# Monitoring network applications **Network** applications in Nexthink help you identify issues such as network congestion, server unavailability, misconfiguration, or security restrictions. Monitor various connection-based services like mail, VPN, and directory services. {% hint style="info" %} **Network** applications comprise destinations that you can configure as groups of IP addresses, ports and domains. Refer to the [Configuring network applications](https://docs.nexthink.com/platform/user-guide/applications/configuring-applications/configuring-network-applications) documentation for more details. {% endhint %} From the chosen network application dashboard, view and filter important metrics specific to a desktop application using: * The **Overview** tab includes widgets for connectivity performance, failure trends, traffic volume, and device activity across the network. * The **Network** tab has a visualization of `connection.events` data and metrics specific to the Network application. Refer to the [network-view](https://docs.nexthink.com/platform/user-guide/network-view "mention") to interpret this visualization. {% hint style="warning" %} The **Overview** tab for Network applications only includes Transmission Control Protocol (**TCP**) event data. To monitor User Datagram Protocol (UDP) events for this application, navigate to the **Network** tab, select the **Total number of connections** metric, and click the **UDP** button in the Network view. {% endhint %}
Network_applications_overview.png
## Assessing connection patterns of network applications From the target network application dashboard, explore the widgets under the **Overview** tab to understand connectivity performance, failure trends, traffic volume, and device activity across the network:
Connection establishment time **Connection establishment time** represents the average round trip time (RTT) for all established connections. A high connection establishment time suggests delays, possibly due to network congestion, server load, or the distance between client and server. * Identify devices with notably long connection establishment times (>100ms) through smart drill-downs, accessible via the kebab menu next to each metric. * The line chart displays recent changes in the metric.
Failed connections The **Failed connections** metric represents the sum of rejected, no host and no service connections. It signifies the inability to establish communication between client and server, typically due to issues such as network congestion, server unavailability, misconfiguration or security restrictions. These failures can potentially result in service disruptions, data loss or degraded user experience. * The **Devices with high percentage of failed connections** (>10%) metric helps you assess the impact of failed connections on devices in your environment. * The line chart displays the number of failed connections per failure type over time. Click on the legend below the chart to toggle visibility of different failed connection types. **Total** represents the cumulative count of all types.
Traffic Monitor incoming and outgoing traffic to grasp the network's overall activity in terms of data volume. * High **Incoming traffic** may signal popular content or heavy server load. * Elevated **Outgoing traffic** may imply active user interactions or data uploads. * Use the **line chart** to scrutinize sudden spikes or irregular traffic patterns, potentially indicating suspicious behavior.
Device View the total number of unique devices with a TCP connection and the total number of TCP connections. * The **Connections** metric is the sum of *Established TCP connections* and *Failed TCP connections* within the selected time period. * Place the cursor over an individual bar to enable a pop-up that includes details. * Each bar on the graph represents the sum of unique devices with a connection event during a specific time interval. Therefore, the sum of all values on the column chart is always equal to, or greater than the total number of devices.
**Dashboard Breakdowns** Use the widgets under the **Breakdowns** section to analyze metric variations by destinations, organization, and other breakdowns. * Switch tabs to see breakdowns by different properties. * Click on a table header to sort by available metrics. * Click on a row in the table to filter the page for the selected element. * Access the underlying NQL investigation of each visualization via the kebab menu in the top-right corner of the widget group. The **Organization** table displays metrics by your organization's classification. Select the organization level from the dropdown list. Refer to the [Product configuration](https://docs.nexthink.com/platform/latest/product-configuration) documentation for more information on how to define entities and custom classification for your organization. {% hint style="warning" %} Consider the following differences: The **Country** tab under **Destinations** represents the location of the destination point based on GeoIP information. The **Country** tab under **Other breakdowns** indicates the location of the device when the system captures the connection. {% endhint %}
*** RELATED TOPICS * [Managing Applications](https://docs.nexthink.com/platform/user-guide/applications/managing-applications) * [Monitoring applications](https://docs.nexthink.com/platform/user-guide/applications/monitoring-applications)