Network monitoring tools are software or hardware solutions used to monitor and manage network infrastructure. They provide real-time insights into network performance, availability, and security. Some popular network monitoring tools include:
Here is our list of the best network monitoring tools:
- SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor EDITOR’S CHOICE Far more than just a simple scanner. Most network security issues arise when configurations are changed and SolarWinds NPM identifies these and can automatically resolve many. Alongside solid vulnerability scanning and advanced options to create and monitor policies, this is by far the top choice for network monitoring systems. Get a 30-day free trial.
- Auvik (FREE TRIAL) This SaaS system is based around a network mapper and offers two plan levels that both include system management tools. Start a 14-day free trial.
- Datadog Network Monitoring (FREE TRIAL) Offers a great visual overview of your network components and the network traffic flows between each component. This division of system monitors from a cloud platform provides device health checks and traffic flow analysis. Start a a 14-day free trial.
- PRTG Network Monitor from Paessler – FREE TRIAL Free network monitoring software that uses SNMP, packet sniffing and WMI to monitor your network. Access a 30-day free trial.
- ManageEngine OpManager (FREE TRIAL) Network monitor that can monitor SNMP devices, switches, servers, and virtualized network services. Get access to the 30-day free trial.
- Domotz (FREE TRIAL) This SaaS platform offers a range of network monitoring services from SNMP polling to security scanning.
- Checkmk (FREE TRIAL) This is a system-wide monitoring service, not just for networks, and it is available in free and paid editions. Runs on Linux or a physical appliance.
- Site24x7 Network Monitoring (FREE TRIAL) A combined IT infrastructure, applications, and user behavior monitoring service available in the cloud.
- Fortra’s Intermapper (FREE TRIAL) This straightforward tool starts off with an autodiscovery tool and maps your network and then offers constant performance monitoring. Available in free and paid versions for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Progress WhatsUp Gold An SNMP-based network monitor that can be expanded by buying add-ons to monitor other infrastructure. Installs on Windows Server.
- Zabbix Open source network monitoring software with SNMP and IPMP monitoring. Includes an alerts system and community plugins.
- Catchpoint Network Experience This module is part of a SaaS package of full stack monitoring tools that track the delivery of Web applications.
- Nagios Core One of the top open-source network monitoring tools. Includes a dashboard view, alerts system, community plugins, and more.
- Progress WhatsUp Gold An SNMP- based network monitor that can be expanded by buying add-ons to monitor other infrastructure. Installs on Windows Server.
- Catchpoint Network Experience This module is part of a SaaS package of full stack monitoring tools that track the delivery of Web applications.
- ExtraHop Reveal(x) This network security monitoring service scans for threats and suspicious behavior in real time. Available as a SaaS package or a network appliance.
These tools vary in terms of features, scalability, and cost, so it’s essential to choose one that aligns with your specific network monitoring requirements.
Desirable Network Monitoring Tool Features
The features from above were all major points of interest when evaluating software suites for this article and we’ll try to keep this article as updated as possible with new feature sets and improvements as they are released, as newer versions of the tools below will likely be released throughout the years.
The Top Network Monitoring Tools and Software
Below you’ll find an updated list of the Latest Tools & Software to ensure your network is continuously tracked and monitored at all times of the day to ensure the highest up-times possible. Most of them have free Downloads or Trials to get you started for 15 to 30 days to ensure it meets your requirements.
With these selection criteria in mind, we have defined a shortlist of suitable network monitoring tools for all operating systems.
1. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor EDITOR’S CHOICE
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is easy to setup and can be ready in no time. The tool automatically discovers network devices and deploys within an hour. Its simple approach to oversee an entire network makes it one of the easiest to use and most intuitive user interfaces.
Key Features:
- Automatically Network Discovery and Scanning for Wired and Wifi Computers and Devices
- Support for a Wide Array of OEM Vendors
- Forecast and Capacity Planning
- Quickly Pinpoint Issues with Network Performance with the NetPath™ Critical Path visualization feature
- Easy to Use Performance Dashboard to Analyze Critical Data points and paths across your Network
- Robust Alerting System with options for Simple/Complex Triggers
- Monitor CISCO ASA networks with their New Network Insight™ for CISCO ASA
- Monitor ACL‘s, VPN, Interface, and Monitor on your Cisco ASA
- Monitor Firewall rules through Firewall Rules Browser
- Hop by Hop Analysis of Critical Network Paths and Components
- Automatically Discover Networks and Map them along with Topology Views
- Manage, Monitor and Analyze Wifi Networks within the Dashboard
- Create HeatMaps of Wifi Networks to pin-point Wifi Dead Spots
- Monitor Hardware Health of all Servers, Firewalls, Routers, Switches, Desktops, laptops and more
- Real-Time Network and Netflow Monitoring for Critical Network Components and Devices
2. Auvik (FREE TRIAL)
Auvik is a SaaS platform that offers a network discovery and mapping system that automates enrolment and then continues to operate in order to spot changes in network infrastructure. This system is able to centralize and unify the monitoring of multiple sites.
