Network Monitoring System Tools

Network Monitor is a network server monitoring tool which checks for failures and fixes them automatically. In network management terms, network monitoring is the phrase used to describe a system that continuously monitors a network and notifies a network administrator though messaging systems (usually e-mail) when a device fails or an outage occurs. Network monitoring is usually performed through the use of software applications and tools. At the most basic level, ping is a type of network monitoring tool. Other commercial software packages may include a network monitoring system that is designed to monitor an entire business or enterprise network. Some applications are used to monitor traffic on your network, such as VoIP monitoring, video stream monitoring, mail server (POP3 server) monitoring, and others.

While an intrusion detection system monitors a network for threats from the outside, a network monitoring system monitors the network for problems caused by overloaded and/or crashed servers, network connections or other devices. For example, to determine the status of a webserver, monitoring software may periodically send an HTTP request to fetch a page. For email servers, a test message might be sent through SMTP and retrieved by IMAP or POP3.

Commonly measured metrics are response time, availability and uptime, although both consistency and reliability metrics are starting to gain popularity. The widespread addition of WAN optimization devices is having an adverse effect on most network monitoring tools -- especially when it comes to measuring accurate end-to-end response time because they limit round trip visibility. Status request failures - such as when a connection cannot be established, it times-out, or the document or message cannot be retrieved - usually produce an action from the monitoring system. These actions vary -- an alarm may be sent (via SMS, email, etc.) to the resident sysadmin, automatic failover systems may be activated to remove the troubled server from duty until it can be repaired, etc.

The Benefits of Network Monitoring
Network Monitoring can

• Proactively Warn You of Problems. With proactive network monitoring your IT department can be alerted to issues before they turn into serious problems and down time. If monitoring was in place in the example above the System Administrator could have added disk space or removed older files prior to the SQL Server going down, resolved Exchange data corruption before the email server went down, and updated hotfixes on the web server to prevent hacking before it occurred.
• Track Your Network’s Growth. Network monitoring can also assist you with gathering data to keep track of your network’s growth. Chances are a lot has changed with your network over the past several years. New Servers have come online, perhaps you’ve added a new wireless network, more workstations and printers, and so forth. All of this can add to network traffic loads, leading to overtaxed network connections and possible growth issues. Network monitoring allows you to know what you have and how it’s being used, so you can proactively look to resolve problems before they start.
• Help with Capacity Planning. Network monitoring allows you to track how much disc space and network bandwidth you’re using, enabling you to do capacity planning based on your usage trends. The result: you can proactively plan and budget for your future systems needs.
• Meet Service Level Agreements. Is your department or company is required to meet a Service Level Agreement with a specific percentage of uptime on your network and network resources? If so, monitoring these things ensures that you are indeed meeting the requirements.

Here is a comparison of some notable network monitoring systems:

