jFlow monitoring with PRTG
Increase network stability and security with in-depth bandwidth analysis
- Identify peak usage times and prevent bottlenecks
- Ensure your bandwidth is used efficiently and securely
- Analyze network traffic by IP address or application
Our users give top ratings for monitoring with Paessler PRTG
PRTG jFlow monitoring: What you’ll find on this page
- PRTG jFlow monitoring helps you get the most out of your network
- 6 reasons why to choose PRTG as your jFlow monitoring tool
- What jFlow network monitoring looks like in PRTG
- How jFlow monitoring with PRTG works
- Explore our preconfigured PRTG sensors for jFlow bandwidth monitoring
- Monitoring jFlow: FAQ
PRTG jFlow monitoring helps you get the most out of your network
By filtering and analyzing your network traffic using jFlow, Paessler PRTG helps you in the following ways:
- Optimize network performance and business processes
- Avoid overloads and protect against network failure
- Make your network more secure by detecting unusual data traffic
- Save money by optimizing bandwidth allocation and resources
PRTG makes jFlow monitoring as easy as it gets
Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent network overload and potential bottlenecks.
6 reasons why to choose PRTG as your jFlow monitoring tool
jFlow monitoring with PRTG is characterized by minimal bandwidth usage as well as a high degree of detail, and is especially suitable for high traffic networks.
Customizable notifications
Get alerted to errors the way you want: by SMS, email, push notification, and more.
Easier troubleshooting
Faster alerts means you can promptly fix errors and prevent network crashes.
Better network stability
Get empowered to optimize traffic flow, bandwidth usage, and capacity planning.
Increased productivity
Optimized bandwidth usage means more efficient business processes and applications.
Detailed network traffic analysis
Display correlations and traffic patterns in one easy-to-read dashboard.
Stronger network security
Identify suspicious traffic, unauthorized access, and malware to safeguard your network.
What jFlow network monitoring looks like in PRTG
Diagnose network issues by continuously tracking bandwidth utilization on your routers and switches, as well as your entire IT infrastructure. Show flow-based traffic data filtered by IP address, port, and application, and other key metrics in real time. Visualize monitoring data in clear graphs and dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the overview you need to troubleshoot issues with the performance of your network.
Device tree view of the complete monitoring setup
Preconfigured jFlow v5 sensor in PRTG
Custom PRTG dashboard for keeping an eye on the entire IT infrastructure
Start monitoring via jFlow with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.
“All-around winning “The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers” “PRTG Network MonitorIT experts agree: Paessler PRTG is a great solution for IT infrastructure monitoring
network monitor”
is very hard to beat”
How jFlow monitoring with PRTG works
During bandwidth monitoring via the jFlow protocol, the router or switch collects data packets and groups them to flows. This information about the flows is sent to PRTG via UDP.
You can sort the flow automatically by traffic type (mail, FTP, or WWW) and use it for statistical processing and visualization. This allows you to immediately see which applications and devices use your bandwidth within your network.
You can also minimize your bandwidth and CPU usage by turning on sampling (if your router supports it) so only every n-th data packet is sent to PRTG.
You detect the originators of the data traffic within your network sorted by sender/target IP, sender/target port, IP protocol, and service type.
The visual presentation of the monitoring data in so-called toplists provides additional optimal analysis conditions. PRTG will immediately alert you to sudden increases of bandwidth usage of a certain network address or application.
Your jFlow monitor at a glance – even on the go
Set up PRTG in minutes and use it on almost any mobile device.
Find the root cause of the problem with our PRTG jFlow monitoring solution
Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.
