Paessler Blog
Archive for "2009"
2009-Dec-17
Howto: Exporting PRTG's Raw Monitoring Data Into Daily CSV or XML Files
With PRTG Network Monitor, you can analyze your sensor data in various ways. Exhaustive reports for your whole network can be generated as well as historic data reports for single sensors. Still, there are people who just need the data of a sensor in a convenient format to do their own statistics in external programs or to use Excel to do additional computations based on the monitoring data. That is why we have included a XML and CSV export function in PRTG. This function of the web interface is handy to export data every few days. But if you need daily data for one or more sensors an automatic solution is more comfortable. With the new CSVExport command line tool finally there is a way to export data of many PRTG sensors with one single line of script! You can use it as an on-demand tool or combine it with Windows task scheduler. Don't be confused by the name – CSVExport is capable of both XML and CSV data export!2009-Dec- 7
VoIP Monitoring: Why and How PRTG is Different for QoS and IP SLA Monitoring
Appreciating the benefits of mobile communication, we all have learned to condone some lack of speech quality when using our mobile phones. The possibility to communicate with everyone everywhere often brings a much greater value than an overwhelming speech quality. But when it comes to Voice-over-IP technology, you can have both: Using one of the latest high density (HD) audio codecs, the connection quality can be astonishing (far better than in usual landline communication) and you can even use it wireless on the go with the according mobile provider and device.2009-Dec- 4
Howto: Rebooting a Computer via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) call
The main task of PRTG Network Monitor is to optimize your network’s availability and performance by avoiding system downtimes. All systems should always be up and running properly. That’s the theory… Still some services fail, even without a complete crash of the server itself. One of the most common methods of recovery is a reboot of the server to get the failing service back online. In certain cases, it is useful to have this done automatically. PRTG initiates a reboot when it discovers a service that fails for more than 15 minutes for example. Remote reboots can be performed by command lines tools (e.g. from the Sysinternals toolset) or by using a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) call. Today I want to share a script that performs remote reboots without any additional software (neither on the client side nor on the server side) and works with every Windows computer that is capable of WMI.2009-Nov-30
Howto: Branding and Customizing the PRTG Web Interface Using CSS
Many PRTG users want to use their own logos and/or corporate colors for the web interface of their PRTG installation. Today I want to write about a hidden feature of PRTG 7.2.x that allows you to modify the look&feel of the web interface using just a few CSS statements.2009-Nov-26
Monitoring (Almost) Any SQL Server Through ADO with PRTG Network Monitor
Today I would like to share a custom EXE sensor script for PRTG that monitors any SQL server using ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) and the PowerShell scripting language.2009-Nov-26
Providing Customized Login Screens for PRTG to Customers
Recently a company that uses its own PRTG installation to monitor customers' sites asked us how they can supply customized login screens with the customers' logos when they log into the MSP's PRTG installation. They are an MSP (Managed Service Provider) and offer monitoring of their customer sites as a service.2009-Nov-16
New Version of PRTG Consumes Less Memory and less CPU Cycles
Today we have released Version 7.2.2 of PRTG Network Monitor which includes substantial improvements regarding memory and CPU usage as well as some bugfixes. The performance related changes will affect all installations, regardless of the number of sensors, but will be most notable for installations with thousands of sensors.2009-Nov-16
Network Computing Has Tested All Major Monitoring Tools: PRTG Wins The Comparison!
In their October-issue German magazine Network Computing published a comparison test of all major network monitoring solutions. They included PRTG Network Monitor 7, WhatsUp Gold 14, Orion NPM 9.5 and OpManager 8.5.
Their verdict was clear: PRTG wins this comparison! Quote: "PRTG Network Monitor 7.2 was in fact the most comprehensively equipped monitoring package and also the simplest to use."
2009-Nov-10
How fast is your cloud? Depends on where you’re standing
Today I had a telefon interview about CloudClimate.com with Carl Brooks of SearchCloudComputing (techtarget.com). Afterwards Carl uploaded an interesting article about www.cloudclimate.com on their website.2009-Nov- 3
PRTG Running On a Netbook Monitors the Complete Paessler LAN - Can Your Monitoring Software Do this?
