EL DORADO, Ark. -- Murphy USA has chosen ExtraHop, the provider of real-time IT operational intelligence from wire data, to help it increase application speeds by as much as 500%. Operating 1,258 gas stations in 23 states, Murphy USA also has used ExtraHop to reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR) for network and application troubleshooting by 70%.
While it had numerous legacy monitoring tools in place, Murphy USA found that ExtraHop could provide real-time visibility into application performance. This visibility is required to ensure application performance for more than 700 stations sharing a single 10Mbps VSAT link.
"The distributed and bandwidth-constrained nature of the environment means that our Network team is the first to take the call when something goes wrong, whether it is a network or application problem," said Micah Rodgers, senior network security engineer at Murphy USA. "We're the ones that get the call at 2:00 a.m. asking, 'Why can't we sell gas?' We are responsible for fielding issues that would normally be assigned to the application support group or a DBA and so need visibility into application and system performance--even if we don't have access to those systems."
Murphy USA chose the ExtraHop platform for its noninvasive deployment, ease of use and analysis capabilities, the tech firm said.
"ExtraHop provided the application-level detail we sought and did so without agents or synthetic transactions, which would have added unacceptable network overhead," Rodgers said.
ExtraHop's visibility into wire data enabled Murphy USA to install a single ExtraHop appliance in its primary datacenter and answer previously intractable questions. Unlike network monitoring tools, the ExtraHop platform performs full-stream reassembly and full-content analysis of wire data to extract performance metrics and business intelligence from all tiers in real time at speeds up to a sustained 20Gbps.
"ExtraHop shows what the applications are actually saying, not just who is talking to whom," said Rodgers. "This application-level insight provides a basis for our IT organization to collaborate. Our DBAs use ExtraHop to tune queries and eliminate redundant queries, for example. And many groups refer to ExtraHop first before contacting the network team."
"Murphy USA's situation is a classic example of how application fluency and transaction-level visibility can empower IT operations teams," said Jesse Rothstein, CEO of ExtraHop. "Murphy USA needed an operational intelligence platform to help troubleshoot performance issues for a wide variety of applications, while doing it all in real time with no resource overhead and without running afoul of PCI regulations by storing packets."
Seattle-based ExtraHop provides real-time operational intelligence to make IT more agile and proactive. The ExtraHop platform deploys without agents.
Murphy Oil USA Inc. is a leading provider of fuels and convenience store services, operating more than 1,000 gas stations across 22 states under the Murphy USA and Murphy Express brands. The subsidiary of El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy Oil also owns and operates a network of 12 terminals that provide, along with third-party terminals, fuel supply to retail and branded wholesale stations throughout 24 states.
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