Network Monitoring Tools

Written by Stanford University (SLAC)

Network Monitoring Tools*

Les Cottrell,SLAC. Last Update: February 13, 2013-- Major clean up of failing URLs usingCheckLinksuggested by Brad Canham, and even better theChrome browser extension for checking links, suggested by Brian Albert Jensen.
ESnet|ESCC|Internet end-to-end monitoring|Tutorial
This is a list of tools used for Network (both LAN and WAN) Monitoring tools and where to find out more about them. The audience is mainly network administrators. You are welcome to provide links to this web page. Please do not make a copy of this web page and place it at your web site since it will quickly be out of date. Seehereif you wish to suggest additions or changes.

Page Contents / Addition History
  • Contents
Utilities and demos,Links,Visitors,Addition history,
  • Introduction
  • Suggesting Additions
  • Network Monitoring Platforms
  • Monitoring Tools Integrated with NMP
  • Commercial Monitoring Tools, not Integrated with an NMP
Analyzer/Sniffer,Application/Services monitoring(Hosted/managed monitoring services),Flow monitoring,FTP,IP Address/Asset Management,IT Search,Network security,SNMP tools,Topology,VOIP,
  • Public Domain Network Monitoring Tools
Application Monitoring,BGP,Finger Printing,Flow monitoring,FTP,IPAM,Mapping,Monitoring Infrastructures,Network Security,Packet Capture,Path Characterization,Ping,RRDtool,SNMP,Throughput tools,Traceroute,
  • Web Tools
  • Auxiliary Tools to Enable Monitoring, Analysis, Report Creation or Simulation
  • Further Information
  • Disclaimer
Useful utilities and Demos
Swiss Army Knife Internet Tool from RobTex
What is my IP address/traceroute?
What is my IP address, OS, browser?
Visual Traceroute
Where am I?
Where is another host?
Find Lat/Long of a site
DNS Lookup,
AS Lookup,
/ PingER
PingWorld
PingER Internet Performance
Test my network configurationfrom Stanford,from all over
Network Path & Application Daemon
What is the speed of your Internet connection
Speed test for both download and upload speeds
Bandwidth test to my host choose method,Bandwidth from various international sites,Speed Test,Pingtest,Bandwidth Test,
Website Speedtest,
World's connection speeds from:Akamai,Ookla,NetIndex,
MLab Internet measurement tools
Estimate bandwidth,WAN throughput calculator,Speed vs. distance,
RTT & bandwidth test


