Today, IT networks are the backbone of nearly every business. Simply put, if your network isn’t performing at its best, the flow of data and services will be impeded, and your business operations will suffer.
This modern reality makes effective server and network monitoring software not just a technical necessity but a business imperative. Fortunately, modern enterprise network monitoring tools provide far more than mere fault detection; they include network health monitoring software that helps you proactively maintain strong network availability and performance so that financial transactions, collaboration and data-driven decision-making can continue unabated.
To empower you to keep your network — and your business — running strong, this article details the 4 key types of network management tools and the goals they can help you attain. Then it reviews the top solutions available on the market to help you find the right network management tools for your unique needs.
4 Categories of Network Monitoring Tools
Network monitoring tools can be classified into the following 4 categories:
- Performance monitoring
- Availability monitoring
- Traffic monitoring
- Security monitoring
Cloud monitoring spans these categories but merits separate discussion.
Performance Monitoring
Network performance monitoring is the process of reviewing the quality and efficiency of a network’s operations. Performance-focused network monitoring tools provide network admins with a holistic view of the network that allows them to identify emerging performance issues so they can take steps to nip them in bud.
Network performance monitoring involves analyzing real-time and historical metrics, such as bandwidth utilization, packet loss, latency and response times, to ensure the network runs at its optimal level. Examples include:
- Checking the speed and reliability of data transfers
- Analyzing traffic patterns to identify potential bottlenecks
- Monitoring server response times for web-based applications
Performance-focused network device monitoring tools typically utilize techniques like SNMP alerts, event logs, syslog triggers, flow-based monitoring, packet capture analysis and streaming telemetry.
Availability Monitoring
The purpose of availability monitoring, also known as fault monitoring, is to help ensure the availability of network resources and infrastructure. Specifically, availability monitoring tools provide real-time detection of issues ranging from hardware failures such as a malfunctioning router to software issues involving a critical web application or connectivity problems. The classic example is continually sending ICMP pings to all critical network devices and servers to check whether the resource is available. Another way is to use SNMP traps to alert about status changes in a networking device (I.e. interface up or down)
Availability monitoring tools often come with alerting mechanisms to notify administrators by email, SMS, dashboard alarms or other methods.
Traffic and Bandwidth Monitoring
An enterprise network is like the highway system of a large metro area: Everything slows down during rush hour. Since businesses cannot afford to have this happen to their IT operations, they need to ensure they have ample bandwidth.
Network traffic monitor software analyzes the flow of data across the network to help administrators understand who is using the network and for what purpose. It also provides bandwidth monitoring, which involves measuring the amount and speed of data transmission over a network to ensure optimal performance and avoid bottlenecks. Network trace tools help in troubleshooting by analyzing packets transmitted over the network to assist in identifying the source of network problems or slowdowns.
Security Monitoring
Security network monitoring is essential for safeguarding the integrity, availability and confidentiality of data and other IT resources and avoiding the steep costs of security-related disruptions. There are many types of security tools available on the market, including the following:
- Network logging tools are used to collect, store and analyze log data from various network devices to maintain a comprehensive record of all activities that occur.
- Network detection software continuously monitors network traffic to identify potential threats or malicious activities in real time so that immediate action can be taken against them.
- Network control software helps organizations manage and control network operations, ensuring that only authorized activities are permitted and that potential vulnerabilities are patched.
- Network surveillance software is used to keep a vigilant watch over network activities. These applications ensure that all data transmissions and activities adhere to security policies and that any suspicious or unauthorized activities are promptly detected and reported.
- Network device monitoring is used to check for unwanted changes to the configuration of a device. Changes to ACLs or Firewall rules can have a drastic effect on how a network operates, even worse they can render a network unusable.
Together, these tools form a robust security framework that helps ensure a secure and optimized network environment.
Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring
Cloud infrastructure monitoring is needed to properly manage and secure cloud-based data, services, platforms and other resources. Network connection monitoring tools are used to track and analyze the connectivity between cloud services and data centers, while network visibility tools give network admins a holistic view of these highly complex cloud environments. By integrating these and other tools, organizations can preemptively identify and address potential issues to help ensure an optimized and efficient cloud environment.
Popular Network Monitoring Tools
What are the best network monitoring tools in today’s market? The answer depends on your unique needs and priorities. Every tool has its pros and cons; in the end, the best solution is the one that best meets your needs.
Here’s a compilation of some of the top network monitoring tools currently available, including some that are specifically Windows network monitoring tools. Some are free while others require a subscription or licensing for full functionality. Many of these solutions provide functionality across several of the categories described earlier.
Netwrix Auditor for Network Devices
It’s not enough to detect network device performance issues; system administrators need to be able to quickly determine the cause of the issue and fix it. To do that, they need to be able to inspect configuration changes and other activities.
