Our users give top ratings for monitoring with Paessler PRTG
Start monitoring your fans with PRTG and discover how our software makes your IT infrastructure more reliable and your work easier.
Fans are vital to IT systems
Like ventilators, fans swirl and circulate air. Fans perform three main tasks: cool, ventilate, and remove air from IT components. As a rule, all IT hardware comes equipped with a fan. For example, laptops and PCs have fans installed in their cases to keep the temperature of their CPU and graphics card low. Servers and server racks also need fans to function properly and not overheat.
There are several good reasons to use a “fan monitor” to keep a close eye on the fans in your IT infrastructure, as well as to integrate fan monitoring into your overall IT monitoring environment.
3 good reasons for monitoring your fans with a fan monitor tool
Increased reliability & availability
In order for an IT system to be reliable, its fans must be working properly. After all, round-the-clock availability and accessibility are essential to any business. Data can no longer be retrieved from faulty databases or servers. A slow network can hamper business processes and decrease productivity.
Reduced hardware costs
In order for hardware to run smoothly, its surroundings must be well-ventilated and free of excessive heat. High temperatures in the data center can have an impact on your investment: after all, systems last longer when they stay cool. When the total number of operating hours increases, you'll save money as equipment needs to be replaced less frequently.
Optimized consumption of resources
The continuous monitoring of the temperature in data centers and server rooms helps prevent systems from overheating. Air conditioners and other cooling units should therefore also be monitored. By keeping an eye on temperature and energy control units, you’ll save on energy costs and make your IT systems more energy-efficient.
PRTG makes fan monitoring easy
Customizable alerts and dashboards make it easy to monitor, detect, and prevent fan issues.
PRTG is compatible with all major vendors & manufacturers
Monitor your fans at a glance – even while on the go
Set up PRTG in minutes and use it on almost any mobile device.
Preconfigured PRTG sensors to make fan monitoring easy
How PRTG defines sensors
In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, e.g. the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, the free space of a disk drive. On average you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.
Fans are usually monitored by a fan monitor program. Ideally, an IT monitoring tool will record the temperature, voltage, and data of built-in fans – in addition to values such as network traffic, the system status, and bandwidth. By doing so, it can check to make sure the hardware is being sufficiently cooled.
PRTG comes with preconfigured sensors that monitor the status and performance of system fans. This eliminates the need for additional fan monitoring tools. Another highlight: PRTG displays all the data from your IT system on user-friendly, easy-to-read dashboards.
Our software is designed with general system status and hardware sensors (such as the Redfish System Health Sensor), as well as preconfigured sensors for specific manufacturers (NetApp, HPE, Lenovo, Dell, Cisco, Synology, Fujitsu, etc.), to record the following values (and more):
- Fan speed per minute (RPM)
- Number of fan failures
- Fan status (OK, abnormal, critical, or offline)
You can also use the Dell EMC Unity Enclosure Health v2 Sensor to monitor (among other things) the cooling modules in a Dell EMC unit. The SNMP Cisco UCS Chassis Sensor can be used to monitor the temperature of a UCS chassis.
Start monitoring your fans with PRTG and discover how our software makes your IT infrastructure more reliable and your work easier.
PRTG makes your job easier
Our monitoring software frees you to focus on other tasks by promptly notifying you of potential issues.
Save effort
PRTG gives you one central monitoring tool for your servers and entire network. Enjoy a quick overview of your whole infrastructure via our dashboard and app.
Save time
Getting started with PRTG is a breeze. Setting up or switching from another network monitoring tool is easy thanks to the auto-discovery and pre-configured device templates.
Save money
80% of our customers report substantial cost savings with network monitoring. Your costs of licenses will likely pay for themselves within weeks.
Start monitoring your fans with PRTG and discover how our software makes your IT infrastructure more reliable and your work easier.
“Easy to implement and configure with good technical support.”
R. v. S., ICT Manager at Heinen & Hopman Eng BV
Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s partners
Partnering with innovative vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
With the combination of PRTG and Insys, the monitoring specialist Paessler and the industrial gateway manufacturer INSYS icom offer a practical possibility to merge IT and OT.
INSYS icom
Paessler AG conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. We asked: would you recommend PRTG?
Over 95% of our customers say yes!
The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.
FAQ: Fan monitoring
1. How does a fan work?
The more heat that is generated by an IT system, the faster a fan must spin to dissipate the heat. Another observation: Fans get louder the faster they spin.
A fan is powered by electricity. In a PC, the power supply is 12 volts. The power supply must be correct for the following reason: if the voltage drops, the fan will be less effective.
When this happens, you can no longer ensure your laptop or PC is being cooled or ventilated as needed. Consequently, the temperature of hardware can increase, and with it a risk of malfunctions and failures.
2. Why is a fan monitor useful?
With a fan monitor, problems such as fluctuations in voltage and overheating can be avoided in advance. Among other things, a fan monitor can help you control the speed and voltage of your fans. It therefore makes sense to record the data from fans when monitoring your IT systems.
3. Why should I monitor my fans?
Why do IT systems, data storage devices, and server racks need to be ventilated in the first place? IT systems and servers always generate heat. However, when internal pieces become overheated, the performance of these systems and servers can drop considerably. In the worst case scenario, devices can crash or become damaged. For this reason, fans must be used to dissipate heat from servers, storage systems, computers, control units, switches, and other hardware components.
4. What is a sensor in PRTG?
PRTG: The multi-tool for sysadmins
Adapt PRTG individually and dynamically to your needs and rely on a strong API:- HTTP API: Access monitoring data and manipulate monitoring objects via HTTP requests
- Custom sensors: Create your own PRTG sensors for customized monitoring
- Custom notifications: Create your own notifications and send action triggers to external systems
- REST Custom sensor: Monitor almost everything that provides data in XML or JSON format
Still not convinced?
More than 500,000 sysadmins love PRTG
Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier.
Monitor your entire IT infrastructure
Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.
PRTG makes fan monitoring easy
Customizable alerts and dashboards make it easy to monitor, detect, and prevent fan issues.
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PRTG |
Network Monitoring Software - Version 24.2.94.1400 (April 10th, 2024) |
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Hosting |
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available |
Languages |
English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese |
Pricing |
Up to 100 sensors for free (Price List) |
Unified Monitoring |
Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more |
Supported Vendors & Applications |
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