For an organization to operate smoothly, the network is very important. It can be managed manually or monitoring tools can be used for the same purpose. New network monitoring software, utilities and tools are being launched every year in an ever changing IT market.
We’ve gone through different tools that we compound and listed the best ones. We have listed key features and the price in which you can purchase the program so that you can use these tools in your organization.
So without further delay, let us read about the best network monitoring tools you can find on the network.
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Here’s a List of Best Network Monitoring Tools & Software:
1. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is an all-inclusive Network Performance Monitor tool that uses SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) to monitor the network. This software will monitor all the devices connected to your network. We can monitor the total performance and availability of the network devices completely using the dashboard of the software.
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor will help you to view devices, services or the applications that have been discovered on the topology map where you see all devices linked together. There is a special NetPath feature that allows you to trace transferred packets which then helps you to diagnose the network issue more efficiently.
There is also a system in the software which helps the user to set alerts for different conditions and events. When the software meets the conditions, it will notify the users by email or a message. Users can also go to the Alerts page where they can see the list of all alerts according to its severity.
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is one of the best network monitoring tools you can find on the internet due to its different and vast array of features. It also lets you control what segments of the network you want to watch by rotating between SNMP monitoring and packet analysis. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor comes with two licenses i.e. perpetual and subscription based.
Cost:
- Perpetual license starts at $2,995
- Annual Subscription license starts at $1,583
- SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor comes with a 30 days free trial so that you can use and try the program.
Key features:
- Network Analysis Tool
- Monitoring Network Devices
- Network Device Discovery
- Huawei NetStream Analysis, Monitoring, and Reporting
- Network Latency Test
- Deep Packet Inspection and Analysis
- Network Mapping Tool
- SNMP Monitoring
- Network Monitoring Alerts
- Wireless Network Monitoring and Management
- Network Packet Capture (PCAP) Tool
- Network Packet Sniffer
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2. Microsoft Azure Network Watcher
For monitoring and management of your cloud- Microsoft Azure Network Watcher is a network watcher in the Microsoft Azure system which will help users to monitor our cloud services easily. It helps in monitoring the performance of the network, diagnosing the problems, and gaining full details of the network.
This program uses packet capture that does not require you to login remotely, but you can set alerts so that you can get real time alerts containing information about the performance at the packet level. In this way the technician only has to check the actual issue instead of full observation.
This software lets you have Flow logs that will let you accumulate information to be used for auditing, security profiling and compliance.
This software also features tools that can be used to diagnose common VPN Gateway issues and connection issues. Using this tool can be used to identify the issues and investigate the issues deeply using the logs.
Key features:
- Automate remote network monitoring with packet capture
- Gain insight into your network traffic using flow logs
- Diagnose VPN connectivity issues
Pricing:
Microsoft Azure lets you pay as you go. That means you can pay for the individual tools that you use. You can check the prices from the link below:
3. Atera
Atera is one of the best network monitoring tools you can find, which is used by MSPs (Manual Service Provider). This software provides a variety of monitors like server and application monitors. This software offers different kinds of software that a team of MSP technicians need to sun the network successfully. It also includes passive system monitoring as well as maintenance tasks.
This network software suite contains a network monitor that is known as RMM i.e. remote monitoring and management system. One of the main things about this network service is that the monitoring technicians are not on the same site as the network which is being managed and monitored.
Remote monitoring of a network is easy as the server on which the remote monitoring software runs does not need to be in the same building as the technician who is running the software.
Atera network monitoring the software runs on the cloud so you do not need to have your own server to run this software but you do need to install the agent on the client side. Technicians have to use a web browser to access the system. This software also has a mobile application that lets you check the system from anywhere.
This remote accessing of the system is very important because Atera has a high degree of automation. The service automatically monitors the network and it only requires human interaction only when some problem arises. When the problem arises Atera will send the notification to the mobile application so the technician can look into it.
