Monitoring your network is crucial for managing connectivity and identifying possible ransomware activities in your network. Moreover, this can also assist in optimizing the network’s performance and lets you track security threats much faster.
Generally, users in larger organizations or corporations face poor connection issues mainly due to overloaded bandwidth. In such a workplace, installing a good network monitoring tool is recommended that lets youidentify possible traffic bottlenecksand other related problems.
Well, plenty of network monitoring software is readily available on the world wide web, offering both free and premium services. Regarding the same, this article focuses on the twelve best open-source tools that are relatively easy to use on a Windows server.
Benefits of Network Monitoring Software
Basically, any network monitoring software lets you track network usage and other aspects using different protocols (SNMP, ICMP, etc.). This way, you can troubleshoot a slow network byidentifying blind spotsthat might have compromised vital resourcesfluctuating the internet speed.
Best Network Monitoring Software for Windows
Now that you’re aware of the benefits of network monitoring software, it’s time to choose an ideal tool for yourself. Although there are both proprietary and open-source programs, most network administrators recommend using the latter as they are highly scalable and provide more features at a lower cost.
Indeed, every tool is distinct from one other as they integrate different features that can come in handy whilemonitoring network trafficand usage at your workplace or home. Nevertheless, each of these programs will likely allow you tomonitor bandwidth, track network usage and traffic, generate alarms, prepare live reports and graphs, etc.
So, you can go through this section to learn about the different open-source network monitoring software and identify the one that suits you.
Microsoft Resource Monitor
The Resource Monitor is a built-in Windows tool available on Windows Vista and later versions. Well, this utility easily lets youmonitor all the hardware and software resources, like CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network activities.
Firstly, you need tolaunch Task Managerand navigate to the Performance tab to open Resource Monitor. Else, you can also execute theperfmon.execommand in the Run interface. Now, in the Overview tab, expand the Network drop-down, where you can track Network I/O in Kbps and also check the network utilization.
However, if you want in-depth knowledge, we recommend switching to the Network tab, where you’re able to easily monitor the following:
Wireshark
Wireshark is one of the safest and most popular open-source network management tools adopted by institutions, businesses, and even government agencies. Well, this application integratesTCP, UDP, DHCP, ICMP, and the three-way TCP handshakeprotocol to monitor your network.
Once you havedownloaded the Wireshark tool, you’re able to easily capture live network traffic and perform offline analysis. Then, these captured files can be saved in various formats (Microsoft Network Monitor, tcpdump, etc.), and the data can be viewed via GUI or the TTY-mode TShark utility.
Basically, this network protocol analyzer works bycapturing thousands of packetsfrom a selectednetwork connectionand obtains all the network information after applying a specific filter. Then, you may monitor the live report, which includes the source address, destination address, protocol, and other information.
Furthermore, Wireshark lets you monitor various monitor statistics, including Protocol Hierarchy, I/O Graphs, Service Response Time, TCP Stream Graphs, etc. Likewise, you can also analyze the Display Filters, SCTP, Conversation Filter, Enabled Protocols, and many more.
Nagios
While Icinga only applies to small and medium-scale, Nagios is even preferred in large-scale industries. Moreover, the two monitoring software differ in terms of adaptability, integrations, support, and pricing.
Well, Nagios is an agentless network monitoring tool initially designed to run on Linux but is now readily available on Windows too. One of the significant benefits of choosing this tool over others is that itdetects network outages and protocol failuresmuch faster.
Currently, we can find four differentNagios productsonline – Nagios Core, Nagios XI, Nagios Network Analyzer, and Nagios Fusion. Reportedly, Nagios Core lets you monitor SMTP, HTTP, Ping, and othernetwork services.On the other hand, Nagios XI is an extended version of the former and offers monitor system metrics, applications, networks, etc.
Interestingly, Nagios lets us monitor the network, server, and applicationin a single application. Thus, it is not just limited to trackingnetwork connection problemsbut also lets us monitor application errors and offers agent-based as well as agentless server monitoring.
Ntop
If you’re looking for a network monitoring program that can run on web servers, Ntop is probably one of the best tools available in this list. Thanks to itsportable libpcap libraries, you can easily capture packets, probe networks, and analyze traffic.
Reportedly, Ntop supportsTCP, UDP, ICMP, DLC, and many more network protocols. Hence, it provides users with a fast interface, high-speed network data transfer and allows multiple tools to run in a single system.
SinceNtop can be easily installedand administered through web browsers, CPU and memory use is significantly reduced. Moreover, it’s easy to use and is applicable to all types of networks.
Cacti
Cacti offers both data gathering and network monitoring capabilities within a single free, open-source application. Moreover, the software lets you store all the network and system statistics.
Reportedly, it usesSNMP protocolfor network monitoring. Furthermore, it is famous for having a customizable user interface and integrating fault-tolerant data collection framework. Likewise, Cacti utilizes MySQL for the database and is designed around the RRDTool, which is an industry-standard data logging tool.
