Network utilities and PRTG
Continual monitoring beats the need to constantly search anew
Non-stop monitoring
Ping, SNMP, DNS,
packet sniffing
Built-in alarm
Custom licenses
Free trial
Network utilization with PRTG
Jump to the topic of your choice
- Different utilities for different components
- PRTG keeps a constant eye on your network
- Your network at a glance: 5 sensors for getting started
- Network test utility: 5 advantages of PRTG
- Network utilities in various systems
- Distributed networks: Network utility software PRTG is also a good choice
- Agent-based vs. agentless network monitoring
- Problem diagnosis tools: The limits of PRTG
Your network at a glance: 5 sensors for getting started
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.
Ping Sensor
The Ping Sensor checks the reachability of all the devices in your network. During the installation of PRTG, your local range of IP addresses gets pinged and basic initial monitoring is configured automatically. Learn more about ping monitoring here.
SNMP sensors
Our SNMP sensors let you quickly identify which applications and servers are using the most bandwidth. PRTG comes with preconfigured SNMP sensors for a variety of manufacturers, including Cisco, Dell, and HP. Discover more on SNMP monitoring here.
Packet Sniffer Sensor
The Packet Sniffer Sensor lets you perform in-depth network traffic monitoring. You can filter traffic using a number of different criteria, including data type, IP address, and protocol. As a result, you'll uncover usage trends and other valuable information regarding your network. Find out more about packet sniffing here.
NetFlow sensors
NetFlow sensors monitor Cisco devices such as switches and routers. PRTG also comes with other Flow sensors (sFlow, jFlow) and IPFIX.
A quick glimpse into the network troubleshooting utility PRTG
PRTG "Sunburst" View
NetFlow v9 Sensor
Ping Sensor
Network test utility: 5 advantages of PRTG
Stay up to date
With continuous monitoring, you’ll stay up-to-date on all the goings-on in your network. At the slightest error, PRTG will immediately send you an alert (if you so wish). You can therefore go about completing other important tasks knowing your network is in the very best of hands.
React promptly
PRTG comes with a customizable alarm/notification system. It lets you choose the devices and values for which notifications should be sent. There are many ways to receive alerts, including email, push notification, and SMS.
Analyze your network
Historical data lets you analyze your network in detail. You can quickly tell if capacity has risen or the latency is too high and upgrade your hardware to avoid problems in the future. And thanks to easy-to-read PRTG reports, you’ll have no trouble keeping your coworkers and higher-ups in the know.
Free trial version
The first 100 sensors in PRTG are free and never expire. This enables you to get a good feel for PRTG and decide if it’s the right tool for you - with no strings attached. What’s more, with the trial version you get unlimited access to all PRTG sensors for 30 full days.
Custom license upgrades
PRTG comes with a number of different licenses. Each license includes sensors, the alarm feature, reports, and technical support. The only difference lies in the number of sensors. Upgrading is quick and easy, and does not require a new installation.
Trusted by 500,000 users and recognized
by industry analysts as a leader
by industry analysts as a leader
“Fantastic network and infrastructure monitoring solution that is easy to deploy and easier still to use. Simply the best available.”
“Software is absolutely perfect, Support is superior. Meets all needs and requirements, this is a must have solution if you are needing any form of monitoring.”
“The tool excels at its primary focus of being a unified infrastructure management and network monitoring service.”
Keep a constant eye on your network – even while on the go
PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.
Hey Greg, can you give me an example of how PRTG works with network utilities?
“Ping sensors are probably the most important elements of any network monitoring. They must be set up correctly, particularly with regard to your connections. When monitoring a virtual machine, it makes sense to place the ping in connection to its host. If the host crashes, you will therefore not be notified for each and every virtual machine connected to it. Furthermore, ping sensors can be good indicators of whether a network path to a host or the Internet functions properly, especially in high-availability or failover scenarios.”
Greg Campion is a system administrator at PAESSLER AG
Network utilities in various systems
Ping is a command-line utility, available on virtually any operating system with network connectivity, that acts as a test to see if a networked device is reachable. The ping command sends a request over the network to a specific device. A successful ping results in a response from the computer that was pinged back to the originating computer.