/ Speed Test
byAbsolute Futurity
/ 2013 / Cedexis Radar,Enigma,Foglight,InfoVista Network Performance Management,NetFort SPAN Port Configurator,Network Timeout,NetXMS,Retrospective,
2012 / ActionPacked,Aqualogic Monitoring System,Argus,Boundary,CapMon,EdoceoEntuity,Ethernet Packet Bombadier,Express Metrix,FrameFlow,KACE,GotSiteMonitor.com,LANGuardian,Luminet,Nectar Services,Netflow Tracker,Network Sate Notifier,Praetorian Guard,Speed Test,Visual Performance Manager (VPM),
2011 / Alaloop,AlertFox,Catchpoint,Certus Digital,Congruity,GMS Live Expert,hostUcan,ICmyNetDNS,ICmy.NetFlow analyzer,iGLASS Network Monitoring Services,IPCopper,Kaseya Network Monitor,Lan-Secure,LogicMonitor,Microsft Network Monitor,NetFlowAuditor,NetQuest,netrounds,Network Monitor Software,PagerDuty,Pingsweep,QosmetSwitch Center,Verax NMS,vsFTP,
2010 / AccelOps,AlarmTilt,AppQoS Live!,Cascade Pilot Personal Edition,Cubro,ExtraHop,IP Traffic Monitor,MTUPath,NetDB,Net Detective,NetworkBones,NetworkManagementSoftware,NeuralStar,Nexvu Analyzer,Reconnoiter,ScriptLogic Perspective,SevOne,SevOne Netflow tool,SevOne VoIP monitoring,SITEImpulse,System Shepherd,StealthWatch,TelcoAlert,WANGuard Flow'WABGuard Sniff",Webwalk,
2009 / ACE Live NetFlow,ACE Live VoIP Monitoring,Aggregate Network Manager,AppNeta,ASDIC,Cyclops,DUMeter,eBox,EZEbSiteMonitoring,Fing,GNMS,Hounddog,Justsniffer,NetPrefect,Network Monitoring Tools,Netquest OptiCop Converger,OPNET Panorama,SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM),SolarWinds Netflow Analyzer,Performance Co-Pilot,Redcell,Serio IT Service View,SNMP SweepSolarWinds Free network tools,Techout,uptime software,
2008 / AutoMate,BGPLay,BGPmon,BreakingPoint,Capsa,Collectl,DopplerVue,EDDIE,EffeDetect,Engineer's Toolset,EtherDetect,Ethergrouik,ElvinRRD,FlowMon,FreeNATS,GEM Network Monitoring,GnetWatch,iBGPlay,InterMapper Flows,Inventory Genie,IPAudit,IPHost Network Monitor,Labtech Software,LANSurveyor,Lemon-,NetaNAV,MoniTiL,monitis,mon.itor.usd,Monitoring Genie,MTD Sentry,OPNET nCompass,NetGong,NetInfo,NetMRI,NetScope,Network Miner,Network Performance Daily,NFDUMP,NfSen,OPNET Modeler,Opsview,Osmius,PacketTrap,Paglo,Panopta,PC Inventory Advisor,Q3ADE,Remote Asset Tracker,Sentinel,Server Supervisor,Splunk,Tembria,tcpillust,The Dude,Total network monitor,ZettaView,Zyrion Traverse,
2007 / Ace,APCON,akk@da,Andrisoft WANGuard,Anue,Aurora,BasicState-,CommandCenter NOC,David,Denika,Dummmynet,GFI LANguard,Gomez,GroundWork,Heroix,Hyperic HQ,IMMonitor,Monolith,moods,Munin,Net::Flow,NetMapper,NetQoS Performance Center,NetQos VoIP Monitor,Network Enforcer,Network Management Tutorial,Network Weathermap,NetVoyant,OidView,op5 Monitor,Pandetix,Pingdom,Pingwy,Scrutinizer NetFlow & sFlow Analyzer,ServersCheck,SimpleServerMonitor,skipole-monitor,SLA,SMARTHawk,SuperAgent,Total Network Inventory,WAPT,WebPerform,WFilter,XRate1,XYMON,
2006 / arping,Axence nVision,BBMonitor,Cacti,CSchmidt collection,Cymphonix Network Composer,Darkstat,Etherape,EZ-NOC,Eye-on Bandwidth,Gigamon University,IPTraf,Jnettop,LITHIUM,mrtg-ping-probe,NetMRG,NetworkActiv Scanner,NimTech,NPAD,Nsauditor,Nuttcp,OpenSMART,Pandora FMS,PIAFCTM,Plab,PolyMon,Rider,RSP,Pktstat,SecureMyCompany,SftpDrive,SNM,SpeedTest,SpiceWorks,Sysmon,TruePath,Unbrowse,Unsniff,WatchMouse,Webalizer,Web Server Stress Tool,Zenoss,
