Network monitoring tools constantly track, analyze, and report the availability, health, and performance of networks, which include networking hardware, interfaces, storage devices, virtual environment, and other essential components.
Network monitoring tools are vital for network management since they are helpful in resolving the network related issues. Network monitoring tools are packed with several nifty features to monitor network equipment, and collect data in some form from active network devices, such as routers, switches, and load balancers.
Below you will find 10 of the best network monitoring tools and software to ensure uninterrupted tracking of networks in order to prevent zero or less downtime for your network.
1. PRTG Network Monitor
PRTG Network Monitor is one of the best and easy to use network monitoring tools that monitors your network using SNMP, packet sniffing, and WMI. With PRTG network monitor you can monitor various areas such as bandwidth, database, server, Lan, SNMP, application etc.
PRTG alerts you when it discovers problems or unusual metrics
PRTG comes with many built-in mechanisms for notifications, such as email, push, or HTTP requests. With our free apps for Android and iOS, you can get push notifications delivered directly to your phone.
You can even use our PRTG API to write your own notifications.
2. Nagios
Nagios is one of the most popular network monitoring tool which provides monitoring of all mission-critical infrastructure components including applications, services, operating systems, network protocols, systems metrics, and network infrastructure. The powerful Nagios Core 4 monitoring engine provides users with the highest degree of monitoring server performance.
It comes with a powerful GUI provides for customization of layout, design, and preferences on a per-user basis, giving your customers and team members the flexibility they want.
Nagios integrated web-based configuration interface lets admins hand out control of managing monitoring configuration, system settings, and more to end-users and team members easily. Configuration wizards guide users through the process of monitoring new devices, services, and applications – all without having to understand complex monitoring concepts.
3. Datadog
Datadog network performance monitoring tool provides full visibility into every network component that makes up your on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments, with little to no overhead. By monitoring the performance of connections among your hosts, services, virtual private clouds (VPCs), and other elements, you can quickly determine when your network is the root cause of any issue.
It uses visualizations of network traffic across applications, containers, availability zones, and datacenters to help optimize your migrations. Monitor the health of traffic between any two endpoints at the app, IP address, port, or process ID (PID) layers.
4. Zabbix
Zabbix is another handy network monitoring tool which is free and open-souce. It integrates network, server, cloud, application, and service monitoring into a single platform. Zabbix monitors your network using SNMP and IPMP.
Zabbix works with VMware, Hyper-V, and other virtualization hypervisors, delivering precise information on the hypervisor’s performance, availability, and activity. It can easily monitor Java application servers, web services, and databases in particular.
5. Icinga
The software is web-based and may be adjusted using the graphical user interface (GUI) or the Domain Specific Language (DSL). Having the option to choose between the two offers you the freedom to monitor as you see fit.
It monitors private, public, or hybrid clouds all in one monitoring system, and stay independent from your cloud provider with your monitoring. Icinga collects and sends data from and to many of your existing DevOps tools, enabling you to create a tailored monitoring solution that perfectly fits your needs.
6. Demotz
Demotz is a cloud based monitoring tool that easily monitors your networks. It has several features such as unlimited endpoints, customized dashboard, network performance and alerting, SNMP monitoring, advanced network reporting, security camera monitoring and much more.
7. Auvik
Auvik is a cloud-based network monitoring system with a variety of system management features. The software is accessed via a Web browser, and the setup process installs collectors on your system when you create an account.
Auvik is constantly monitoring and polling your network—from topology to config history to device performance—to give you a real-time look at your network at a single point in time. The network data Auvik detects is stored for years, giving you a rich archive for troubleshooting, analysis, planning, and reporting.
Auvik centralizes syslog for all of your network devices. You can view the logs directly from the device dashboard, giving you more context so you can quickly troubleshoot network issues.
When SSL VPN monitoring is enabled on a firewall in Auvik, you can instantly see how many VPN sessions are in use and if you’re approaching your license limit.
8. SolarWinds
SolarWinds is one of the most popular and used network performance monitor tool which allows multi-vendor network monitoring. It can detect network devices that are linked to your network automatically. Use the dashboard to keep track of the availability and performance of all connected network devices in one place.
Some of the key features of SolarWinds are intelligent maps, multi-vendor network monitoring, advanced alerting, netpath and pefstack for easy troubleshooting. SolarWinds offers 30 days trial and its starting price is $2995.
9. ManageEngine OpManager
ManageEngine OpManager, is an easy-to-use, and affordable network monitoring solution. It monitors network devices such as routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, wireless LAN controllers, servers, VMs, printers, storage devices, and everything that has an IP and is connected to the network. ManageEngine OpManager continuously monitors the network and provides an in-depth visibility and control over it. In case of a fault, you can easily drill down to the root cause and eliminate it before operations are affected.
With ManageEngine OpManager, get end-to-end visibility and analytics of network infrastructure including local devices, wireless network, WAN links, non-computing devices like printers and even access points. OpManager also provides integrated troubleshooting capabilities with planning and configuration management.
10. LogicMonitor
LogicMonitor is a SaaS-based unified observability platform that empowers modern enterprises to adopt a cloud-ready operating model for effectively meeting key business demands. It comes with automated alert thresholds, AI-powered early warning capabilities, customizable escalation chains, workflows, and more. LogicMonitor intelligently detects what to monitor and auto-configures it based on best practices, so you minimize operational disruptions and get up and running faster.