Interestingly, you candownload the Cacti softwareand take advantage of the unlimited graph items and flexible data sources. Well, some of its other features include graph templating, device templating, graph sequencing, polling, automation, etc.
FreeNATS
Well, FreeNATS is another free, open-source network monitoring tool for testing and alerting network status. This is very similar to Nagios and Zabbix as it is also an enterprise-level program.
Some of its standard features are test scheduling, live network monitoring, availability reports, e-mail and URL altering, etc. Moreover,FreeNats is absolutely freeand does not include any premium versions.
Furthermore, FreeNATS utilizesSMTP, POP3, HTTP, and ICMPprotocols for monitoring network traffic and usage. Apart from that, it also allows its users to track and collect various metrics like disk usage, RAM, etc.
Icinga
Like Wireshark, Icinga is also a widely-known open-source tailored monitoring solution that lets you monitor various network services, host resources, and other server components. Reportedly, it works byexchanging data on your DevOps toolsand can be configured in both GUI (Graphical User Interface) and DSL (Domain Specific Language).
Moreover, it is a cloud-monitoring software that lets you track and manage all the private, public, or hybrid clouds in oneIcinga application. Also, you can create reports of your current data using various relations and patterns.
Moving on, Icinga lets you collect, store, visualize as well as combine the metrics and logs. Likewise, it also possesses excellent flexibility allowing you to monitor various network infrastructures and provide efficient workflows. Also, the software is compatible with Nagios plug-ins.
Zabbix
Another popular network monitoring software for Windows servers is Zabbix. Well, this is one of Nagios’s prime competitors that primarily focuses on monitoring CPU load statistics,memory heap, and the network system.
This enterprise-plan open-source program utilizes theSNMP and IPMPfor auto-locating those network devices that require monitoring. Interestingly, they even predict future behavior by using historical data as they record trends in your network traffic.
Besides tracking network usage and traffic, theZabbix packagesalso offer server, service, application, andcloud monitoring. Thanks to its high availability solution, we can be assured that our data is not lost. Moreover, they also use an external vault to secure sensitive information.
Furthermore, it offers bothagent-based and agentlessmonitoring systems. Likewise, you can find three discovery options here – network (recordsIP address, status, etc.), low-level (creates graphs and metrics), and auto (monitors a discovered device using an agent).
OpenNMS
OpenNMS is free, open-source software that usesSNMP protocolto monitor both local and remote networks. Unlike other tools, it is highly scalable and customizable, which is the reason why it’s getting popular these days.
Right now, the network management application comes in two different versions – Horizon and Meridian. Well, we recommend the latter one (OpenNMS Horizon) as it offers free service and has some beneficial features like event management, notifications, data collection, service monitoring, etc.
Moreover, the OpenNMS Horizon offers network topology mapping, meaning it creates a graph of the network topologyusing nodes and links. Furthermore, it has several plug-ins that allow different customizations and help integrate with third-party apps or services.
Observium
Although Observium is not as popular as other network monitoring software, it is one of the twelve tools we recommend. Basically, it uses theAPI integration systemto improve the quality and visibility of the network infrastructure.
Moreover, theObservium utilitylets you monitor the network of unlimited devices and also has a full audio-discovery feature. Likewise, the tool has a simple interface that lets you track the network’s health and status.
Furthermore, this network monitoring software also includes various features for improving your network’s reliability. Additionally, it also provideslong-term network metric collectionfor ease of planning.
Checkmk
Well, Checkmk is another powerful tool that doesn’t just let you monitor the network but even the entire system (servers, applications, etc.). Moreover, it can discover your network’s topology maps, whether it be on a wireless or wired connection.
Reportedly, two editions are available on the official website –Checkmk Rawand Checkmk Enterprise. While the former is free to use andutilizes the SNMP protocol, the latter is a paid version but provides additional features (auto-discovery, agent management, etc.).
Using either of the editions, you’ll be able to monitor your network’s health, metrics, logs, and events. In fact, most users prefer this program as it can launch all your reports in the least latency possible.
Furthermore, it enablesrapid deployment, and you can also access multiple server hosts simultaneously. With over 2000 of its high-quality plug-ins, one can quickly monitor the entire IT and allow automatic detection of network issues.
Centreon
The last one we have is Centreon, a free, open-source tool that works similarly to other software in this list. Unlike others, it is a business-aware andAIOps-ready monitoringprogram with features like Zero-config connectors, SLA Management, Decision support, etc.
Besides tracking your network usage and traffic, Centreon allows bothcloud and non-cloud monitoring. Likewise, you can select any performance parameter to manage events and notifications or detect network malfunctions and anomalies.
Afterdownloading the official Centreon application, you can track the entire IT infrastructure with cloud, security, ITOM, databases, and various other features. Therefore, if you’re looking for a monitoring tool having complete IT visibility, business alignments, and seamless integrations, we recommend Centreon.