2005 / Advanced HostMonitor,Alvias,Airwave,BitTorrent,bulk,BWCTL,Caligare Flow Inspector,ClearSight,Distinct Network Monitor,EM7,EZMgt,Gigamon,Host Grapher II,HPN-SSH,Javvin Packet Analyzer,Just-ping,LinkRank,MoSSHe,mturoute,N-able OnDemand,Netcool,netdisco,Netflow Monitor,NetQoS,Pathneck,OWAMP,PingER,RANCID,Scamper,SCAMPI,Simple Infrastructure Capacity Monitor,Spirent,SiteMonitor,STC,SwitchMonitor,SysUpTime,TansuTCP,thrulay,Torrus,Tstat,VSS Monitoring,WebWatchBot,WildPackets,ZoneRanger,
2004 / CleverEye,CueVision,D-ITG,FastCopy,FREEping,Ganglia,H.323 Beacon,GFI Network Services Monitor,internetVista,IPCheck Server Monitor,Little:eye,MonitorMagic,N-central,N-vision,Netmeter,NetMechnica,ACE Live (formerly Network Physics NetSensory),NetVizor,Observer,OSSMon,Overseer Network Monitor,Orca,PRTG Traffic Grapher,QRadar,Route Explorer,Scriptroute,Server Nanny,SNMP Explorer,ServerFiles.com,SNMP Informant,STABa Linux tracepath,SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM),Vigilix,WatchTowerWebsite Monitoring,WindowsNetworking.com,ZTI,
2003 / ABwE,ActivXpets,Analyse It,Argus,Big Sister,eGInnovations,Internet Detective,JFF Network Management System,LANsurveyor,LANWatch,LoriotPro,MonitorIT,Nagios,NetIntercept,NetMon,NetStatus,Network Diagnostic Tool,Network Performance Advisor,Nimsoft,NPS,Network Probe,NetworksA-OK,NetStat Live,Open NerveCenpter,OPENXTRA,Packeteer,PacketStorm,Packetyzer,PathChirp,Integrien,Sniff'em,Spong,StableNet,TBIT,Tcptraceroute,Tping,Trafd,Trafshow,TrapBlaster,Traceroute-nanog,Ultra Network Sniffer,Zoho Corp ManageEngine OpManager,
2002 / ANL Web100 Network Configuration Tester,Anritsu,aslookup,AlertCenter,Alertra,AlertSite,Analyse-it,bbcp,Bro,Chariot,CommView,Crypto-PAn,elkMonitor,DotCom-Monitor,Easy Service Monitor,Etherpeek,Fidelia,Finisar,Fpinger,GDChart,HipLink,ipMonitor,LANExplorer,LinkFerret,LogisoftAR,NetCrunch,NetDetector,NetGeo,NEPM,NetReality,NIST Net,NLANR AAD,NMIS,OpenNMSPastMon,Pathprobe,remstats,RFT,RUDE,Silverback,SmokePing,Snuffle,SysOrb,Telchemy,TCPTune,TCPurify,UDPmon,WebAttack,Zabbix,
2001 / AdventNet SNMP API,Alchemy Network Monitor,Anasil analyzer,Argent,Autobuf,Bing,DSLReports,Firehose,GeoBoy, Packetboy etc,Internet Control Portal,ISDNwatch,Metrica/NPR,Mon,NetTest,Pathrate,RouteView,sFlow,Shunra,Trellian,WCAT,WhatsUp Gold,WS_FTP,
2000 / Analyzer,bbftp,Big Brother,Cricket,EdgeScape,Ethereal(now renamed Wireshark),gen_send/gen_recv,GSIFTP,Gtrace,Holistix,/InMon,NcFTP,NetAlly,NetScout,Ntop,PingGraph,PingPlotter,Pipechar (part of NCS),RRD,Sniffer,Snoop,StatScope,View2000,VisualPulse,WinPcap,WU-FTPD,WWW performance monitoring,Xplot
1999 / Cheops,Ganymede,hping2,Iperf,MatLab,MTR,NeoTrace,Netflow,NetLogger,NextPoint,Nmap,Pchar,Qcheck,SAA,SafeTP,Sniffit,ResponseNetworks,Tcpshow,Tcptrace
1998 / NetOps,Triticom,Maple,PV-Wave,S-Plus,VisualRoute
1997 / tcpspray,Mapnet,Keynote,prtracerouteclflowdfping,tcpdpriv,Pathchar,CAIDA Measurement Tool Taxonomy,bprobe & cprobe
1996 / mrtg,InterMapper,Lachesis,Optimal Networks,

