
1: Go to the Targets section and create a new target
2: Select the “Target Templates” option
3: Select the “Website” option and input details
4: Select the agents to monitor the website
Conclusion
Cloud agents are essential for modern network and application performance monitoring, offering proactive detection, efficient root-cause analysis, and comprehensive performance management from diverse external vantage points. Whether provider hosted, shared, dedicated, or self-hosted, cloud agents provide invaluable insights into network behavior and application health across multiple cloud environments and geographic locations. Leveraging cloud agents enables IT teams to minimize downtime, optimize user experience, and maintain robust security and compliance. As cloud computing continues to evolve, integrating cloud agents into monitoring strategies is critical for ensuring reliable visibility into digital operations.
