For IT admins tasked with managing networks, the best way to stay on top of problems is to be proactive —meaning network monitoring is a must. If the network isn’t functioning correctly, the business can grind to a halt. Monitoring is helpful for networks of any size but especially necessary for medium to large business networks, which have more devices and are more complex.
Of course, network monitoring isn’t always straightforward. Admins are tasked with many goals — mapping devices, optimizing availability, meeting service level agreements, tracking and predicting bandwidth usage, etc. It’s easiest to stay on top of the many monitoring components if you have automated software.
Today, admins can choose from network monitoring software designed to do everything from simply monitoring uptime and downtime to receiving real-time information about devices on your network. Look for software that offers key capabilities such as alerts, visual dashboards for bottleneck and fault identification, and other features designed to diagnose problems faster and troubleshoot.
Whether you’ve got a small network or are in the market for enterprise network monitoring solutions, understanding your network needs is critical to choosing the right tools for your team and network.
Here’s a guide to all the services good automated monitoring solutions provide, along with the ways adopting reliable network monitoring tools that are right for your organization’s needs will help your network (and your business) grow. If you’d like to get just started with a great tool, consider a free trial of SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor (NPM), an excellent option for affordability, ease of use, and comprehensive functionality.
Monitoring and Optimizing Network Availability
Network Traffic Monitoring Capabilities
Network Monitoring vs. Network Management
The Basics of Fault Identification and Troubleshooting
Using Network Monitoring Software for Network Mapping, Scanning, and Discovery
What Is Remote Network Monitoring?
Best Practices for Network Monitoring
Features of a Reliable Network Monitoring Tool
Detailed and continuously updated network maps
Troubleshooting and root cause analysis
Top Tools and Software for Network Monitoring
SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor (NPM) (Free Trial)
SolarWinds® NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (Free Trial)
SolarWinds® ipMonitor (Free Trial)
ManageEngine OpManager
Paessler PRTG Network Monitoring
Remote Monitoring & Management (RMM)
Nagios XI
Spiceworks
Progress WhatsUp Gold
Monitoring and Optimizing Network Availability
One of the most critical components of a top network monitoring tool is the ability to monitor and optimize network availability. After all, if the network is down, most day-to-day operations, especially for enterprise networks, grind to a halt. However, because most networks have multiple processes and applications running simultaneously, achieving optimal availability that meets service level agreement (SLA) requirements can be challenging.
Network availability monitoring tools provide IT professionals with at-a-glance analysis of data from all network devices through an application layer called simple network management protocol (SNMP), which also helps administrators locate potential bottlenecks and pain points to troubleshoot network problems before they arise. Leading network monitoring solutions alert administrators every time an issue arises, from device sickness to unhealthy bandwidth levels, DoS attacks, and other potential network issues.
Additionally, software for network monitoring should also come with protections for the possibility that the server on which your network monitoring tool runs crashes or is temporarily unavailable. Organizations must adopt network monitoring solutions that automatically remedy the issue by relying on a back-up twin network monitor application. These failover and fail-back functionalities ensure crucial databases are always secure and networks are available round the clock.
Network Traffic Monitoring Capabilities
Another critical aspect of network monitoring is clearly understanding a network’s inbound and outbound traffic. Most network devices support the SNMP standard, which allows for reporting the health and performance of all a network’s equipment via Internet Protocol (IP) address. The IP address provides performance metrics from individual network devices, allowing network administrators to collect the metrics via network monitoring tools to avoid bottlenecks and assess the overall performance of individual devices and the network as a whole. Here is a list of those metrics:
- Bandwidth usage: This term relates to the volume of traffic sent from a network and the percentage of total bandwidth a network uses at any given time. Bandwidth is measured by the amount of data (using bytes) received and sent by specific network interfaces.
- CPU utilization: How much of a network device’s computational capacity is currently being used to process input, store data, and create output.
- Interface errors/discards: These terms account for errors on receiving devices that can cause network interfaces to drop data packets. These errors and discards can have numerous causes, including configuration errors or bandwidth problems.