Read more
Mac network utility
The Mac network utility is called “Network Utility.” This program displays information on your network connections, including the IP address, the speed and number of sent and received data packets, and the number of transmission errors. Network Utility also comes with Netstat, Ping, Lookup, Traceroute, Whois, Finger, and Portscan.
Windows network utility
Windows also comes with network programs. These programs vary depending on the Windows version you are using. Here too you can run a ping, test connections and ports, or use nslookup to check your DNS information.
Distributed networks: Network utility software PRTG is also a good choice
Distributed networks:
A lot of work for your IT department
Many companies have several sites or branches which are managed centrally by one IT department. Among other things, malfunctions can cause a lot of work for administrators, who must travel to the particular site to clarify the problem.
Advantage of PRTG:
Convenient and efficient
Convenient and efficient With your PRTG license, you can even monitor geographically distributed networks. This works via remote probes that are set up in the remote network and remain in constant contact with the PRTG Core Server.
Decentralized monitoring:
Case study
The Swiss company Bystronic monitors its worldwide network with PRTG. The company’s headquarters are located in Switzerland. It has three further production and development sites in Germany and China, and sales and service branches in over 30 different countries. Bystronic uses PRTG (and nothing else) to centrally monitor its entire network.
To the case study (German)
White paper
on remote probes
In this free white paper, you can read more about distributed network monitoring. You’ll also learn exactly how remote probes work. For example: did you know a remote probe can also be placed behind a firewall? The probe monitors your network from “the inside,” and sends information to the PRTG server via an encrypted connection. Find out more in the white paper.
Agent-based vs. agentless network monitoring
A server is a computer or system that provides resources, data, services, or programs to other computers, known as clients, over a network. In theory, whenever computers share resources with client machines they are considered servers. There are many types of servers, including web servers, mail servers, and virtual servers.
Read more
Agent-based monitoring
Those looking to set up network monitoring have the choice between two types of tools: agent-based and agentless. With agent-based tools, software agents are installed on each piece of hardware that needs monitoring, allowing for in-depth analysis. These tools can be quite costly, however, especially in larger networks.
PRTG is an agentless software
PRTG is based on an agentless process. The network is monitored centrally from one main server. Software does not need to be installed on the target computers. With PRTG, an agentless architecture is even possible for distributed networks. In such a case, remote probes are used (see “Distributed networks").
Problem diagnosis tools: The limits of PRTG
What PRTG can do
PRTG keeps a constant eye on your network. SNMP sensors show you how much bandwidth is being used by your devices and applications, while Flow sensors and packet sniffing let you take a closer look at data packets.
What PRTG cannot do
If you wish to analyze the content of individual data packets, then you’ll need a special diagnostic tool. There are many such tools on the market. PRTG is purely a monitoring tool.
Investing in network monitoring: PRTG pays for itself in no time
The costs for a one-year PRTG license usually pay for themselves within a few weeks.
PRTG makes
your network more reliable
PRTG saves
network management costs
PRTG saves time
spent on network management
“Easy to implement and configure with good technical support.”
R. v. S., ICT Manager at Heinen & Hopman Eng BV
More on network monitoring
With PRTG, you can monitor the bandwidth usage, network activities, and error messages of your routers. To do so, choose from several preconfigured sensors which work with a variety of different manufacturers, including Cisco, Dell, and HP.
Server monitoring
PRTG monitors all your servers: DNS, mail, MySQL, and many more. You therefore get a monitoring tool for all the main hardware in your network. And you can configure the PRTG alarm system to be promptly notified in the event that this hardware malfunctions.
Port monitoring
PRTG monitors open and closed ports. This will help you improve the security of your network. Often ports are only used temporarily and then forgotten. But open ports represent a danger, as they can be gateways for Trojan horses.
We asked: would you recommend PRTG?
Over 95% of our customers say yes!
Paessler AG 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.
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.
Still not convinced?
Monitor your entire IT infrastructure
Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.
Try Paessler PRTG for free
Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free. Start now with your trial.
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PRTG |
Network Monitoring Software - Version 23.2.84.1566 (May 24th, 2023) |
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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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