PRTG is compatible with all major vendors, products, and systems
Explore our preconfigured PRTG sensors for jFlow bandwidth monitoring
PRTG comes with more than 250 native sensor types for monitoring your entire on-premises, cloud, and hybrid cloud environment out of the box. Check out some examples below!
jFlow v5
The jFlow v5 sensor receives traffic data from a jFlow v5-compatible device and shows the traffic by type. It can show the following and more:
- Traffic from Citrix applications
- Traffic from file transfer (FTP/P2P) and various other protocols (UDP, TCP)
- Traffic from network services (DHCP, DNS, Ident, ICMP, SNMP)
- Internet mail traffic (IMAP, POP3, SMTP)
- Traffic from remote control applications (RDP, SSH, Telnet, Virtual Network Computing (VNC))
IPFIX
The IPFIX sensor receives traffic data from an Internet Protocol Flow Information Export (IPFIX) compatible device and shows traffic by type. It can show the following and more:
- Traffic from Citrix applications
- Traffic from file transfer (FTP/P2P) and various other protocols (UDP, TCP)
- Traffic from network services (DHCP, DNS, Ident, ICMP, SNMP)
- Internet mail traffic (IMAP, POP3, SMTP)
- Traffic from remote control applications (RDP, SSH, Telnet, Virtual Network Computing (VNC))
SNMP Traffic v2
The SNMP Traffic v2 sensor monitors bandwidth and traffic on a device. It can show the following:
- Number of incoming and outgoing broadcast, multicast, unicast, and non-unicast packets
- Number of incoming and outgoing discards and errors
- Total, incoming, and outgoing traffic
- Number of incoming, unknown protocols
Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s partners
Partnering with innovative vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
“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
PRTG makes jFlow monitoring as easy as it gets
Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent network overload and potential bottlenecks.
Monitoring jFlow: FAQ
What is jFlow?
jFlow is a flow monitoring protocol developed by Juniper Networks. It is used to collect and analyze network traffic by monitoring flows passing through a network device, such as a router or switch. A "flow" refers to a series of packets with shared attributes, such as source/destination IPs, port numbers, and protocol types. Features include:
- Traffic analysis: Provides visibility into network traffic patterns for performance monitoring and troubleshooting.
- Bandwidth management: Helps in identifying high-bandwidth consumers or abnormal traffic spikes.
- Flow export: Similar to NetFlow, jFlow exports flow data to a collector for further analysis.
What's the difference between jFlow, sFlow, and NetFlow?
The primary difference between jFlow, sFlow, and NetFlow lies in their origins, implementation methods, and the way they collect and analyze network flow data.
- NetFlow: NetFlow was developed by Cisco Systems. It is a proprietary protocol (though later iterations inspired the standardized IPFIX protocol) and widely used in Cisco devices but supported by other vendors as well.
- jFlow: jFlow was developed by Juniper Networks. It is a proprietary protocol similar in concept to NetFlow, designed for Juniper devices. However, it is less universally supported compared to NetFlow.
- sFlow: sFlow is short for "Sampled Flow". It was developed by InMon Corporation but implemented as an open protocol with multi-vendor support, and has been widely adopted for devices from Arista, HP, Juniper, and others.
NetFlow and jFlow work by capturing full flow data for traffic flows (e.g., source/destination IPs, ports, protocols). They are typically not sample-based, meaning they can provide detailed insights but may consume more resources. sFlow uses statistical sampling, capturing only a fraction of the packets or flows. This means it provides less detailed but resource-efficient insights, making it scalable for high-speed networks.
What is jFlow monitoring?
jFlow monitoring refers to the process of observing and analyzing network traffic using the jFlow protocol, which is Juniper Networks' flow monitoring technology. It allows network administrators to gain insights into network activity by collecting and analyzing data about the flows of packets passing through Juniper devices such as routers and switches.
Flow collectors and analysis tools like PRTG analyze the data to generate reports and visualizations, providing insights into traffic patterns, bandwidth usage, application performance, and potential security threats.
What jFlow data does PRTG’s jFlow monitoring collect?
PRTG collects and shows the following data when using jFlow for monitoring:
- Bandwidth consumption for individual or all connections
- Network activities and causes of traffic
- An overview filtered by protocol and service type, such as WWW, FTP, or mail
- Device error messages sent by individual routers, switches, or firewalls
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 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
Paessler 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.
Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier. Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network. Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free.Still not convinced?
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Start monitoring via jFlow with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.
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PRTG |
Network Monitoring Software - Version 25.1.102.1373 (January 9th, 2025) |
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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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