- IP metrics: IP metrics are other metrics used to measure the speed and efficiency of the connections between network devices, such as time delay and hop count.
- Throughput: This is the rate of traffic, measured by bytes per second, that pass through an interface on a device within a specific time period.
- Uptime: A term used to describe the time a network device receives and sends data successfully.
Network Monitoring vs. Network Management
While the terms network monitoring and network management are sometimes erroneously used interchangeably, networking monitoring is a precursor to the network management process. However, a good network management plan also involves excellent network monitoring, and adopting the proper network monitoring tools is vital for optimizing a network and ensuring continuous healthy performance.
Simply put, network management is all about connection. A network management plan is a system by which an organization configures, monitors, and maintains a reliable network, continuously ensuring that devices maintain connections to software applications and that users can use them seamlessly and securely. Effective network management includes the provisioning, configuration, security, and monitoring of each element of the network, creating a sustainable system that allows for growth and efficiency. So, it’s easy to see how the correct network monitoring solutions can help aid in network management efficiency.
The Basics of Fault Identification and Troubleshooting
In addition to providing easily accessible reportage of all the main IP metrics to assess the speed and health of a network, network monitoring solutions should offer options for both solving problems as they arise and anticipating issues before they occur to take preventative measures. Here are some key ways network monitoring tools should allow IT administrators to identify, plan for and quickly resolve everyday network issues.
- Alerts: Automated network monitoring solutions should enable IT professionals to quickly and efficiently address network issues as they arise by offering options for creating a customized arsenal of specific alerts, alarms, and notifications for the many issues that can affect a network. These alerts should also be customizable by device and team member to ensure the correct administrator is alerted to a problem as soon as it arises.
- Bottlenecks: Sometimes, the performance of a network can be affected by a lack of bandwidth, which prevents data packets within the network from reaching their destination within an acceptable time frame. A good network monitoring solution will provide an at-a-glance dashboard for monitoring network performance, allowing administrators to quickly and easily identify outages that are causing or are likely to cause bottlenecks.
- Fault identification: Like alerts, fault identification systems alert teams to network problems no matter where they are. Fault identification features can alert teams to network trouble via email, SMS, modem, and mobile app.
- Troubleshooting: The best network monitoring software helps IT professionals understand a network’s normal behavior to identify potential problems down the road while helping teams understand the baseline behavior of the wide range of elements that can affect a network, including CPU utilization and bandwidth usage. Understanding and documenting these threshold values through network monitoring solutions can help administrators set relevant alerts and reminders.
Network monitoring tools can also aid in troubleshooting by keeping all engineers and administrators on the page regarding infrastructure, application, and other metrics, which helps more quickly and effectively diagnose, troubleshoot and resolve issues. The increased ability to consolidate monitoring data allows teams to quickly determine whether latency or errors stem from the network code, a host-level issue, or another source.
Using Network Monitoring Software for Network Mapping, Scanning, and Discovery
Another important use for network monitoring solutions is network scanning, mapping, and discovery. The sheer volume of data generated by a network can sometimes be overwhelming, and without tools for network scanning and mapping, critical issues can go undetected. Network monitoring tools can help teams discover all the network devices connected to a network and allow IT professionals to create topology maps and generate reports based on those maps. These scans and maps are vital resources for understanding each network’s components and making regular inventories of those components.
Network scanning is a term used for identifying devices within a network by sending a signal and awaiting a response. Network mapping refers to generating a graphical representation of network nodes and their links. Network nodes can include routers, switches, firewalls, and other devices connected to a network. Network mapping can be automated and used to produce an overview of a network or focus on a select portion. But generally, network mapping is used to show the current status and other vital pieces of information for all devices connected to the network. Network mapping can include both the physical and logical links between networks.
Network maps rely on visually representing the topology of a network. In network management, topology is a term used to describe how a network is arranged. Topology serves as a map to a network. It includes a list containing devices connected to or associated with a network, along with detailed information about where those devices are located in conjunction with one another. To manage a network effectively, administrators need a clear topology map to identify the structure, layout, and connection associated with the network. Here are some common network topologies.
