Paessler PRTG

Keep your AD secure, organized, and error-free, with PRTG Active Directory monitoring

 

  • Discover and monitor your entire Active Directory domain forest
  • Track group memberships and inactive users
  • Set up automatic alerts at different escalation levels
 

Our users give top ratings for monitoring with Paessler PRTG

                                                           

 

PRTG makes monitoring your Active Directory easy

Custom alerts and data visualizations make it easy to monitor, identify, and prevent replication errors, network vulnerabilities, and performance issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A place for everything in your Active Directory – and everything in its place

You can't run Windows Server infrastructure smoothly if your Active Directory isn't well-organized. But tracking all the important performance metrics – and digging deep enough into the details to troubleshoot effectively – isn't always easy or straightforward.

Our all-in-one network monitoring software Paessler PRTG keeps a close watch on your Active Directory 24/7, so you don't have to.

It automatically flags replication errors, unusual activity, and other critical performance and security issues, empowering you to address vulnerabilities before bad actors can exploit them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All your Active Directory issues, solved

Powerful, versatile, and easy to use, PRTG helps you make short work of common Active Directory issues and keeps your network running smoothly.

Prevent replication errors

Replication errors happen for many reasons, including the replication status, the number of consecutive synchronization failures, the time of the last synchronization attempt, and the number of pending replication operations.

PRTG's Active Directory Replication Errors v2 sensor monitors up to eight different parameters simultaneously, sounding the alarm if a process is at risk.

Monitor AD group members

Track Active Directory group memberships, set limits, and get alerted when new users join, or membership goes over a pre-determined number. With PRTG, nobody can access your Active Directory without your say-so.

To keep an eye on AD group membership, use the EXE/Script Advanced sensor that uses the PRTG API, and deploy our officially provided script.

Track deactivated AD users

Yes, really. Maintaining an overview of logged-out users or deactivated user accounts is next to impossible with standard AD tools or manual searches.

Our ready-made script enables you to query your Active Directory on command and get a list of users that are logged out, including deactivated user accounts, for easier AD auditing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Active Directory monitoring looks like in PRTG

Diagnose network issues by continuously monitoring domain controllers, group memberships, and network resource usage. Show the status of replication processes, logged out or deactivated users, and other key Active Directory stats in real time and visualize data in graphic maps & dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the visibility you need to troubleshoot AD problems. 

 

Start AD monitoring with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.


 

 

IT experts agree: Paessler PRTG is a great solution for IT infrastructure monitoring

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“All-around winning
network monitor”

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“The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers”

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“PRTG Network Monitor
is very hard to beat”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flexible, integrated, proactive: Why choose PRTG as your Active Directory monitoring tool

Plug-and-play setup

Get started faster than you can say "Active Directory". The prompts are intuitive and easy to understand. And you can customize PRTG any way you like, so it suits your organization's unique needs.

Comprehensive monitoring

Every Active Directory stat you need to know about, at your fingertips: device status, login activity, replication and synchronization… PRTG can even track group membership numbers and individual users' status.

Real-time alerting

Pick your preferred warning and error thresholds, and PRTG will take care of the rest, letting you know via customizable notification templates as soon as there's an issue, so you can go in and do some Active Directory troubleshooting.

 

Your Active Directory in the cloud: Keep an eye on Microsoft Entra ID

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If you use Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) and want to keep an eye on what’s happening there, we’ve got you covered as well.

Set up, for example, a Microsoft Azure Subscription Cost sensor to keep your subscription costs in check. Or create a custom PRTG sensor for monitoring activities that might pose a risk:

  • Be informed about risky sign-ins, for example, from an unusual or suspicious country
  • Get alerts about impossible travel activities, for example, if an account logs in from Germany and two minutes later from Hongkong
  • Check for AD accounts that Microsoft believes are exposed to a risk
  • Keep an eye on new devices that are registered for Multi-Factor Authentication


By the way, did you know that you can use Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) single sign-on to log in to PRTG? For more information, read our blog article.

 

 

Easily find the source of the problem with our PRTG Active Directory monitoring solution

Real-time alerts and custom notifications make it easy to solve replication errors, network vulnerabilities, and other issues.

 

 

PRTG is compatible with all major vendors, products, and systems


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Watch our 5-minute video on Active Directory monitoring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Active Directory monitor at a glance – even on the go

Set up PRTG in minutes and use it on almost any mobile device.

 

PRTG comes with all the features you need, plus more your IT infrastructure won't want to live without.

 

 

PRTG monitors these vendors and applications in one view!

 

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Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s partners

Partnering with innovative vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.

Plixer

Paessler and Plixer provide a complete solution adding flow and metadata analysis to a powerful network monitoring tool.

