Any good network monitoring program?

[JasonT99]

Hi all!
I need a software program that will let me monitor the network activity and notify me of important events with email alerts. In addition, I’d like to be able to do remote restarts and also to review the hardware and software that are installed on the servers. I've heard a number of tools that do some of these things but not all features are included in one tool. Have you had any experience with this sort of software and could you perhaps recommend something to me?

[JasonT99]

Hm, so many replies...
I did a google research and I had difficulties finding a program that may be close to meet my requirements. I came across this software program and it looks good but I’m not quite sure it does remote restarts. I also found out this software tool and it seems that it includes everything I want. I have to choose one but beforehand I’d like to know if any of you would share any experience with these two?

[Pettos]

Hi Jason,

I have used wireshark for multiple things, but not sure if it is able to send email alerts.

Wireshark is great, and once you learn how to use it effectively it is quite a good tool, previous knowledge in networking, and knowing what to look for is a good place to start.

What exactly are you after? For private use or commercial? If you're pretty cluey, and you are able to set it up, I would suggest using Nagios, (http://www.nagios.org/)

Wireshark is more for thorough network monitoring down to packet communication.

I have not heard of/used praetorian guard.

[JasonT99]

Hi, Pettos! Thanks for your response. I am looking for a tool for commercial use but I am new in the IT and I suppose Wireshark and Nagios might be too complicated for me. Praetorian Guard seems easy to install and configure (at least judging by the screenshots and training videos) so I'll probably try that out.

[Pettos]

No Worries, let us know how you go.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Is this just for one company? Or are you managing lots of networks? We use N-Able. GFI is another popular MSP package.

[JasonT99]

Is this just for one company? Or are you managing lots of networks? We use N-Able. GFI is another popular MSP package.

Yes, it is just for one company/network. From N-Able and GFI, which one do you think is better?

[BPB21]

I've used Munin with good results on various small networks (although it scales well). It will also run fine on a machine with less than stellar hardware. That assumes you've got a Linux server set up to monitor your other network devices. That also assumes you're up on Linux!