Today I would like to talk about my favorite toy of recent weeks. I wanted to find the smallest PC in our company that is still able to monitor our complete production LAN network. So I wandered around the office and the slowest PC that I could find was our netbook, a DELL Inspiron Mini 10. Would this tiny PC be able to monitor a thousand sensors with PRTG?2009-Nov- 2
Sending Notifications from PRTG to iPhones With Prowl For Free
In the past using the Short Message Service (SMS) was the easiest way to send notifications from PRTG to mobile phones. But it required a costly service provider that forwards your message via SMS. And those were not free. Now for the iPhone there is an alternate instant messaging option which is (almost) free.2009-Oct-16
New PRTG 7.2.2 Beta version is available, includes performance and memory usage improvements
With version 7.2.2 we will introduce several performance and memory usage improvements. These changes will affect all installations, regardless of the number of sensors, but will be most notable for installations with thousands of sensors. In order to make these improvements available as early as possible for users of PRTG that currently experience memory or performance issues we are publishing beta versions of V7.2.2. The most notable change in the new version is the reduced CPU load for the PRTG core server process. For some of our test systems the cpu load of this process has dropped by 90% (!) compared to V7.2.1. This results in an overall faster system and web interface. And it will allow setting up much larger installations, too.2009-Oct- 9
How We Monitor Our Own Production Webservers
Today we have started our new production servers for www.paessler.com. I thought it might be interesting to describe how we monitor these servers. There are two perspectives that need to be taken into account:2009-Oct- 9
www.paessler.com Runs on New Hardware and Software
Today we have moved our website to new productions systems. We now have a "private cloud" made of two VMware ESX servers which run our five production servers as virtual machines - plus a load balancer and a firewall. The new setup looks like this:
2009-Sep-28
Monitoring Cisco ASA Firewalls using Netflow 9 and PRTG 7.2
Recently Cisco has implemented NetFlow 9 for its popular ASA 5500 security and firewall appliances. But this implementation of NetFlow is quite different from what other Cisco devices provide. It is called "Netflow Security Event Logging" (NSEL) and was originally introduced on the Cisco ASA 5580. Now, with the latest firmware (ASA 8.2.x or later), it is now extended to other Cisco ASA models. In fact ASA NetFlow was initially not intended to be used for realtime/live traffic analysis (it was created for monitoring of security events)... But it is still a viable option for bandwidth monitoring. And with PRTG Network Monitor V7.2 this option is fully supported, including bandwidth computation, Top Talkers, Top Connections and Top Protocols!2009-Sep-28
Official Release of PRTG Network Monitor V7.2
The latest and improved version of PRTG is now publicly available. Our development team has been working hard since the release of version 7.1 - hundreds of new features, improvements have been implemented and some bugfixes as well. Especially for users with more than a handful of sensors/devices the new version means major usability progress: The brand-new Windows GUI and the new multi-edit features make working with many sensors so much faster and easier.2009-Sep-17
The Best Browser for PRTG (Part 4): First Looks at Google Chrome 3
Google has released the latest version 3 of their web browser Chrome only one year after version 1 and just one week after I have published the results of our latest browser shootout (which already awarded the first place to Chrome 2). So it was time to rerun the tests and include Chrome 3. And the results are impressive.2009-Sep- 8
The Best Browser for PRTG (Part 3): The September 2009 Browser Shoot-Out
The web interface of PRTG uses a lot of AJAX and Javascript functions, so brower javascript performance is crucial for us. The latest versions of the most common web browsers (Safari 4, Firefox 3.5, Google Chrome 2 and Internet Explorer 8) have recently shown great performance improvements for Javascripts processing - mainly due to their new just-in-time compilers (JIT). We already conducted browser shoot-outs with PRTG last year in September (Winner: Firefox 3) and in February this year (Winner: Google Chrome). Now we wanted to know what has changed in the last 6 months:2009-Aug-28
New Features in PRTG 7.2: VoIP Monitoring Using Cisco IP SLA
During the beta test of version 7.2 of PRTG Network Monitor I am posting a few posts about new features that we have built into this new version. In yesterdays blog entry I wrote about the new QoS sensor which measures various service quality parameters of a network connection by probing the connection with UDP packages. Today I would like to introduce our second new monitoring solution for VoIP quality, the new IP SLA sensor.2009-Aug-27
New Features in PRTG 7.2: The QoS Sensor - Our take on "VoIP Monitoring"
