Five free network monitoring tools. By Jack Wallen in Five Apps, in Networking on March 28, 2012, 1:49 AM PST Among the wide array of network and system monitors, you'll find several that do what. But how do you find the best network monitoring tools when there are hundreds of commercial products, freeware tools, and open-source software to choose from? While the debate about free versus commercial goes on, there are tried and tested, free network monitoring tools that many network.
What Is Network Monitoring?
To some it might feel like the local area network (LAN) has lost some of its importance. After all, it's old for a tech buzzword and these days everything is running from the cloud, so how important are local networks anyway? The answer is: Probably more than ever. The LAN is now the 'last mile' in terms of cloud service delivery, and if you're one of those businesses that's utilizing 5, 10, or more cloud services as everyday work tools for your employees, then that's a lot of network traffic competing for LAN bandwidth.
Today more than ever, an unreliable data network can literally bring a business to a standstill. For instance, if the systems attached to your network can't get an IP address by using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), then they won't be able to communicate with any other system. Similarly, if Domain Name System (DNS) isn't functioning properly, then your systems won't be able to look up the address of any system on the internet. The way in which you manage bandwidth and network utilization will directly affect the productivity of all users connected to your corporate network. To help you, we've tested and compared 10 of the top network monitoring software solutions available today. Most are cloud-based and all of them can help you keep your users connected and your network pipes safe.
Some of those services cross over into the category of infrastructure due to the criticality of the service. Monitoring services such as DNS then becomes more of an infrastructure management issue as opposed to a network consideration. DHCP probably fits the same description, although the managing of a DHCP service would be something for which a network administrator would typically be responsible.
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) was first introduced in 1998 under Request For Comments (RFCs) 1065, 1066, and 1067. SNMPv2 and SNMPv3 have, for the most part, replaced the initial version and have seen widespread adoption across a variety of platforms. While SNMP is most frequently associated with networking, you can also configure operating systems (OSes), to include Microsoft Windows, to respond to SNMP commands. A key consideration for network management tools should be how they use SNMP to accomplish their tasks.
If you really want to know what's happening on your network, then you'll need to learn something about network flows. NetFlow was originally introduced for Cisco routers, providing the ability to analyze IP network traffic entering or exiting a specific interface. Flow data is sent to a collection point (typically a system running a database) to make query-based analysis easier. Other switch manufacturers followed suit, along with other similar sampling tools such as sFlow. A large number of networking hardware vendors including Arista Networks, Brocade Communications Systems, Hewlett-Packard, and others provide native sFlow support. You can find a full description of sFlow under RFC 3176.
Important Features
A number of key features stand out as specific needs to adequately fulfill the role of network management. For one, from an administrator's perspective, it's nice to have visual graphics that give you a quick overview of the current system status. Having the ability to tweak the arrangement of graphical elements on a dashboard is an added plus. Providing a mechanism to alert someone of a problem is necessary across the board.
IP Address Management (IPAM) has become a vital capability for many large organizations. Keeping track of statically assigned addresses, along with a large number of DHCP pools, can't be adequately managed with a manual system. Integrating IPAM with a network management tool just makes sense as the same person quite frequently handles both functions.
Automation is the key to managing large numbers of devices. The more you can automate small administration tasks, the more efficient the process becomes. Automated alerting and repair fall into this category and represent a key differentiator between products. Add to that the ability to remotely connect to your monitoring system, and you have the makings of a solid product.
Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a hot topic and not without a significant level of confusion—unless you happen to be either a vendor or a technologist with a vested interest. At a very high level, the term SDN is used to describe the functional separation of the network control plane and the forwarding plane, making it possible to dynamically configure data paths for optimum performance. None of these products really get into SDN, except at the top level of monitoring the performance of a switch.
How We Tested
In this roundup, we call out several areas to help focus the evaluation. While installation and setup is something you really only do once, it's still an area of interest. For the network management category, the initial configuration may include making changes to your switches in order to enable the transmission of NetFlow or sFlow data. Changes to production switches typically require a significant amount of justification and approval prior to implementation. It would be prudent to prove any of these test methods on a small test network before moving onto any larger environment.
That being said, we used an HP Procurve 3800 managed switch as the primary sFlow source. Enabling sFlow on the switch required the entry of a number of commands at the switch command line interface (CLI) over an SSH connection. We also had to upgrade the switch firmware to the latest version for everything to work correctly. At least one product (ManageEngine OpManager) provided a script to enable sFlow along with a one-page 'how-to' document to do that for you.
