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Why Should You Monitor A Network 24x7 ? What are TOP-21 FREE Network Monitor Tools?

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Category: Cybersecurity PRISM
So why is it important to monitor networks? The network is the life line of the IT infrastructure. When networks fail, the flow of information required by applications and business operations stop.
 
Networks are dynamic environments. Network Admins are continually asked to add new users, technologies and applications to their networks. These changes can impact their ability to deliver consistent, predictable network performance.
 
When network problems arise, Network Admins are pressured to identify the root cause before it impacts users, applications and the business. This is more problematic with intermittent performance problems which are hard to replicate and diagnose.
 
 
 
 
Many IT organizations are subject to Service Level Agreements, or SLAs.

Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

So what are SLAs and how do they impact IT? An SLA is a contract between IT and Line of Business Owners. Meeting SLA commitments are often included in IT compensation plans. SLAs are a performance guarantee. They are measured and reported on.
 

Why are SLAs important?

 
Because poor performance and down time is costly. For an eCommerce website like LL Ben, one hour of downtime can cost millions in lost revenues.
SLA requirements can be very strict. For example, A four nines SLA requires 99.99% uptime. This allows for less than one hour of downtime per year.
The more demanding the SLA, the more costly it is to implement and maintain. For example, Delivering four or five nines requires network admins to configure their network switches in redundant pairs, AND have a third switch readily available to swap in case of failure.
 

Network Monitoring Systems provide five basic functions:

  • Discover: Find the Devices on Your Network
  • Map: Visualize Your Network
  • Monitor: Keep an Eye on Your Network
  • Alert: Get Notified When Devices Go Down
  • Report: Deliver on SLAs with Real-time and Historical Reporting

What are top-22 FREE Network Monitor Tools: 

  1. GFI LanGuard
  2. Microsoft Message Analyzer
  3. Nagios Core
  4. OpenNMS
  5. Advanced IP Scanner
  6. Capsa Free
  7. Telerik Fiddler
  8. NetworkMiner
  9. Pandora FMS
  10. Zenoss Core
  11. PRTG Network Monitor Freeware
  12. MiTeC Network Scanner
  13. Splunk
  14. Angry IP Scanner
  15. Icinga 2
  16. Observium Community
  17. NetXMS
  18. WirelessNetView
  19. Riverbed Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector
  20. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
  21. Wireshark
  22. Zabbix

 

This Article Was Written & published by Meena R,  Senior Manager - IT, at Luminis Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd, India. 

Over the past 16 years, Meena has built a following of IT professionals, particularly in Cybersecurity, Cisco Technologies, and Networking...

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