SNMP Network Management Tools
Monitor Your Entire Network Using SNMP
The Simple Network Management Protocol SNMP is the oldest and most widely supported network management protocol. SNMP network monitoring is therefore one of the most important technologies used in network monitoring, Windows network troubleshooting, and Ethernet performance tests.
PRTG Network Monitor uses SNMP for network traffic monitoring and to check many other parameters, such as CPU loads, temperatures, disk usage, etc. Compared to PRTG's other bandwidth monitoring technologies (xFlow/NetFlow, Packet Sniffer and WMI), SNMP network monitoring creates only little CPU and network load.
What Data can I get Using the SNMP Network Protocol?
What exactly can be monitored using the SNMP network protocol depends on the devices used.
Monitoring Traffic Data
For SNMP enabled network devices such as PCs, servers, switches, firewalls, and printers, traffic data such as bandwidth (bits/s) and volume (bytes), as well as the number of packets and errors via SNMP for a port or a network card can be obtained.
Uptime Monitoring Using SNMP
PRTG's SNMP network uptime sensor allows you to check the uptime of your network devices, alerting you if one of your network devices is not available.
SNMP Traps
SNMP Traps sent by network devices can be received, stored and processed by PRTG, helping you to centralize all important network management data in one place.
Custom SNMP Network Sensors
Furthermore, PRTG offers custom SNMP network sensors, which give you plenty of opportunities to adjust the software to your individual monitoring needs.
What are the Limitations of SNMP Network Monitoring?
While parameters such as disk usage or CPU loads can only be monitored using SNMP or WMI, these technologies face certain limitations if you need highly differentiated bandwidth usage data. Using SNMP network monitoring, you can see traffic by port, but not by service or protocol.
If you need to get to this level of detail, or if you want to filter traffic data, you can monitor bandwidth using packet sniffing or NetFlow / sFlow. Paessler is a certified Cisco partner and offers you an easy way to visualize and analyze traffic data collected by NetFlow enabled Cisco devices. This makes PRTG a great tool for Cisco Network troubleshooting, too.
PRTG Network Monitor
The PRTG network management tools run on all Windows editions (from XP onwards) and are therefore ideal for Windows 7, Vista and XP network troubleshooting.
Licenses for PRTG start at $400 / €300. A free 30 day trial version is available for testing purposes. For basic SNMP network monitoring, we also offer a freeware edition with 10 sensors.