- Star configuration: The most common network topology, every node in a star network is connected to one central hub via coaxial, twisted-pair, or fiber-optic cable. This hub acts as a server.
- Bus topology: This configuration connects all devices within the network along a central cable. Data travels in one direction along this central line.
- Ring topology: In this topology, nodes are connected in a circular formation. Data travels in either one or both directions.
Mapping networks provide visibility, but those maps require an understanding of how nodes are connected. Network monitoring tools can automatically provide a complete picture using visual data around these connections and can also keep those network maps updated automatically for quick reference when problems arise.
Organizations should be aware that not every network monitoring tool will have every feature listed above. Careful attention is needed when choosing the solutions to meet their organization’s size, potential problems, and security needs while leaving plenty of room for the network to grow.
What Is Remote Network Monitoring?
Many network monitoring tools offer opportunities for “remote network monitoring.” The term remote network monitoring refers to the process of monitoring, managing, and regulating devices within a network that may be off the premises. Large and enterprise networks and managed service providers (who often oversee multiple networks) use remote network monitoring software to collect data and track trends to assess a network’s performance. With this data and oversight, they can troubleshoot problems as they occur off-premises.
Since remote network monitoring software enables network devices to access from anywhere, it is ideal for troubleshooting outages, which means devices are up and running quicker. Network end-users can connect better, improving an organization’s overall efficiency while reducing cost. Remote network monitoring is also an efficient way to enhance security, as many of the top remote network monitoring solutions offer the crucial option of real-time surveillance, which is critical for keeping all teams up to speed on both security protocols and updated about potential security breaches. Plus, automatically updated maps and metrics across remote networks can provide universal data about overall system health and security for an entire network at once across an extensive network, no matter the location of parts of the network.
Remote network monitoring is excellent for helping detect issues like network traffic congestion, collisions, and dropped packets and investigating issues by gathering all data to help solve and document a problem. Armed with this information, enterprise network administrators and MSPs can better manage large network works, including on-premises, cloud, or hybrid devices, while reducing downtime and improving network security.
Best Practices for Network Monitoring
Successful network monitoring is about more than simply adopting the right tools. A good network monitoring strategy is twofold: First, an organization should provide a careful assessment of the above functionalities to make sure the network monitoring tools it has adopted enable teams to quickly and easily access information about the health of a network, allowing IT professionals to work proactively to solve problems before they arise. The second component of effective network monitoring is the process by which teams map networks, document those findings, and establish protocols for maintaining network health. Here are some guidelines around best practices for network monitoring.
Understand your network
Understanding the intricacies of a network is a challenge, especially for enterprise networks. But to address future problems as they arise, engineers and administrators should have a complete picture of how a network functions when everything is going right. Use your network monitoring tools to set baselines to trigger alerts when there are irregularities within the network. These baselines allow teams to address problems as they occur quickly or before issues evolve into problems.
Rely on detailed analysis
Network monitoring tools will ideally offer detailed analysis and troubleshooting for each level of a network, from physical devices to issues with IP addresses, servers, etc. These exhaustive reports and tools for visualizing this information are critical for quickly resolving issues within your network.
Put protocols in place
One of the essential uses for network monitoring solutions is developing the ability to troubleshoot network problems before they occur. An important part of building a functional network is using network monitoring tools to create documentation around baseline operations and a history of known issues and solutions deployed to address those problems in the past. And after laying this foundation, teams should establish protocols for addressing these issues to save time and effort while minimizing downtime. Alerts and fault identification, which allow the correct team member to be alerted to problems as soon as they arise, are a vital component of an effective system of protocols. So be sure to look for a robust and easily navigable system for establishing alerts in your network monitoring tools.
Ensure failover protection
While network monitoring tools exist to protect organizations from security and technical issues, the same problems that can cause failures within networks can also cause network monitoring tools to fail. Make sure your network monitoring solutions also provide contingency plans for ensuring backup systems are enabled, and network monitoring tools are still available if servers or other network parts fail.