Read more

Rittal

IT that works constitutes a business-critical basis for a company's success. Availability and security must be defined for the respective purpose and closely monitored – by OT and IT alike.

Read more

Siemon

Siemon and Paessler bring together intelligent building technology and advanced monitoring and make your vision of intelligent buildings and data centers become reality.

Read more

 

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“Excellent tool for detailed monitoring. Alarms and notifications work greatly. Equipment addition is straight forward and server initial setup is very easy. ...feel safe to purchase it if you intend to monitor a large networking landscape.”

Infrastructure and Operations Engineer in the Communications Industry, firm size 10B - 30B USD

Read the entire review at Gartner Peer Insights 

 

PRTG makes monitoring your Active Directory easy

Custom alerts and data visualizations make it easy to monitor, identify, and prevent replication errors, network vulnerabilities, and other issues.

 

Monitoring Active Directory: FAQ

 

1. What is the Active Directory?

Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft that centralizes network management and authentication. Active Directory services store information about objects on a network, such as users, computers, and groups, and enables administrators to organize and secure this information. AD plays a crucial role in managing access to network resources, facilitating user authentication, and simplifying the administration of network resources in Windows environments.

2. What is Active Directory monitoring?

Active Directory monitoring involves the continuous tracking and analysis of activities within the Active Directory (AD) environment. It includes monitoring user logins, changes to user accounts, group memberships, and other AD-related events. The goal is to ensure the security and integrity of the directory service, identify potential security threats or unauthorized access, and respond promptly to any suspicious or anomalous activities.

3. Why should I monitor Microsoft Active Directory?

Active Directory (AD) monitoring is essential for maintaining the security, performance, and compliance of your IT environment. Here are several reasons why you should use AD monitoring:

  • AD monitoring helps in detecting unauthorized access attempts and unusual activities, such as repeated failed logon attempts or access to sensitive data.

  • It provides visibility into the activities of privileged accounts, ensuring that any misuse or abuse can be quickly identified and mitigated.

  • It tracks changes to critical objects, such as user accounts, groups, account lockouts, and organizational units (OUs). This helps in spotting any unauthorized or suspicious changes that could indicate a security breach.

  • Many industries have strict regulatory requirements for data protection and access control (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOX). AD monitoring helps in ensuring compliance by providing detailed logs and reports on access and changes.

  • Comprehensive audit trails of user activity, access, and changes make it easier to demonstrate compliance during audits and to investigate any compliance-related issues.

  • When issues arise, AD monitoring provides detailed information that helps in quickly identifying the root cause and resolving the problem efficiently.

  • Monitoring provides visibility into user account creations, deletions, and modifications, ensuring that accounts are managed properly.

  • Active Directory health monitoring provides a centralized view of all activities within the AD environment, making it easier to manage and secure.

  • Real-time alerts on critical events ensure that you are immediately aware of any issues that need urgent attention.

4. What information can I get from PRTG's Active Directory sensor?

PRTG's preconfigured Active Directory Replication Errors v2 sensor displays all the key metrics you need to spot, troubleshoot, and fix data replication errors:

  • Pending replication processes and synchronization sequences
  • Time and result of last synchronization attempt
  • Last successful synchronization
  • Consecutive synchronization errors
  • Whether the data source is available

You can collect even more data by monitoring Active Directory ports (53, 88, 389, 445, 464) with the Port Range sensor.

5. Can I monitor more than the Active Directory with PRTG?

Yes, of course. PRTG is a comprehensive, all-in-one IT infrastructure monitoring tool that can keep an eye on your entire network. Here are some more examples:

  • VPN monitoring: Monitor VPN connections and measure traffic, load, and the number of users. Identify connection problems and suspicious traffic.
  • Ping monitoring: Use ping to check the availability of all your network devices. If the ping fails, you will be notified immediately.
  • VoIP monitoring: Monitor the quality of your VoIP connections. By preventing malfunctions and verifying service level agreements, you’ll save time and money.
  • SSL monitoring: Determine the extent to which your connections are protected. You can therefore learn if your connections are strong, weak, or not protected at all.

6. What is a sensor in PRTG?

In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive.

On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.

 

PRTG the multi-tool

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

 

We asked: would you recommend PRTG?
Over 95% of our customers say yes!

 

Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins.
The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.

 

Recommend PRTG

 

Still not convinced?

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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.

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Monitor your entire IT infrastructure

Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.

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Try Paessler PRTG
for free

Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free.

 

 

Paessler PRTG 

Start AD monitoring with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.

 

PRTG

Network Monitoring Software - Version 24.3.100.1361 (September 25th, 2024)

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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