NetScout Systems, Inc. announced that CN Rail has deployed its nGenious networking monitoring product suite to manage the performance of its business services.

Additionally, CN is piloting the new nGenius Analytics anomaly detection system to proactively warn of problems in network and application performance.

CN's freight services span Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, with connections to all points in North America.

Its IT network supports more than 20,000 employees, 15,000 of whom are heavy network users, relying on the network to track shipments in real-time, process customer service transactions and fulfill order requests.

The remaining employees in the field and on trains depend on the network to ensure that the company's extensive, automated rail system operates efficiently and safely.

Application performance data will be collected by nGenius Probes deployed on CN's WAN infrastructure, train monitoring network, corporate offices, and data centres.

"Our business operates in real-time with extensive automation, so we depend heavily on the corporate network remaining responsive," said Bruno Quesnel, senior network engineer with CN's Telecom Engineering Team.

"The number of our remote sites and distinct classification of business services we monitor requires a reliable and highly granular network monitoring system."