Key Features:
- A SaaS package that includes processing power and storage space for system logs as well as the monitoring software
- Centralizes the monitoring of networks on multiple sites
- Watches over network device statuses
- Offers two plans: Essential and Performance
- Network traffic analysis included in the higher plan
- Monitors virtual LANs as well as physical networks
- Autodiscovery service
- Network mapping
- Alerts for automated monitoring
- Integrations with third-party complementary systems
3. Datadog Network Monitoring (FREE TRIAL)
Datadog Network Monitoring supervises the performance of network devices. The service is a cloud-based system that is able to explore a network and detect all connected devices. With the information from this research, the network monitor will create an asset inventory and draw up a network topology map. This procedure means that the system performs its own setup routines.
Features of this package include:
- Monitors networks anywhere, including remote sites
- Joins together on-premises and cloud-based resource monitoring
- Integrates with other Datadog modules, such as log management
- Offers an overview of all network performance and drill-down details of each device
- Facilitates troubleshooting by identifying performance dependencies
- Includes DNS server monitoring
- Gathers SNMP device reports
- Blends performance data from many information sources
- Includes data flow monitoring
- Offers tag-based packet analysis utilities in the dashboard
- Integrates protocol analyzers
- Performance threshold baselining based on machine learning
- Alerts for warnings over evolving performance issues
- Packages offer network performance monitoring tools (traffic analysis) or network device monitoring
- Subscription charges with no startup costs
4. PRTG Network Monitor from Paessler – FREE TRIAL
PRTG Network Monitor software is commonly known for its advanced infrastructure management capabilities. All devices, systems, traffic, and applications in your network can be easily displayed in a hierarchical view that summarizes performance and alerts. PRTG monitors the entire IT infrastructure using technology such as SNMP, WMI, SSH, Flows/Packet Sniffing, HTTP requests, REST APIs, Pings, SQL, and a lot more.
Key Features:
- Autodiscovery creates and maintains a device inventory
- Live network topology maps are available in a range of formats
- Monitoring for wireless networks as well as LANs
- Multi-site monitoring capabilities
- SNMP sensors to gather device health information
- Ping to check on device availability
- Optional extra sensors to monitor servers and applications
- System-wide status overviews and drill-down paths for individual device details
- A protocol analyzer to identify high-traffic applications
- A packet sniffer to collect packet headers for analysis
- Color-coded graphs of live data in the system dashboard
- Capacity planning support
- Alerts on device problems, resource shortages, and performance issues
- Notifications generated from alerts that can be sent out by email or SMS
- Available for installation on Windows Server or as a hosted cloud service
5. ManageEngine OpManager (FREE TRIAL)
At its core, ManageEngine OpManager is infrastructure management, network monitoring, and application performance management “APM” (with APM plug-in) software.
Key Features:
- Includes server monitoring as well as network monitoring
- Autodiscovery function for automatic network inventory assembly
- Constant checks on device availability
- A range of network topology map options
- Automated network mapping
- Performs an SNMP manager role, constantly polling for device health statuses
- Receives SNMP Traps and generates alerts when device problems arise
- Implements performance thresholds and identifies system problems
- Watches over resource availability
- Customizable dashboard with color-coded dials and graphs of live data
- Forwards alerts to individuals by email or SMS
- Available for Windows Server and Linux
- Can be enhanced by an application performance monitor to create a full stack supervisory system
- Free version available
- Distributed version to supervise multiple sites from one central location
6. Domotz (FREE TRIAL)
Domotz is a cloud-based system that offers network monitoring. It can unify the supervision of multiple networks and also has a multi-tenant configuration for use by managed service providers.
The system is accessed through an attractive cloud-based console with any standard Web browser. Setting up an account involves installing an agent on a host that is connected to the network that is going to be monitored. The package also includes network and endpoint management tools and workload automation facilities.
Key Features:
- Network autodiscovery
- Automated network mapping
- IT asset inventory
- SNMP-based device monitoring
7. Checkmk (FREE TRIAL)
Checkmk is a system monitoring package that is able to track the performance of networks, servers, and applications. The network monitor can be used for LANs and wireless networks, so it can also be useful for following activity on networks that use both wired and wireless technology.
Key features:
- Monitors servers and applications as well as networks
- Network discovery
- Network topology map
- Wired and wireless networks
8. Site24x7 Network Monitoring (FREE TRIAL)
Site24x7 is a monitoring service that covers networks, servers, and applications. The network monitoring service in this package starts off by exploring the network for connected devices. IT logs its findings in a network inventory and draws up a network topology map.