During the beta test of version 7.2 of PRTG Network Monitor I am posting a few posts about new features that we have built into this new version. Today's post is about our new "QoS Sensor" which is used to monitor the quality of a network connection by looking at "quality of service" parameters like jitter, packet loss, packet delay variation, and other readings. Slight variations of these parameters usually have only little effect on TCP-based services (e.g. HTTP, SMTP, etc.). But for UDP-based services like VoIP and video streaming a steady stream of data packets is crucial. The sound quality of a VoIP call drops dramatically when UDP packets are not received in a timely fashion, if packets are lost or reordered.2009-Aug-20
New Features in PRTG 7.2: The New "S" View for Groups
During the beta test of version 7.2 of PRTG Network Monitor I will write a few posts about new features that we have built into this new version. With version PRTG 7.2 we are introducing a new "view" for the groups page which will especially appeal to all users that manage many devices with PRTG. This new view shows all groups and devices in a very compact form making it possible to have a quick overview over your network.2009-Aug-20
New Features in PRTG 7.2: Support for Amazon CloudWatch
During the beta test of version 7.2 of PRTG Network Monitor I will write a few posts about new features that we have built into this new version. If you are using Amazon EC2 (Elastic Comput Cloud) to host one or more servers then this new sensor is for you. Amazon offers the CloudWatch service for EC2 instances since May this year and it provides performance data for individual instances on EC2. Usage of the service costs $0.015 per hour for each Amazon EC2 instance you choose to monitor.2009-Aug-19
iPRTG: The iPhone App for Administrators Using PRTG Network Monitor
Don't let monitoring your network tie you to your desk! With iPRTG your network monitor is where your iPhone is. iPRTG is the iPhone App for network administrators using the PRTG Network Monitor software by Paessler AG to monitor and administrate their network. iPRTG is the one and only clear and simple viewer for the entire network monitoring environment. The iPhone requests the monitoring data directly from the PRTG server and iPRTG displays it in an "iPhonic" way.
2009-Aug-12
Making Our Website Faster: A Comparison of Cloud Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) with Cloud Storage, Cloud Hosting and Old-Fashioned Hosting
We are currently preparing a new setup for the hosting of www.paessler.com. Because visitors to our website are coming from all over the world we decided to host CSS, images and media files on a global content delivery network in order to provide a swift website experience for all visitors. The advantage of using a CDN (Content Delivery Network, see wikipedia) is that website visitors will be served media files from the closest "edge-server" of the CDN and not from our own servers in the Rackspace data center in Dallas TX (the dynamic HTML would still be served from Dallas, though).2009-Aug-10
Public Beta Test for PRTG Network Monitor V7.2
Everybody here at Paessler AG is excited today! We are launching the public beta test for our upcoming version 7.2 of PRTG Network Monitor. This new version includes more than 400 new features and improvements. The new Windows GUI, new sensor types and usability improvements throughout the whole interface make this new version quite an attractive update for all users of PRTG! Here is a screenshot of the new Windows GUI:2009-Jul-23
PRTG Network Monitor supports VMware vSphere 4.0
A few weeks ago our system administrators began setting up our new VMware vSphere 4.0 server systems (two DELL PowerEdge R710 plus DELL PV 3000i SAN). This gave us a chance to test PRTG's VMware sensors on the vSphere servers and the new vSphere VirtualCenter and they worked nicely right out of the box. Here is a screenshot:2009-Jul-22
New Custom Sensors available
There are new custom EXE sensors available on prtg7addons, the Google Code open source website for PRTG.2009-Jul-20
PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 receives "Works with Windows Server 2008" certification from Microsoft
2009-Jul- 8
Using PRTG's iPhone Interface on Windows Mobile Devices
From time to time we are asked about the possiblity to use PRTG's built-in iPhone webinterface from a mobile device running on Windows Mobile OS.
2009-Jul- 3
Using PageGate Paging Gateway to Relay Notifications for PRTG
Paessler's network monitoring software, PRTG Network Monitor, offers multiple methods to relay notifications, including SMTP mail relay, SMS, ICQ, etc., allowing users to ensure in various ways that they are informed if an issue (such as an outage or a slow server) needs to be brought to their attention. However, there are times when the normal relay means do not suffice, particularly if the main leased line used to connect to the network is interrupted. For these purposes, PRTG Network Monitor includes the option to trigger executable notifications which, combined with the proper external software, can overcome this issue with ease. One software we have been recommending a while is PageGate from NotePage, Inc.2009-Jun- 3
Don't Use Windows Vista And Windows 2008 for Network Monitoring via WMI!