Atera uses Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for its network monitoring service. This service includes the facility to generate alerts for device agents. And it also provides ability to collect equipment inventory automatically and it also provides a network discovery mechanism.
Atera provides its monitoring service in three different plans i.e. Pro, Growth, and Power. These plans come in monthly and yearly plans. Atera also offers a free trial so that you can test the services offered by Atera.
Key features:
- All-in-one solution with automatic network discovery
- Real-time application and network device monitor
- Powerful reporting, analytics, and alerts
- You can purchase Atera from the link below:
4. Paessler PRTG Network Monitor (FREE TRIAL)
PRTG Network Monitor is a free network monitoring tool that uses Packet Sniffing, WMI, and SNMP to monitor the network. This program uses a scan network segment to add devices and discover them to monitor. There are different sensors in the software that helps to monitor different segments of the network. Different sensors will monitor different values of the network like Hardware Parameter Sensors, Network data usage, SNMP sensors, VOIP, QoS sensors, Bandwidth Monitoring Sensors, and many more.
This tool has a customizable dashboard that will help you to create network maps of the infrastructure in real time so that you can visualize easily. You can also create the maps with dragging and dropping and you can also use more than 300 objects which will help you to build a map.
There is also a threshold system in the software which will alert users if the values change and keeps the user updated. You can also receive notifications in the different formats line email, SMS, Syslog message, SNMP trap and HTTP action and many more.
Cost:
PRTG Network Monitor is a free network monitoring the software that will work for less than 100 sensors. It is suitable for the companies who are looking for cost effective monitoring tools. Its paid version starts at $1750 for 500 sensors and 1 server.
Key features:
- Flexible alerting
- Multiple user interfaces
- Cluster failover solution
- Bandwidth monitoring
- Maps and dashboards
- Scan for network devices by IP segment
- Alerts system
- Reports system
- Customizable network maps
5. Datadog Network Performance Monitoring (FREE TRIAL)
Datadog Network Performance Monitoring uses a Cloud based SaaS software distribution as a monitoring service. This monitoring service runs on the cloud; therefore, you do not need to worry about maintenance of the server to run on the system. This Datadog network monitoring system that uses SaaS includes storage space to store the statistics of the network monitor while looking at the performance of the network.
As this service is cloud you will be able to monitor the network from anywhere, you just have to install the agent on the network. This will help in monitoring the Single Site LAN, Multi Site LAN, Hybrid systems, and cloud resources.
Datadog network monitoring service uses SNMP for statistics as the most network monitor tool. This feature will also help to check all the devices when it starts working. This monitoring software will spot any changes like adding, removing, and moving the resources.
Users can access the software using any browser. This monitoring from anywhere will include graphs and live data on demand.
This program will record its own logs and statistics, this feature will track the system logs to the network and make the records more readable for analysis. This will help you to track down the reason for the large amount of traffic and manage, remove, and resolve the issue.
This network monitoring software will include live utilization visualizations. This live utilization visualizations will help you to identify problems like badly calibrated load balancers, inefficient cabling and overloaded links. This monitoring software has machine learning AI that will enable the software to forecast the amount of traffic volume from the traffic detected over time. This software will help you to get the graphics which will enable you to use the resources easily.
One of the main qualities of Datadog is that they are good in managing container systems and hypervisors. It provides a console which will show you to the overloaded servers which then you can resolve to maintain optimum results.
Datadog network monitoring tool is free for 14 days. After that you can get the subscription. This program is suitable for small businesses and startups.
Key features:
- suitable for all network sizes and topologies due to Scalability, and cloud-based service
- SNMP-based monitoring
- Auto discovery feature
- AI-based machine learning
Verdict:
Network monitoring tools are very useful for the organizations. The network monitoring software will provide all the information needed about the network. The information about the network will be used for optimizing the network and securing it. In an evolving IT market there are different monitoring tools being developed to compete in this evolving market. You just have to choose which one fits your company needs.
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