Features of a Reliable Network Monitoring Tool
Options for customization
Because every organization’s network monitoring needs are different, customizable options for making your network monitoring solutions easy to use are an essential and often overlooked feature. The top network monitoring tools include dashboards with customizable key performance metrics. Your IT professionals can access the metrics that matter most to your organization, so teams aren’t wasting valuable time searching for critical information.
Customizable alerts
Organizations also need tools for alerting specific team members to particular problems. Not everyone in an organization is equipped to handle every potential network problem, and alerting the right professional to problems the second they arise also saves critical time wasted by looking for the right person to address the issue. The best network monitoring tools allow alerts to be filtered to the correct recipient and offer multiple channels to deliver those alerts, including SMS, email, and other channels. Network monitoring tools should also allow alerts to be prioritized by the severity of the problem and include location information.
Automated device discovery
Correctly identifying each device and connection to a network is the foundation of creating healthy, secure networks. However, manually sweeping networks in search of new network devices and connections are time-consuming, inefficient, and outdated. Network monitoring systems should include automated device discovery features designed to help scan and map existing nodes and automatically discover new devices once added to the network.
Detailed and continuously updated network maps
Since network monitoring tools have a picture of every device connected, they can draw a visual representation of the network. These network maps allow administrators to look at an abstraction of their network, which is essential for enterprises with sprawling, complex networks. The best network maps contain visual information on nodes and devices, letting users instantly see performance issues at a glance.
Troubleshooting and root cause analysis
Network problems, such as downtime, can be caused by many different issues. Without the right network availability monitoring tools, finding the root causes of a problem within a network can be a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack.
The best network monitoring tools will provide troubleshooting capabilities, such as a network diagnostics tool built to monitor network device performance and availability continuously, so engineers and administrators can access troubleshooting assistance when problems arise. In conjunction with intelligent network alerting, root cause analysis capabilities help keep teams aware of the moment key performance metrics pass critical thresholds and better equipped to address those issues quickly.
Room for growth
As most organizations are constantly adding devices, applications, and other components to their networks, not to mention ever-increasing concerns around security, the constant for most networks is that they are constantly expanding. When choosing new network monitoring solutions, it is vital to remember that networks are almost certainly to grow. Adopting network monitoring tools that do not leave room for growth means that teams will almost certainly be searching for new solutions within a few years while constantly running into roadblocks. Choose network monitoring software that runs within capacity, but ensure those solutions offer room to grow.
Top Tools and Software for Network Monitoring
While it is nearly impossible to create a list of every open-source, free, freemium, or paid network monitoring software guide covers many shared network monitoring pain points, along with many of the features to watch for when deciding what network monitoring tools are suitable for your organization’s needs. However, because no two organizations are exactly alike, many excellent resources are designed to fit every network’s needs, from small businesses needing on-premises network monitoring solutions to enterprise network monitoring solutions. Below is a comprehensive list of the best network monitoring solutions for a wide variety of use cases to match networks with the services that will be most valuable for their needs.
Here’s a list of the top tools and software for network monitoring:
1. SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor (NPM) (Free Trial)
Widely regarded as the most comprehensive network monitoring tool, SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor (NPM) offers enough features to support enterprise networks and is also simple to use and, therefore, ideal for small teams. When it comes to a tool that combines a wide range of features, scalability, and ease-of-use at an affordable price, it is hard to beat all the features afforded by NPM.
For example, not only is NPM easy to install and maintain, it comes with over a hundred prebuilt reports out-of-the-box to get you up and running in no time. Need to schedule a custom network performance or availability report? No problem — the customization and automation features included in NPM can help.
Get started with the network discovery feature, which lets you identify, map, and monitor devices, using IP addresses or ranges, subnets, or Active Directory. You then have access to end-to-end visibility, with fault, performance, and availability monitoring capabilities allowing you to detect and diagnose issues, helping you avoid downtime quickly. You can automatically set notifications to your inbox based on predefined thresholds for common problems or by customizing alerts. Another benefit of monitoring is automating how you forecast network capacity — NPM lets you quickly calculate exhaustion dates based on current usage.