Many monitoring features of our PRTG Network Monitor software (as well as many other monitoring tools) are based on WMI. Everything is fine with WMI on Windows XP and Windows 2003, even for larger networks. But when Vista and Win2k8 come into the game it is a completely different story altogether. We have received reports from a number of users that ran into trouble when using WMI monitoring for larger networks - and all of them were using Vista or Windows 2008. We tried to find out what aspects affect the performance of WMI monitoring. We selected ten servers and PCs in our testing lab. All of them ran a different version of Windows. We measured the WMI performance between them.2009-May-26
Introducing Paessler Multi Server Simulator
For testing purposes Multi Server Simulator simulates a virtual network of HTTP, FTP, SMTP, or DNS servers plus any number of SNMP-based switches - all on a standard Windows PC. It is an indispensable tool for the evaluation and testing of network management and network testing tools.2009-May-25
Habla Español? PRTG 7.1.3 now Available with Spanish User Interface
Today we have released version 7.1.3 of PRTG Network Monitor. The major new feature of this version is the Spanish translation of the user interface.2009-May-20
Monitoring the Birth of a Search Engine - Wolfram|Alpha Goes Online
Over the last weekend the engineers of Wolfram Research gradually launched their new search engine Wolfram|Alpha (or should I better say "knowledge engine"). We monitored their website during this launch with PRTG Network Monitor and here are the results!2009-May- 7
Watching the Clouds: CloudClimate.com Provides Free Performance Monitoring of Cloud Hosting Vendors
Today www.cloudclimate.com officially leaves "stealth mode", it is now publicly available. For the last weeks we have been preparing this new website that displays the live performance data of selected cloud hosting providers.2009-Apr-28
How we solved WMI error "8002801D : Library not registered" on an Exchange 2003 Server
When we tried to monitor a test installation of Exchange Server 2003 in our labs using WMI we always received the following WMI error message:8002801D : Library not registered.Using the following procedure we were able to reenable WMI monitoring for the Exchange Server:
2009-Apr-17
How To Get Rid of Huge "Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5" Folders
Some PRTG users that use the new "HTTP Full Page Sensor" on the local probe (or on remote probes) have found huge amounts of disk space eaten up by the Internet Explorer cache folder of the "default user". The folder is (on Windows XP):2009-Apr-14
Comparing Amazon EC2 performance with other cloud/VPS hosting options... and real hardware
We wanted to roughly rate performance of a virtual server hosted by Amazon EC2 compared to other hosting offerings. So last week we ran several performance tests on Amazon EC2 instances as well as other cloud and vps hosting platforms plus some servers in our own labs.2009-Apr- 8
Dutch Translation for PRTG Network Monitor Available
Thanks to avid PRTG customer Gerard Feijth from the Netherlands you can now run the PRTG user interface in Dutch. He has translated the complete user interface into Dutch!2009-Apr- 7
Monitoring Cloud Performance with PRTG: Comparing Disk Speed for Instance Stores and EBS Volumes on Amazon EC2
Here is another insight on Amazon's EC2 services that we found during our recent cloud monitoring experiments: For a couple of days we ran our load test sensor for disk speed monitoring on instance stores (disk volumes which come with each instance) as well as on EBS volumes (Amazon's Elastic Block Store) for all available instance types. The results for a period of 48 hours are shown in this graph from PRTG Network Monitor:2009-Apr- 6
Monitoring Cloud Computing Performance with PRTG: CPU, Disk, Memory Speed Comparison of Amazon EC2 Instance Types
Last Friday I have posted our first results from recent monitoring experiments on Amazon EC2 instance types were we published a comparison of average performance of the Amazon EC2 instance types. Now, three days later, I can amend our observations on how the CPU, disk and memory performance of our EC2 instances behave if you monitor them for a couple of days (in our case between April 1st and April 5th). The following graphs (taken straight out of PRTG Network Monitor) show the results of our CPU, disk and memory tests for the five available instance types. Each dot shows the results of one test:2009-Apr- 3
Testing Cloud Computing Performance with PRTG: Performance Comparison of Amazon EC2 Instance Types
In version 7.1 of PRTG Network Monitor we have added a set of custom sensors which can be used to test the available CPU, disk and memory resources by running short load tests. We have used these load tests to measure the performance differences between instance types of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).2009-Apr- 3
The Browser War Revisited (Part 3): Which Browsers Do People Use Around the World?