From an administrator's perspective, the user interface (UI) must be easy to navigate and customize. It should quickly present any problem areas and allow an operator to drill down for more specifics without a huge number of clicks. The customization of the UI and management of features must not require a programmer to make it properly work. Alerting is a basic requirement, with the ability to customize the priority and delivery an equally important feature.
Reporting should be equally as easy to administer. Creating a new report with a query specific to the information of interest should not require a database administrator. Extra points are given here for useful graphics and multiple export formats. Role-based access may not be a big deal for a small organization but it would be for a group with multiple IT administrators.
The bottom line with network management is to keep the network smoothly functioning, with an eye on overall usage. Having the ability to see trends and potential problems can help stave off any future problems and add value to any product.
How to Buy
The first step for any IT project is to define the requirements. For network management tools, the foundational pieces include the ability to see detailed information about key pieces of hardware such as switches and routers. Many organizations don't have the staff to monitor computer screens 24/7. Automated alerting and remediation would be a key requirement in that case to help reduce the administrative manpower required. Trend-based reporting and monitoring help determine utilization levels and identify potential bottlenecks before they become a problem. Good reporting tools would be another requirement, to include the ability to create customized reports and queries.
Once you have that list of essential requirements, you should be able to look at each one of these products and determine if they meet those requirements or not. If more than one product qualifies, you'll need to do some testing on your own to see which one best suits your needs. Pricing varies, starting with free, then from a low-end, per-server, per-month of $1.24 up to a purchase price of $1,995 for up to 50 devices.
Featured Network Monitoring Software Reviews:
If you're a system or network administrator, you need monitoring tools. You have to know, at all times, the status of your systems so you can optimize performance and head off potential problems. Thankfully, plenty of tools are available to help you stay in the know about your systems. Some of these products are costly and do quite a lot. But others are free and do just as much — and in some cases, more. That's right. More.
I want to introduce you to five system and/or network monitors that do more than you'd think they could do. From this list of products you will certainly find one or more tools that will serve your needs.
Note: This list is also available as a photo gallery.
1: ObserviumObservium (Figure A) is 'an autodiscovering PHP/MySQL/SNMP-based network monitoring [tool].' It focuses on Linux, UNIX, Cisco, Juniper, Brocade, Foundry, HP, and more. With Observium, you'll find detailed graphs and an incredibly easy-to-use interface. It can monitor a huge number of processes and systems. The only downside is a lack of auto alerts. But to make up for that, you can set Observium up alongside a tool like Nagios for up/down alerts.Figure AObservium2: GangliaGanglia (Figure B) is a 'scalable distributed monitoring system' focused on clusters and grids. It gives you a quick and easy-to-read overview of your entire clustered system. This monitor has been ported to many platforms and is used on thousands of clusters around the world. Anyone who employs server clusters should have Ganglia monitoring that system. Ganglia can scale to handle clusters with up to 2,000 nodes.Figure BGanglia3: SpiceworksSpiceworks (Figure C) is becoming one of the industry standard free network/system monitoring tools. Although you have to put up with some ads, the features and Web-based interface can't be beat. Spiceworks monitors (and autodiscovers) your systems, alerts you if something is down, and offers outstanding topographical tools. It also allows you to get social with fellow IT pros via the Spiceworks community, which is built right in.Free Network Device Monitoring SoftwareFigure CSpiceworks4: NagiosNagios (Figure D) is considered by many to be the king of open source network monitoring systems. Although not the easiest tool to set up and configure (you have to manually edit configuration files), Nagios is incredibly powerful. And even though the idea of manual configuration might turn some off, that setup actually makes Nagios one of the most flexible network monitors around. In the end, the vast number of features Nagios offers is simply unmatched. You can even set up email, SMS, and printed paper alerts!Figure DNagiosFree Network Device Monitoring Software For Mac5: ZabbixZabbix (Figure E) is as powerful as any other network monitoring tool, and it also offers user-defined views, zooming, and mapping on its Web-based console. Zabbix offers agent-less monitoring, collects nearly ANY kind of data you want to monitor, does availability and SLA reporting, and can monitor up to 10,000 devices. You can even get commercial support for this outstanding open source product. One unique Zabbix feature is the option to set audible alerts. Should something go down, have Zabbix play a sound file (say, a Star Trek red alert klaxon?).Figure EZabbixYour choice
There are many tools available for the monitoring of systems and networks. The tool you choose could determine your ability to handle your job efficiently. Make sure you take a look at one or more of the applications above. With some unique features on offer, these tools stand out above the rest.
Free Home Network Monitoring Software
Do you use any of these monitoring tools? What other top contenders would you add to the list?
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