Introduction[Contents]

The following Network Monitoring Tools grew out of a list that were reported to be in use at 11 ESnet sites in asurveymade by theESnetNetwork Monitoring Task Force(NMTF)and completed in October 1995. For some snapshots of earlier web pages see theInternet Archive Wayback site. Where possible I have provided hypertext links to further sources of information on the tool. These links vary in quality ranging from a pointer to the vendors home page, to the man pages entry, and to how to download the code. We welcome corrections such as identifying broken links.

Suggesting Additions/Corrections etc.

This is a volunteer, unfunded effort. This helps assure its independence. Increasingly new additions are from reader suggestions/recommendations. If you have a suggestion for adding something:please send an email to cottrell at slac.stanford.edu making sure that you indicate where the tool fits in the hierarchy, provide a URL to get more information on the tool, and provide a short one sentence description of the tool's purpose with no marketing hyperbole. Also if you notice out of date or incorrect links please report. Thanks.

Network Monitoring Platforms (NMPs) -Comparison of NMPs,[Contents]
  • Aggregate Network Manageris an enterprise-grade network/application/performance monitoring platform. It tightly integrates with other smart building management systems, such as physical access control, HVAC, lighting, and time/attendance control.
  • AirwaveManagement PlatformT (AMP) wireless network management software provides centralized control for Wi-Fi networks. Features include: access point configuration management, reporting, user tracking, help desk views, and rogue AP discovery.
  • akk@dais a simple network monitoring system designed for small and middle size computer networks. Its purpose is to quick detect system or network fault and to display information about detected problems for administrators. akk@da is designed as a pro-active network monitor. It does not wait for information from any agents, systems, etc. It collects information every single minute (you can decrease this period to 1 second). Almost all services of the monitored hosts are discovered automatically.
  • Andrisoft WANGuardPlatform provides solutions for WAN links monitoring, DDoS detection and mitigation, traffic accounting and graphing.
  • Axence nVisionmonitors network infrastructure: Windows, TCP/IP services, web and mail servers, URLs, applications (MS Exchange, SQL etc.). It also monitors routers and switches: network traffic, interface status, connected computers. nVision collects network inventory and audit license usage - it can alert in case of a program installation or any configuration change on a remote node. With the agent you can monitor user activity and access computers remotely.
  • BoundaryA SaaS monitoring and visualization service that provides insight into: real time (per second resolution) and historical end-to-end performance, traffic and flow analysis, and device performance. It is free for the first 2GB of data (approx. 15 servers)
  • CapMonNetwork monitoring tool that takes away the hassle of maintaining a Nagios installation. CapMon uses RRD wrapped in Flash to display statistics, includes syslog, dashboard and SLA modules
  • Castle Rock
  • CommandCenter NOCfrom Raritan provides polling, Windows and UNIX/Linux server management, intrusion detection, vulnerability scanning, and traffic analysis in an integrated appliance.
  • Cymphonix Network Composermonitors Internet traffic by user, application, and threat. Includes controls to shape access to Internet resources by user, group, and/or time of day. Also featuring anonymous proxy blocking, policy management, and real time monitoring.
  • David systemallows you to manage your resources and services through both Intranet and Internet. provide auto-discovering and network topology building features to help keep an intuitive view of your IT infrastructure. Resources, real-time monitoring and accessibility of historical data enable reaction to failures. Configured interfaces for monitored devices allow you to focus on the most important aspects of their work.
  • dopplerVUeprovides network discovery, mapping and rules system enables monitoring of Ping, SNMP, syslog, and WMI performance metrics. Can be used to monitor IPv6 devices. Monitors services such as DNS, http and email.
  • eBoxis an open source distribution and development framework, based on Ubuntu Linux, intended to manage services in a computer network.
  • EM7from Sciencelogic is an NMS integrated with trouble-ticketing, event management, reporting, IP management, DNS and monitoring.
  • EnigmaNMS enterprise grade network management and monitoring solution is a suite of functions integrated into single product. It has been installed in many Queensland Government departments, where it manages and monitors many thousand network devices, servers and apps.
  • Entuityprovides a unified all-in-one network management solution for heterogeneous environments including integrations with BMC, Oracle EM, HP, IBM and others. Functionality includes discovery/inventory/topology, event & fault monitoring, port/device and flow-based performance, configuration management and extensive reporting.