With the tool’s exclusive PerfStack™ feature, engineers and administrators can more easily pinpoint and analyze the root cause of network issues. PerfStack allows users to drag and drop network performance data from multiple sources into a single chart to better view what’s happening across your network.
What’s excellent about NPM is it’s one of those tools stuffed with “I-didn’t-know-it-could-do-that” features, like mapping your routes hop-by-hop through the network to remote services and automated network mapping based on detected network traffic. Try a 30-day free trial.
Learn More About The Product Download Free Trial
2. SolarWinds® NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (Free Trial)
Excellent tool to decrease downtime and reduce bottlenecks by getting a more accurate picture of their uptime, throughput, and bandwidth usage, this tool utilizes NetFlow, a network protocol used to monitor the flow of traffic over the network. By analyzing NetFlow data with this software, you can see how traffic flows across your network, including source, destination, congestion points, and volume.
If organization move from on-premises networks to the cloud, it’s a good tool to provide visibility into shifting workloads and application performance. NTA includes support for Microsoft® Azure with visibility into site-to-site connections, client VPNs, and ExpressRoutes for VPN status and performance metrics. For private cloud visibility, NTA also supports Cisco® ACI monitoring and troubleshooting. Whether your network is on-prem, cloud, or hybrid, the NetFlow network monitoring solution can save organizations money and time by making it easier to analyze flow records to understand and optimize traffic within the network without wasting resources on additional bandwidth. NTA also integrates seamlessly with other SolarWinds solutions, such as PerfStack™, NetPath™, and Orion® Maps, allowing users to gain instant insights from automatically correlated data both historically and in real-time. Start with a free trial that lasts 30 days.
Learn More About The Product Download Free Trial
3. ManageEngine OpManager
OPManager monitoring software provides an affordable option with easy setup. Tools include everything from customizing dashboards to real-time network monitoring for metrics such as packet loss, latency, speed, errors and discards, and analyzing performance bottlenecks.
For organizations looking to simplify their arsenal of network monitoring solutions, OpManager consolidates multiple tools, including GUI, graphs, and reports. Integrated network management software helps provide real-time network monitoring while still offering insights into problematic areas of the network. It also allows for troubleshooting via root cause analysis
capabilities. This software offers a 30-day free trial as well.
4. Paessler PRTG Network Monitoring
Paessler PRTG provides a friendly, affordable tool for trying out network monitoring solutions without wanting to make too large of an investment. And for many of the organizations who match that description, PRTG hits all the right notes. The network monitoring solutions are relatively easy to understand for organizations without prior experience with network monitoring tools. Smaller organizations are afforded a blend of infrastructure monitoring, flow and packet sniffing, and a REST-ful API to hook into if you like to dabble with customization. Use a 30-day free trial to get started.
5. SolarWinds® ipMonitor (Free Trial)
For an affordable and quick network, server, VMware® hosts, and application monitoring tool, SolarWinds ipMonitor is another of the commonly cited favorite network monitoring tools on the market. It’s a network, servers, VMware hosts, and application monitoring tool specifically designed to monitor critical IT environments and help organizations resolve issues before those problems significantly impact end-users. ipMonitor includes a built-in database and web server, making it lightweight and cost-effective. It’s also fast and easy to use, no matter your level of expertise. IpMonitor can start monitoring a network typically within minutes of being downloaded. The tool’s Startup Wizard guides users through the automated discovery process and provides built-in recommendations on what precisely users should be monitoring on each of your devices and applications.
When it comes to effective network monitoring, visibility is vital. Luckily, ipMonitor delivers when it comes to visibility. The tool provides an easy-to-use web interface with a centralized NOC dashboard to provide visibility into the health of your IT infrastructure. ipMonitor dashboards are highly customizable and help teams get the data they need (statistics, graphical data, and reports) at their fingertips. You can also zero in on specific metrics and data to get to the root causes of issues with only a few clicks from the central dashboard. In addition to automatically discovering devices and applications on your network, ipMonitor creates dynamic maps showing the connections between each of those devices and applications and the network.
