Skip to content

TechRepublic

  • Top Products
  • AI
  • Developer
  • Payroll
  • Security
  • Project Management
  • Accounting
  • CRM
  • Academy
Resources
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • Newsletters
  • Resource Library
  • Forums
  • Sponsored
Go Premium
Popular Topics
  • Top Products
  • AI
  • Developer
  • Payroll
  • Security
  • Project Management
  • Accounting
  • CRM
  • Academy
  • Project Management
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • Big Data
  • Tech Jobs
View All Topics
Go Premium
Networking

Top apps for network monitoring

By Scott Lowe December 20, 2011, 12:44 AM PST

Image
1
of 6

net_monitor_intro.jpg
net_monitor_intro.jpg
Top apps for network monitoring

Introduction

Introduction

ntInfrastructure performance is a core part of the services that run the business, and performance problems can plague IT departments and be difficult to nail down. Fortunately, a number of free tools are available that will monitor your network’s performance and help identify looming bottlenecks before they become an issue.

n

ntNote: You can read the full post in our Five Apps blog.

n

ntPhoto: Copyright u00a9 iStockphoto.com/johan63

Top apps for network monitoring

Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG)

Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG)

ntMRTG is the granddaddy of free network monitoring tools and provides basic but extremely useful information. Like all the tools featured here, MRTG gathers information using SNMP and then displays the trends that are inherent in the data. Here’s a daily view of a router being monitored by MRTG.

Top apps for network monitoring

Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG)

Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG)

ntThis graph is displaying the information that has been gathered for the past year. This is the real power in these tools — they provide you with the data you need to make good decisions about your services and infrastructure.

Top apps for network monitoring

Cacti

Cacti

ntCacti is intended to be a front-end system for RRDTool. (RRDTool is a general purpose “high performance data logging and graphing system for time series data.”) Cacti uses a MySQL database to store all the information that RRDTool needs to create graphs. It allows you to create data sources (generally SNMP connections to monitored devices), gathers data from those devices, allows you to group graphs from like systems, enables you to manage user permissions to the monitored data, and much more.

Top apps for network monitoring

Observium

Observium

ntObservium is an autodiscovery tool that supports numerous network and operating systems. It  provides a lot of information in a way that makes it easy to consume.

Top apps for network monitoring

PRTG (10 sensors free)

PRTG (10 sensors free)

ntPRTG (Paessler Router Traffic Grapher) offers a quick way to begin monitoring a lot of network devices without requiring a lot of setup. PRTG also allows you to monitor other key systems, such as Exchange, SQL, VMware, and Windows, through the use of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and connections to vCenter and ESX/ESXi hosts.

n

ntYou can deploy a free edition of PRTG, but you get only 10 sensors (monitoring elements). You would use one sensor to monitor disk space, another one to monitor RAM usage, another one to monitor total bandwidth usage, and so forth. You can quickly rack up hundreds or thousands of sensors. While this might sound like a sneaky way to charge you more money, the fact is that you get a great deal of choice over exactly what you’d like to monitor.

  • Networking
  • Account Information

    Share with Your Friends

    Top apps for network monitoring

    Your email has been sent

Share: Top apps for network monitoring
Image of Scott Lowe
By Scott Lowe
With close to twenty years of experience in Information Technology, Scott has experience across the board in the industry. Recently, Scott left his position as Vice President and CIO for a small private college to launch a consultancy -- The 1610 Gr
  • Account Information

    Contact Scott Lowe

    Your message has been sent

  • |
  • See all of Scott's content

Daily Tech Insider

If you can only read one tech story a day, this is it.

TechRepublic TechRepublic
  • TechRepublic on Facebook
  • TechRepublic on X
  • TechRepublic on LinkedIn
  • TechRepublic on YouTube
  • TechRepublic on Pinterest
  • TechRepublic RSS
Services
  • About Us
  • Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
  • Site Map
  • Site Help & Feedback
  • FAQ
  • Advertise
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • Careers
Explore
  • Downloads
  • TechRepublic Forums
  • Meet the Team
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Resource Library
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Editorial Policy
  • Legal Terms
  • Privacy Policy
© 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All rights reserved.
CLOSE

Create a TechRepublic Account

Get the web's best business technology news, tutorials, reviews, trends, and analysis—in your inbox. Let's start with the basics.

Already registered? Sign In
Use Facebook
Use Linkedin

* - indicates required fields

CLOSE

Sign in to TechRepublic

Not a member? Create an account
Use Facebook
Use Linkedin

Lost your password? Request a new password

CLOSE

Reset Password

Please enter your email adress. You will receive an email message with instructions on how to reset your password.

Check your email for a password reset link. If you didn't receive an email don't forgot to check your spam folder, otherwise contact support.

Back to login
1 Finish Profile
2 Newsletter Preferences
CLOSE

Welcome. Tell us a little bit about you.

This will help us provide you with customized content.

No thanks, continue without
1 Finish Profile
2 Newsletter Preferences
CLOSE

Want to receive more TechRepublic news?

Newsletter Name
Subscribe
Daily Tech Insider
Daily Tech Insider AU
TechRepublic UK
TechRepublic News and Special Offers
TechRepublic News and Special Offers International
Executive Briefing
Innovation Insider
Project Management Insider
Microsoft Weekly
Cloud Insider
Data Insider
Developer Insider
TechRepublic Premium
Apple Weekly
Cybersecurity Insider
Google Weekly
Toggle All
No thanks, continue without

You're All Set

Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye out for a confirmation email from our team. To ensure any newsletters you subscribed to hit your inbox, make sure to add [email protected] to your contacts list.

Back to Home Page
×