Netwrix Auditor for Network Devices delivers reports and alerts detailing what was changed on each network device, who made each change and when it happened, with the before and after values. The reports also reveal both successful and failed attempts to log on to network devices, directly or over VPN connections. In addition, they provide port scanning information and details about hardware issues such as a power supply failure or critical CPU temperature. Netwrix Auditor for Network Devices enables you to detect scanning threats before attackers can take control of the entire network infrastructure.
Netwrix Auditor has a powerful built-in search of audit data, alerts on threat patterns and behavior anomaly discovery functionality. It supports Fortinet FortiGate, Cisco ASA, Cisco IOS, Palo Alto, SonicWall, Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba and Pulse Connect Secure and Juniper network devices. Plus, it has a RESTful API engine that enables you to connect it with other software solutions, such as Nutanix, Amazon Web Services, ServiceNow, ArchSight, IBM Qradar, Splunk, Alien Vault and LogRhythm; you can receive data from or send data to these solutions. Product installation is straightforward, and the UI is user friendly and fast.
In short, Netwrix Auditor for Network Devices is not just a really valuable monitoring tool; it’s an enterprise-level software platform that gives you complete visibility into changes, configurations and access across your network infrastructure. Netwrix Auditor has free 20-day trial; during that period, you can not only evaluate Netwrix Auditor for Network Devices but also all the other Netwrix Auditor applications, which cover systems such as Active Directory, Group Policy, Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Exchange, Microsoft 365, file servers, SharePoint, Microsoft SQL Server and VMware. Netwrix also offers a Netwrix Auditor Free Community Edition that is ideal for small networks that lack the resources to justify a full enterprise solution.
PRTG
The Paessler PRTG network monitoring tool offers comprehensive network monitoring suitable for businesses of many sizes. This dynamic Windows-based solution can monitor a variety of IT assets, like firewalls, servers and databases.
Valuable features include real-time alerts through email and SMS based on custom thresholds; an intuitive UI with customizable dashboards that display server metrics like CPU load and RAM utilization; and failover-tolerant, distributed monitoring.
Templates help ensure swift setup. No device agents are needed and data is securely integrated via SSL encrypted protocols. The on-prem version installs on a Windows Server with shared access, and can monitor up to 1,000 devices. Paessler offers a cloud-hosted version as well. There is no free version, but you can download a free trial version.
Progress WhatsUp Gold
Progress WhatsUp Gold offers robust monitoring for applications, networks and systems. Its interactive map provides a comprehensive view of physical, virtual and wireless networks and enables users to zoom in to see device-specific information.
After identifying connected devices through advanced discovery, admins can apply standard or custom roles to streamline the monitoring process. WhatsUp Gold uses active monitors for real-time device status and passive monitors for logs.
The solution track system metrics and alert support teams of poor performance via email or SMS, empowering them to resolve issues before they can affect the user experience. One standout feature is its action policy for responding to state changes like router downtimes. While there’s no free version, a free trial is available.
Nagios XI
Nagios XI is an advanced network monitoring tool built on the open-source Nagios Core software. While the platform provides a comprehensive web interface, its complex configuration may prove a steep learning curve for less experienced users. However, its ability to monitor everything from server RAM usage to FLEXlm license manager tool metrics makes it a highly versatile tool for large networks.
Supported by an active community, Nagios XI offers various plug-ins and a customizable notification mechanism via email, SMS and instant messengers. Its visual display function presents a network’s logical layout and color-codes any issues. Although the configuration might be challenging, the server and network insights it offers are invaluable. Nagios XI offers a free 30-day trial. Its licensed version comes in both standard and enterprise editions.
LogicMonitor
LogicMonitor is a cloud-based SaaS service designed to monitor physical, virtual and cloud networks. Admins need to install only a small client app on Linux or Windows systems to enable automated discovery of devices like routers, servers and applications.
The ready-to-use dashboard displays real-time performance indicators, system errors and statuses, sourced from over 20 protocols like SNMP and JMX. Service alerts can be prioritized, with customizable escalation rules and reports available in various formats. Report configuration does require prior knowledge of desired metrics. Offers a free trial. Pricing is based on the number of devices, not individual monitors.
ntopng
ntopng is a network monitoring tool featuring an intuitive web interface. Like the Unix ‘top’ command for processes, it displays network usage in real time. Besides providing clear graphs and tables of current and historical traffic, its modular architecture supports numerous add-ons.
One powerful feature of ntopng is its traffic control capabilities. When network issues occur, network support teams can swiftly identify problematic segments and responsible hosts, ensuring unparalleled network visibility.b A free trial is available.
Datadog
Datadog is a SaaS platform offering monitoring and analytics for software developers, operations teams and business leaders navigating the cloud era. It integrates infrastructure monitoring, application performance monitoring and event log management. With over 120 integrations, Datadog offers comprehensive metrics from every key tech component, facilitating data analysis and graphing.