In the last weeks I have looked at the currently available web browsers from a "performance-for-PRTG" perspective and found that Chrome and Firefox are our recommendations for PRTG. Today I ran across the StatCounter Global Stats website where web analytics service Statcounter publishes its stats about browser usage worldwide.2009-Mar-31
PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 - Official Release
This is an exciting day for everybody here at Paessler AG: After seven months of hard work we have finally uploaded the V7.1 release binaries of PRTG Network Monitor. This new version contains more than 800 new features, enhancements, changes, and bugfixes since version 7.0.9. Upgrading to the new version is recommended for all users of previous PRTG versions.2009-Mar-27
New Features in PRTG 7.1 (Part 7): "Official Support for PRTG Virtualizing"
During the beta test of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 I am posting a number of blog articles about new features in the new version. Virtualization has become a fundamental part of the IT eco-system. Many of our customers have already moved or will soon move considerable parts of their computer systems into virtual servers. Of course we also use virtualized systems heavily in our own software test lab together with a lot of real hardware. With version 7.1 we now officially support running PRTG Network Monitor on virtualized platforms. PRTG already supports native monitoring of VMware servers since last October. Now it is a logical step to support running PRTG virtualized, too.2009-Mar-26
Almost There: Announcing the Release Candidate of PRTG 7.1
The official beta test for version 7.1 of PRTG Network Monitor is approaching its final stage. Today we have uploaded the Release Candidate! During the public beta test (ongoing since January 30th 2009) PRTG Network Monitor version 7.1 was thoroughly tested by our own team as well as hundreds of beta testers. Internally we called this intense test project the "mother of all software tests" and we are quite satisfied with the results: we are now convinced that the upcoming release of PRTG 7.1 is- 1. the best software we have ever created and
- 2. the best tested software we have ever released.
2009-Mar-26
How PRTG computes CPU Index, Traffic Index and Response Time Index for your network
In order to provide graphs that show a quick status overview of your complete network (or a part of it) PRTG computes so-called "index" values based on the measurements of all sensors. The "index" graphs are synthetic values between 0% and 100% based on current sensor measurements and their historic maximum values. The calculation of these index values works similar to a stock index which is computed using the current values of selected stocks.
For each group and device PRTG shows four values in a graph.
2009-Mar-25
New Features in PRTG 7.1 (Part 6): "SNMP Trap Notifications"
During the beta test of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 I am posting a number of blog articles about new features in the new version. In PRTG V7.1 we have added a new option for notifications: If an event occurs (e.g. a sensor's state changes from up to down) PRTG can now send SNMP Traps to a computer where a so-called Trap Receiver is listening. Trap receivers usually store these messages for later analysis and/or forward traps to the administrators using other means of alerting.2009-Mar-24
New Features in PRTG 7.1 (Part 5): "Automatic Probe Updating"
During the beta test of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 I am posting a number of blog articles about new features in the new version. Another new break-through feature of PRTG 7.1 is the automated probe updating. PRTG users who have set up one or more remote probes in their configuration will love this feature.2009-Mar-23
New Features in PRTG 7.1 (Part 4): "Email Round Trip Monitoring"
During the beta test of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 I am posting a number of blog articles about new features in the new version. Another interesting new feature in PRTG 7.1 is "Email Round Trip Monitoring". Two new sensor types ensure the end-to-end delivery of emails and make it possible to monitor availability and performance of a complete email delivery process.
2009-Mar-19
New Features in PRTG 7.1 (Part 3): "Copying Devices by Cloning or Using Device Templates"
During the beta test of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 I am posting a number of blog articles about new features in the new version. After configuring a device with one or more sensors there are two options to copy it:- Cloning a device: Is the best option to simply duplicate a device only a few times with all its sensors and settings.
- using a device templates: Is the preferred option if you have many similar devices and if you do not want to create all devices manually through the web interface. This is also the better option if the devices do not have the same number of ports.