Key Features:
- A hosted cloud-based service that includes CPU time and performance data storage space
- Can unify the monitoring of networks on site all over the world
- Uses SNMP to check on device health statuses
- Gives alerts on resource shortages, performance issues, and device problems
- Generates notifications to forward alerts by email or SMS
- Root cause analysis features
- Autodiscovery for a constantly updated network device inventory
- Automatic network topology mapping
- Includes internet performance monitoring for utilities such as VPNs
- Specialized monitoring routines for storage clusters
- Monitors boundary and edge services, such as load balancers
- Offers overview and detail screens showing the performance of the entire network and also individual devices
- Includes network traffic flow monitoring
- Facilities for capacity planning and bottleneck identification
- Integrates with application monitoring services to create a full stack service
9. Fortra’s Intermapper (FREE TRIAL)
Fortra’s Intermapper offers a network map on its main screen. However, this tool offers more than just a visual representation of your network. For a start, that network map is derived from an autodiscovery function. The network probe cycles around constantly and if any changes occur in the network’s layout, the network map is updated automatically. The system operates around the clock.
Key features:
- Autodiscovery
- Constantly refreshed network map
- SNMP-based network monitoring
- Performance alerts
- Capacity planning tool
10. Progress WhatsUp Gold
WhatsUp Gold from Progress Software Corporation uses the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to track the performance of networks. SNMP agents on each switch and router prepare a status report and update it constantly, waiting for a request from an SNMP manager. The only problem is that regular operating systems don’t include an SNMP manager. WhatsUp Gold provides that function.
Key Features:
- Acts as an SNMP manager
- Automated self-setup discovers all devices connected to the network
- Provides an automatically generated network map
- Includes live performance data on network devices
- Creates charts and graph of time-series data on recent device history
- Displays a network summary, showing overall statuses at a glance
- Support capacity planning with top traffic generators and trend analysis
- Covers wireless networks as well as LANs
- Includes log management functions
- Generates alerts when device issues arise
- Monitors cloud resources and storage devices
- Can be enhanced by add-ons to monitor bandwidth, virtualizations, applications
- A configuration add-on is available
- Available in a multi-tenanted version for MSPs
- An option of distributed monitoring to supervise many sites from a central location
11. Zabbix
Zabbix is an open-source free network monitoring tool that combines network, server, cloud, application, and services monitoring into one unified solution. Zabbix uses SNMP and IPMP to monitor your network. The autodiscovery feature automatically locates network devices and adds them to be monitored. The tool can also detect configuration changes automatically so you can tell if a network device has been updated.
Key features:
- Autodiscovery feature
- SNMP and IPMP monitoring
- Application monitoring
- Server monitoring
- Network monitoring templates
- Automatic detection of configuration changes
- Alerts system
12. Catchpoint Network Experience
Catchpoint Network Experience is one of the four performance monitoring module on the cloud-based Catchpoint platform. The purpose of the Catchpoint system is to ensure the successful delivery of Web applications. The platform is offered as a single package rather than individual module purchases.
Key Features:
- Internet connectivity checks
- BGP assessments
- Assesses ISPs and other services
13. Nagios Core
Nagios Core is an open-source network monitor that has a web interface for monitoring network performance. Through the user network interface, you can monitor your Current Network Status with your Host Status Totals and Network Service Status Totals broken down at the top of the page. The GUI is color-coded so you can easily see elements that are unavailable or compromised.
Key features:
- Performance dashboard
- Alerts system
- Availability reports
- Capacity planning
- Community-created plugins
- APIs
14. Progress WhatsUp Gold
WhatsUp Gold from Progress Software Corporation uses the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to track the performance of networks. SNMP agents on each switch and router prepare a status report and update it constantly, waiting for a request from an SNMP manager. The only problem is that regular operating systems don’t include an SNMP manager. WhatsUp Gold provides that function.
Key Features:
- Acts as an SNMP manager
- Automated self-setup discovers all devices connected to the network
- Provides an automatically generated network map
- Includes live performance data on network devices
- Creates charts and graphs of time-series data on recent device history
- Displays a network summary, showing overall statuses at a glance
- Support capacity planning with top traffic generators and trend analysis
- Covers wireless networks as well as LANs
- Includes log management functions
- Generates alerts when device issues arise
- Monitors cloud resources and storage devices
- Can be enhanced by add-ons to monitor bandwidth, virtualizations, applications
- A configuration add-on is available
- Available in a multi-tenanted version for MSPs
- An option of distributed monitoring to supervise many sites from a central location
15. Catchpoint Network Experience
Catchpoint Network Experience is one of the four performance monitoring modules on the cloud-based Catchpoint platform. The purpose of the Catchpoint system is to ensure the successful delivery of Web applications. The platform is offered as a single package rather than individual module purchases.
Key Features:
- Internet connectivity checks
- BGP assessments
- Assesses ISPs and other services
16. ExtraHop Reveal(x)
ExtraHop Reveal(x) is a network security monitoring system that is able to block the threats that it identifies. This tool uses AI to spot illogical or non-standard behavior that can indicate account takeover or an insider threat. The service operates an anomaly-based detection method.
Key Features:
- Multi-site operations
- Spots rogue devices
- Device discovery
- DevOps Certified Professionals (DCP)
- Site Reliability Engineering Certified Professionals (SRECP)
- Master in DevOps Engineering (MDE)
- DevSecOps Certified Professionals (DSOCP)
URL - https://www.devopsschool.com/certification/
My Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeshkumarin
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