  • Fideliaalso has theHelixentry level tool for small enterprises.
  • Foglighta Network Management System from Dell that enables discovery, mapping and monitoring of network components worldwide.
  • FrameFlowis free server monitoring software that includes system health monitoring, web site monitoring, SNMP monitoring, reporting, alerts by e-mail and customizable dashboards.
  • FreeNATS, is an open-source network monitoring, alerting and reporting system available as PHP source and as a virtual appliance.
  • GEM Network Monitoringa network monitoring tool that provide SLA reports, dashboards, also monitors anything within a IT network, performance graphs, notifications prior to device failures.
  • Hounddogprovides easy and affordable tools for IT Companies/MSP.s to monitor, manage and support their customers networks, servers and workstations.
  • InfoVista Network Performance Managementprovides service level reporting and analysis tools for network and application performance management.
  • InterMapperNetworking monitoring and alerting software for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Solaris.
  • IP Host Network Monitoris a network and server monitoring tool that lets you monitor availability and performance of mail servers, internet hosts, database servers, and other network resources. Performance counters on Windows computers can be monitored using WMI. Other supported protocols are HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, ODBC, PING...
  • ipMonitoris a network monitoring solution that allows network administrators, webmasters, and Internet service providers to monitor any networked device on the Internet, corporate intranet, or TCP/IP LAN and receive alerts immediately via audible alarm, message, e-mail, or third-party software when a connection fails. It is a powerful personal monitoring product delivering low cost, simplicity of operation, and round-the-clock coverage.
  • Just For Fun Network Monitoring System (JFFNMS)is FREE and designed to maintain a IP SNMP / Syslog / Tacacs+ Network. It can be used to monitor any standards compilant SNMP device, Server, TCP port or Custom Poller, also it has some Cisco oriented features.
  • KACEfrom Dell Management Appliance delivers a fully integrated systems management solution.
  • Kaseyais a solution for monitoring, notification, and reporting. It includes agentless monitoring of Windows, Unix, Linux, and BSD operating system. It also includes distributed testing, a unique feature that makes it possible to monitor servers, routers and other network connected equipment that are behind a firewall or only accessible through a VPN. (Used to be called Intellipool).
  • Klogiecommercial remote network monitoring system that designed for ease of use.
  • LANsurveyornetwork and desktop management software providing automatic network maps, asset management reports, network monitor and remote administration and distribution.
  • Lemon-is a server/client based monitoring system. On every monitored node, a monitoring agent launches and communicates using a push/pull protocol with sensors which are responsible for retrieving monitoring information. The extracted samples are stored on a local cache and forwarded to a central Measurement Repository using UDP or TCP transport protocol with or without authentication/encryption of data samples. Sensors can collect information on behalf of remote entities like switches or power supplies. The Measurement Repository can interface to a relational database or a flat-file backend for storing the received samples. Web based interface is provided for visualizing the data.
  • LITHIUMLITHIUM|Core is an integrated device and service monitoring platform with a tightly coupled incident tracking and case management system and incorporates a web-based interface as well as Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X monitoring consoles.
  • Little:eye, for management of IT infrastructure of enterprise provides management of fault, performance, inventory and configuration.
  • ActionPackedis a platform that combines richly detailed network topology, device, and flow visualizations with direct interactive device control to manage the QoS, NetFlow, Routing, IP SLA, and Medianet features embedded inside Cisco devices.
  • LogisoftARprovides is an NMP running under Windows providing device discovery, mapping, fault (using SNMP traps and syslog) and performance management. Reporting is provided in HTML pages.
  • Luminetis an enterprise fraud management solution that tracks and analyzes user activity across multiple applications in a network.
  • MetaNAVNetwork Administration Visualized is a software suite to monitor large computer networks. It automatically discovers network topology, monitors network load and outages, and can send alerts on network events by e-mail and SMS, allowing for flexible configuration of alert profiles.
  • MoniTiLcontinuously monitors applications, services, networks and events using WMI, snmp, web, tcp and ping.
  • Monitoring Genieis a large scale data collection and monitoring platform built for telcos and large service providedrs, able to monitor multiple parameters in 100Ks of nodes in very shory cycles of about a minute using multiple protocols (icmp,snmp,sql,http,telnet,ssh,wmi,registry,open ports...).