2009-Mar-16
Beta 3 (aka "Final Beta") of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 is available
Today the final beta of PRTG 7.1 is available. This new version includes more WMI improvements, again more speed improvements for the web interface as well as many other changes. The next step on the way to the official release of PRTG 7.1 will be Release Candidate 1, scheduled for next Monday. Here is our current roadmap:2009-Mar-16
What to do when PRTG's ESX sensors show "Connection hangs. Check SSL on VMware server, then restart probe." message
When monitoring VMware ESX 3.5 servers with PRTG 7 we have seen situations where the HTTPS webserver of the ESX server crashes (i.e. the management interface is no longer accessible). In PRTG 7 all ESX sensors show a red alarm state as well as the message "Connection hangs. Check SSL on VMware server, then restart probe." In order to revive the web server on the ESX server please perform the following steps:2009-Mar-16
What to do when PRTG’s ESX sensors show "Connection hangs. Check SSL on VMware server, then restart probe." message
When monitoring VMware ESX 3.5 servers with PRTG 7 we have seen situations where the HTTPS webserver of the ESX server crashes (i.e. the management interface is no longer accessible). In PRTG 7 all ESX sensors show a red alarm state as well as the message "Connection hangs. Check SSL on VMware server, then restart probe." In order to revive the web server on the ESX server please perform the following steps:2009-Mar- 5
How to Set Up a PRTG 7 Core Server or Remote Probe on The Amazon EC2 Cloud
Two days ago Amazon announced support for virtual Windows servers in their European EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) datacenter. Together with the US-East datacenter (which offers hosting of Windows systems since last fall) Amazon now offers two locations where you can run Windows servers on their cloud hosting systems.2009-Feb-27
Beta 2 of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 is available
Today we have uploaded Beta 2 of PRTG Network Monitor V7.1. Since V 7.0.9 more than 700 changes (new features, improvements, bugfixes) have been built into the code. Most of these changes are based on user feedback and on user requests so this new version of PRTG again covers more needs of network administrators than any previous version.2009-Feb-27
New Features in PRTG 7.1 (Part 2): "Toplists"
During the beta test of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 I am posting a number of blog articles about new features in the new version. Packet Sniffing and NetFlow sensors can not only measure the total bandwidth usage, they can also break down the traffic by IP address, port, protocol, and other parameters. The results are shown in so-called "toplists". This way PRTG is able to tell which IP address, connection or protocol uses the most bandwidth. PRTG looks at all network packets (or streams) and collects the bandwidth information for all IPs, ports and protocols. At the end of the toplist period PRTG stores only the top entries of each in its database.2009-Feb-25
The Best Browser for PRTG 7 (Part 2): The February 2009 Browser Shoot-Out
Yesterday's announcement of the public beta of Apple's Safari 4 browser gave us reason to re-evaluate the currently available browsers from a "PRTG Network Monitor"-perspective. PRTG uses a lot of AJAX and Javascript functions for its innovative web interface. This fact makes the choice of browser a crucial one for a swift user experience. Back in September we already performed such a shoot-out with the browsers available at that time. Now Safari 4 Beta, Firefox 3.1 Beta and Chrome 2 Beta have entered the arena.2009-Feb-20
New Features in PRTG 7.1 (Part 1): The "Sensor Factory"
During the beta test of PRTG Network Monitor 7.1 I will post a number of blog articles about new features in the new version. One of the coolest new features in V7.1 is the "Sensor Factory". It allows to combine measurements from two or more sensors into one new sensor.2009-Feb-18
How to Move an Installation of PRTG 7 to Another Computer
Today we have added a new article to the knowledgebase which explains how to move an installation of PRTG Network Monitor V7 onto another computer. The steps are:2009-Feb-13
Monitoring the Available Bandwidth (Part 2)
Back in August I have already posted an article which explains how complicated it is to measure the bandwidth that is actually available for you. One of the problems I mentioned was that if you want to exactly measure the available bandwidth you would have to saturate your data line and then measure the achieved bandwidth. But if you saturate your data line you are actually prohibiting all other traffic. Not a good idea for everyday life.2009-Feb-13
Introducing an Open Source Platform for Addons for PRTG Network Monitor
To support the exchange of ideas and knowledge between the users of PRTG Network Monitor - including our own labs and developers - we have created an open source platform on Google's projects hosting platform Google Code. The prtg7addons project on Google Code will host various add-on tools for PRTG Network Monitor and their source code - created by Paessler and PRTG users.2009-Feb-10
Five Free and Quick Ways to Create Beautiful Network Maps Online
In order to make the results of your network monitoring available in your Intranet or for customers we recommend using the "Maps" feature of PRTG Network Monitor in conjunction with a map of your network. Visualized results make it much easier for your users to understand the situation of your network. Here are a samples for (rather simple) network maps including live monitoring data (created with PRTG 7): 
But how do you create a map of your network? There are paid-for options, e.g. Microsoft Visio, and other programs that you must install locally on your computer. But in many cases using one of the following free online options may serve you well for a quick map!