Datadog provides a unified, real-time view of a company’s entire technology stack, including both on-premises and cloud deployments. It monitors both Linux and Windows virtual machines, servers and workstations, with specialized configurations for various products, including Windows services and cloud services like AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. Datadog offers a subscription-based model. A free trial is available.
Lansweeper
Lansweeper specializes in the discovery and inventory of hardware and software across networked devices for better management and auditing. It can gather information from Windows, Linux, Mac and other IP-addressable devices. Reports, which are stored in a SQL Compact or SQL Server database on a Windows machine, aid in problem identification.
Besides its primary discovery function, Lansweeper offers a ticket-based helpdesk for issue tracking and a module for software updates. While it can operate without the need for installed agents, it may require them for intricate settings. Lansweeper provides a limited freeware version and a full version with a 20-day trial.
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor?helps IT pros efficiently detect and resolve network issues before they can cause downtime. It includes interactive network maps and automatic component detection, facilitating effortless scalability and alignment of critical processes. The application monitors response time, availability and uptime of SNMP-enabled devices, overseeing factors like bandwidth, delays and CPU usage. You can configure alerts based on device conditions to focus on crucial network matters.
The user-friendly interface gives a comprehensive network view, with statistical baselines for quick issue resolution. The NetPath feature simplifies troubleshooting by tracing the network path from source to destination, proving useful even when traceroute falls short. This performance monitoring tool is subscription-based but comes with a free trial.
Observium
Observium is a network monitoring platform that offers a user-friendly interface to monitor your network’s health and status. It easily discovers a diverse range of devices and operating systems, including Cisco, Windows and Linux. While it primarily uses SNMP for discovery and monitoring, it can incorporate data from other protocols like syslog and IPMI.
Observium is best suited for medium to large networks. The paid version provides periodic notifications. Observium has both a free Community edition and commercial subscriptions. For open-source enthusiasts, LibreNMS, a fork of Observium’s last GPL-licensed version, is available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which tool is used for network monitoring?
There are multiple network monitoring tools on the market today. Network monitoring is a generic term that encompasses a variety of functions. Some basic tools simply monitor the availability of network infrastructure devices and alert you immediately if one is down. Others focus on performance monitoring or security.
What is a network security monitoring tool?
A network security monitoring (NSM) tool monitors and analyzes network traffic to detect and alert security teams about suspicious activity, policy violations and other security threats. The methods they use include signature-based detection, anomaly-based detection and flow data analysis. These tools provide visibility into a network’s operations and are essential for maintaining the security and integrity of IT environments.
What are the four 4 categories of network monitoring?
Network monitoring tools generally fall into four categories: performance monitoring, availability monitoring, traffic & bandwidth modeling, and security modeling.
Cloud infrastructure modeling is often called out separately, but many tools today can monitor both on-prem and cloud environments.
How do you do network monitoring?
The first step is to discover the key infrastructure devices that support the network, such as routers, switches and firewalls. Next, you need to set acceptable thresholds for metrics. When these thresholds are breached, an alert is sent to the network support team, who can investigate and resolve the issue.
What is network monitoring software?
Network monitoring software is a tool or set of tools designed to oversee and manage a computer network’s performance, availability and operations. By continuously observing network traffic and device status, these solutions can provide insight into the health and performance of the network to help administrators keep everything running efficiently and reliably. The software is usually installed on a shared server in the customer’s network, but SaaS monitoring solutions are becoming popular.
What is the best system monitoring software?
It is hard to say what the best system monitoring software is on the market today. What is best for one organization may not work for another. This is why it is important to determine your monitoring needs and budget.
Netwrix Auditor for Network Devices is a popular solution that supports Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), file servers and VMware. Netwrix also offers a Netwrix Auditor Free Community Edition for organizations that have small network environments.
How can I monitor my network in real time?
Due to the size and complexity of many networks today, monitoring the entire network infrastructure in real time requires an automated monitoring solution. Look for a tool that can collect data from across the network, aggregate it in a central repository, and provide real-time metrics and alerts so network support teams can promptly address issues to prevent business disruptions.
What is server and network monitoring?
Many monitoring tools today monitor both network devices and servers. Server monitoring includes tracking performance metrics, service and application health, system logs, and security. Proactive server and network monitoring can help organizations avoid costly downtime, improve the user experience and detect emerging issues before they escalate into significant problems.
What is the best kind of monitoring tool for network devices?
The best monitoring tool for network devices depends on a variety of factors, including the size and complexity of the network, budget constraints, required features, integration needs, and the skillset of the IT team. Many enterprises use Netwrix Auditor for Network Devices, which provides visibility into?configuration changes and both successful and failed attempts to log on to switches, routers and firewalls, and supports Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto, SonicWall, Juniper, Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba and Pulse Connect Secure devices
