Free network monitoring tools are some of the crucial software to have. Unfortunately, many people still don’t understand the importance of having one ready. They often think that it’s not necessary or too complicated to understand. Some even argue that it’s an expensive software that they rarely use.
Little do they know the tools allow them to be more than staying in the loop. The right tool can help them on processing data and ensure they deliver a high-quality service.
Top 4 free network monitoring tools
Here are four monitoring tools that you can use at home and manage your connection. However, the software list is in no particular order.
Icinga
Icinga is a network monitoring tool from the same team who gave you Nagios. But it has one distinct difference, and that is the use of a RESTful API. This feature can help you change the configuration at ease and a rapid rate, on top of interacting with other features on your dashboard. Then the RESTful API can run fast, around thousands of checks per second. This make it one of the best network monitoring tools.
Because Icinga is considered as one of the best network monitoring tools, it has an alerting system. Whenever there is any issue, you will receive notifications through text and email immediately. You can choose your first point of contact and establish an escalation chain where the first recipient doesn’t respond.
Key features:
- Accepts third-party plug-ins.
- Monitors networks, servers, and applications.
- Icinga supports both SNMP and direct monitoring from the admin panel.
- You can see the details on the alerts on the dashboards.
- You will receive the alerts through multiple outlets like email or SMS.
- The alerts come via SMS, mobile messaging apps or email.
- It gives a solid response to troubleshooting because it collects all data effectively and efficiently.
- Instant alert system for all system anomalies.
- You can set the tool to automatically sync the third party data before generate and import them for later purposes.
Nagios
Nagios is one of the best-regarder infrastructure monitoring products in the world. This platform is available on multiple operating systems such as Windows and Linux. It’s also available in Vmware, You can meticulously monitor your network on Nagios. It has a web-based GUI with a back-to-basic interface for you to see your network infrastructure’s health and key services.
The software shows infrastructure health in a color code to make it easy to read, and everyone can tell at a glance if there is a problem. You can choose to see the summary view on the host and service status. The screen will show you which elements are up and running. The same goes for the devices and services with markers like Up, Down, Unreachable or Pending. It also has top alert producers feature that will show you all devices that triggered the alerts.
Primary features:
- Nagios provides one of the best monitoring performances.
- It has a powerful dashboard with a stripped-back user interface.
- The GUI provides you with enough flexibility so your team members and customers can customize layouts and other preferences to boost their efficiency.
- It has a web-based interface setting that is easy to use.
- The tool is capable to support multiple tenants.
- Administrators can notice any network issues and immediately resolve them.
SolarWinds
You can save a lot of time using SolarWinds to monitor your network. This software can help you improve network security and reliability by managing configurations, and compliance for routers, switches, and other networks. You can monitor all devices, servers, and all details from a centralized location.
Key features:
- It is a self-hosted Web system.
- Quickly detects, diagnoses, and resolves network performance issues, reducing network outrages.
- It shows alerts immediately whenever there is any change in the application traffic activity.
- The software supports a strong engine like the Cisco NBAR2, which provides visibility into HTTP (port 80) and HTTPS (port 443) traffic without additional probes.
- Users can set a scheduled report with an in-depth network traffic analysis.
Paessler PRTG
Paessler PRTG Network Monitor includes network, traffic, application, and cloud monitoring as their main features. Therefore, you can stay on top of the current developments or any issues in the network. The user interface can be overwhelming at a glance. But it’s very clear-cut in general and easy to get used to. You can see the health structure in dials and graphs for easy comparison and see how well the network performs.
Key features:
- It’s a free networking monitoring software with multi-site features.
- You can check the device’s health using ping features.
- It has extra sensors to monitor devices and servers.
- You can set individual PRTG sensors to monitor a specific dataset.
- It has auto-discovery to help you administer device inventory.
- It identifies high-traffic applications using a protocol analyzer.
FAQ:
How do network monitoring tools work?
Network monitoring tools actively collect data from the network devices present in the environment through network protocols and keep the network immune to any threats. They also keep track of various performance metrics like traffic, bandwidth utilization, availability, packet loss, and much more.
What are Network Monitoring tools?
Network monitoring tools are software that constantly tracks, analyzes, and report the availability, health, and performance of networks. This includes networking hardware, interfaces, storage devices, virtual environment, and other essential components.
How to know the best tool to have?
Before you choose any software, you need to know your preferences and needs. Here are several factors as the base mark for you to use. But of course, you need to tailor these factors to fit your situation.
- The tool must provide visualization of the network performance in real-time.
- The tool price has to justify the training cost.
- It needs to be easy to customize to meet all roles.
- Pay attention to their security options.
- It has a fair product price with a good warranty system.
- The tool has all of the features that you like.
- It has easy integration with various management software.
Remember that the best tool is the one that can cater to your preferences and budget.
You can have many benefits from using a monitoring tool. Even though its primary function is to monitor the network and devices, most software also has unique characteristics and more functions.
Even a small business or a home office needs network monitoring software. They can monitor the devices in the network and see how each device uses the connection. And now they can choose one of these four free network monitoring tools. Liked our article? Feel free to share it around 🙂