Another great ipMonitor feature is its robust notification system. The tool offers more than 14 notifications to inform teams about network issues and application failures, so they can begin troubleshooting immediately. To ensure your teams can focus on the problems that need your attention, ipMonitor also offers automated remediation services if a failure occurs, including restarting failed applications, executing scripts, rebooting servers, and restarting Windows to minimize downtime. To try ipMonitor, you can download a free 14-day trial.
6. Remote Monitoring & Management (RMM)
For managed service providers (MSPs) who are often looking to manage the networks of hundreds of different clients, RMM provides some of the most scalable network monitoring software on the market that also comes with network management capabilities. Because sometimes, it’s not enough to look for high-quality network monitoring software, especially if an organization offers network management and monitoring as a software. These organizations have unique needs and often look for additional scope and features.
Thus, consider RMM from N-able. This all-in-one solution is built specifically for MSPs, providing a full feature set to cover all your needs and potential use cases. While it’s perfectly capable of performing basic network monitoring tasks, it goes beyond that to offer fast and safe remote access, documentation and password management, detailed and easy-to-access reporting, and much more. The free trial lasts 30 days.
7. Nagios XI
Nagios comes in two different flavors. Nagios Core is open-source and free with limited monitoring capabilities for smaller organizations looking for open-source or more affordable network monitoring capabilities. On the paid side, Nagios XI is the commercial network monitoring tool based on Nagios Core but with added features. The active development community and support for external plug-ins are reasons for this tool’s popularity. One word of caution: beginner techs and organizations without sufficient IT support may find installing, setting up, and configuring Nagios can be overwhelming. However, users can get help from the Nagios community or opt for a commercial support package from Nagios Enterprise. If you’d like to try out the paid version, you can do so for 30 days.
8. Spiceworks
For those who are looking for free network monitoring solutions, Spiceworks offers a host of free network monitoring and management tools. These tools range from network management solutions, like inventory management, help desk workflow but also extend to cloud monitoring and free network monitoring solutions. Spiceworks’s network monitoring tools are built around agentless techniques such as WMI (for Windows machines) and SNMP (for network and *nix systems). This free tool is relatively easy to use and provides insights into many common network performance issues inducing IP lookup and downtime monitoring software. In addition, users can create customized dashboards and are afforded the ability to restart services from within the Spiceworks app. However, it is essential to note that because Spiceworks is free, revenue for the network monitoring tools comes from selling display ads within the network, which can be distracting and should be considered when making a final decision regarding network monitoring tools.
9. Progress WhatsUp® Gold
Progress WhatsUp Gold has numerous features geared to users new to the space, making it ideal for those looking for network monitoring solutions that are not immediately overwhelming. For starters, WhatsUp Gold has an easy-to-read and intuitive interface that is perfect for easily monitoring all network devices since nearly all information included within WhatsUp Gold appears on three tabs. Additionally, its auto-mapping features create a detailed guide to each network’s devices, which are capable of being customized to appear topologically. And finally, WhatsUp Gold lets users quickly discover and add new devices with only a few clicks, automatically updating maps.
However, there are a few limitations to Progress WhatsUp Gold’s capabilities. First, the WhatsUp Gold network monitoring platform is designed to be used on-premises. For instance, users must locally connect to a Windows device to install. Ideally, one is running on a Windows server as well. But for those in the market for on-prem network monitoring solutions compatible with Windows, WhatsUp Gold is simple to install, requiring little input except clicking through default installation paths permitting access to a network, similar to installing any other application. Visit their site to find a 14-day free trial.
Get Started with Network Monitoring Software Today
As you can see, many different network monitoring tools today can help solve almost any use case. If you are beginning your search for the best network monitoring system for the job or already have one but are considering what else is out there, I hope this has helped you start to think about the benefits of finding the right tool to meet your needs. As for what I believe is the best overall network monitoring tool on the market today, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is my pick based on the tool’s features, ease of use, and price. Try a 30-day free trial today.