Name	IP SLA Reports	Logical Grouping	Trending	Trend Prediction	Auto Discovery	Agent	SNMP	Syslog	Plugins	Triggers / Alerts	WebApp	Distributed Monitoring	Inventory	Data Storage Method	License	Maps	Access Control	IPv6
AdRem NetCrunch	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging	No	Yes	SQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
AccelOps	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	PostgreSQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
AggreGate Network Manager	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	MySQL, MS SQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Firebird, HSQLDB	Limited free, Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
Argus	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging	Yes	Unknown	Berkeley DB	Artistic License	No	Yes	Yes
Avaya VPFM	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	MySQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cacti	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Via plugin	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	RRDtool, MySQL	GPL	Plugin	Yes	Yes
collectd	No	No	No	No	Push model; multicast possible	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing	Yes	No	RRDtool	GPLv2	No	Apache ACL	Yes
Dhyan Network management System	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	MySQL, Oracle, Derby	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
dopplerVUE	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	MS SQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
ExtraHop	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	N/A	Yes	No	No	Yes	Full Control	With ECM	Yes	Proprietary	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Name	IP SLA Reports	Logical Grouping	Trending	Trend Prediction	Auto Discovery	Agent	SNMP	Syslog	Plugins	Triggers / Alerts	WebApp	Distributed Monitoring	Inventory	Data Storage Method	License	Maps	Access Control	IPv6
FreeNATS	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Via plugin	Yes	In PHP Code	Full Control	No	No	MySQL	GPL	No	Yes	Unknown
Ganglia	No	Yes	Yes	No	Via gmond check in	Yes	Via plugin	No	Yes	No	Viewing	Yes	Unknown	RRDtool	BSD	Yes	No	Unknown
HP Network Node Manager (NNMi)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Via integration	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	PostgreSQL, Oracle Database	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kaseya Network Monitor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	FirebirdSQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
IBM Tivoli Network Manager	Possible via configuration	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	MySQL, Oracle Database, DB2	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Icinga	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	No	Via plugin	Supported	Via plugin	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Via plugin	MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle Database	GPL	Yes	Yes	Yes
InterMapper	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing	Yes	Yes	PostgreSQL	Limited free, Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
IPHost Network Monitor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging, Reporting	Yes	No	FirebirdSQL	Commercial	No	No	Unknown
isyVmon	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Via plugin	RRDtool, MySQL	Limited free, Commercial	Via plugin	Yes	Yes
LiveAction	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Reporting	Yes	Yes	Yes	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Name	IP SLA Reports	Logical Grouping	Trending	Trend Prediction	Auto Discovery	Agent	SNMP	Syslog	Plugins	Triggers / Alerts	WebApp	Distributed Monitoring	Inventory	Data Storage Method	License	Maps	Access Control	IPv6
Munin	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Partial	Viewing	Unknown	Unknown	RRDtool	GPL	Unknown	Unknown	Yes
Nagios	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	No	Via plugin	Supported	Via plugin	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Via plugin	Flat file, SQL	GPL	Yes	Yes	Yes
NagiosXI	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	No	Via plugin	Supported	Via plugin	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Via plugin	MySQL, PostgreSQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
NetMRG	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Via plugin	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full control	Yes	Yes	RRDtool, MySQL	GPL	Yes	Yes	Unknown
NetQoS Performance Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging, Reporting	Yes	Yes	Yes	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
Network Instruments Observer Infrastructure	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	Proprietary Database	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
NetXMS	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	No	MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQLite	GPL	Yes	Yes	No
Nimsoft Monitoring Solution	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging, Reporting	Yes	Yes	SQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
Observium	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Full Control	No	Yes	RRDtool, MySQL	GPLv3	Yes	Yes	Yes
Name	IP SLA Reports	Logical Grouping	Trending	Trend Prediction	Auto Discovery	Agent	SNMP	Syslog	Plugins	Triggers / Alerts	WebApp	Distributed Monitoring	Inventory	Data Storage Method	License	Maps	Access Control	IPv6
OpenKBM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Proprietary with JDBC support	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
OpenNMS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	JRobin, PostgreSQL	GPLv3	Yes	Yes	Yes
OPNET's AppResponse Xpert	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging, Reporting	Yes	No	Yes	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
Opsview	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	No	SQL	GPL	Yes	Yes	Yes
PacketTrap	No	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Reporting	Yes	Unknown	SQL	Commercial	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Pandora FMS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle	GPLv2; (Enterprise edition available)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Performance Co-Pilot	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Flat file	GPL, LGPL	No	No	Unknown
PRTG Network Monitor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	Proprietary	Freeware and Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Scrutinizer	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging, Reporting	Yes	Yes	MySQL	Limited free, Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Name	IP SLA Reports	Logical Grouping	Trending	Trend Prediction	Auto Discovery	Agent	SNMP	Syslog	Plugins	Triggers / Alerts	WebApp	Distributed Monitoring	Inventory	Data Storage Method	License	Maps	Access Control	IPv6
ServersCheck	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	No	Flat file, ODBC	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
SevOne	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Unknown	MySQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Solarwinds	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	SQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shinken	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	No	Via plugin	Yes	Via plugin	Via plugin	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging, Reporting	Yes	Via plugin	Flat file, MySQL, Oracle, CouchDB, Sqlite	AGPL	Yes	No	Unknown
Spiceworks	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Supported	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	Sqlite	Commercial (Free)	Yes	Yes	No
TclMon	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Viewing	No	No	RRDTool	BSD	Yes	Yes	No
Verax NMS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	No	Oracle, MySQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
WhatsUpGold	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	SQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Xymon/Hobbit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Via Plugin	No	Yes	Yes	Viewing, Acknowledging	Yes	No	Flat file	GPL	No	Apache ACL	No
Name	IP SLA Reports	Logical Grouping	Trending	Trend Prediction	Auto Discovery	Agent	SNMP	Syslog	Plugins	Triggers / Alerts	WebApp	Distributed Monitoring	Inventory	Data Storage Method	License	Maps	Access Control	IPv6
Zabbix	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, IBM DB2, SQLite	GPL	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zenoss	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	ZODB, MySQL, RRDtool	GPL	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zyrion Traverse	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full Control	Yes	Yes	SQL	Commercial	Yes	Yes	Unknown
Name	IP SLA Reports	Logical Grouping	Trending	Trend Prediction	Auto Discovery	Agent	SNMP	Syslog	Plugins	Triggers / Alerts	WebApp	Distributed Monitoring	Inventory	Data Storage Method	License	Maps	Access Control	IPv6

Legends:

Product Name 

The name of the software, linked to its Wikipedia article. Any software listed without being linked to its article, demonstrating its notability, will be removed.

IP SLAs Reports 

Feature reports on IP SLAs

Logical Grouping 

Support arranging the hosts or devices it monitors into user-defined groups

Trending 

Provide trending of network data over time

Trend Prediction 

The software feature algorithms designed to predict future network statistics

Auto Discovery 

The software automatically discover hosts or network devices it is connected to

Agent 

The product rely on a software agent that must run on hosts it is monitoring, so that data can be pushed back to a central server. "Supported" means that an agent may be used, but is not mandatory. An SNMP daemon does not count as an agent.

SNMP 

Able to retrieve and report on SNMP statistics

Syslog 

Able to receive and report on Syslogs

Plugins 

Architecture of the software based on a number of 'plugins' that provide additional functionality

Triggers/Alerts 

Capable of detecting threshold violations in network data, and alerting the administrator in some form.

WebApp 

Runs as a web-based application

• No: There is no web-based frontend for this software.
• Viewing: Network data can be viewed in a graphical web-based frontend
• Acknowledging: Users can interact with the software through the web-based frontend to acknowledge alarms or manipulate other notifications.
• Reporting: Specific reports on network data can be configured by the user and executed through the web-based frontend.
• Full Control: ALL aspects of the product can be controlled through the web-based frontend, including low-level maintenance tasks such as software configuration and upgrades.

Distributed Monitoring 

Able to leverage more than one server to distribute the load of network monitoring.

Inventory 

Keeps a record of hardware and/or software inventory for the hosts and devices it monitors

Data Storage Method 

Main method used to store the network data it monitors.

License 

License released under (e.g. GPL, BSD license, etc.)

Maps 

Features graphical network maps that represent the hosts and devices it monitors, and the links between them.

Access Control 

Features user-level security, allowing an administrator to prevent access to certain parts of the product on a per-user or per-role basis

IPv6 

Supports monitoring IPv6 hosts and/or devices, receiving IPv6 data, and running on an IPv6-enabled server. Supports communication using IPv6 to the SNMP agent via an IPv6 address.

source: wiki