Network Management Software

There are several different aspects to consider as regards network management. Please find a general outline below. You can read more about the benefits of network monitoring.

Large enterprises, as well as small and medium sized companies need an IT network for their daily work to process and store lots of data. Therefore they operate servers, routers, and databases. Since this data is vital for daily business processes, it is necessary to rely on a network management software to protect the network from damage caused by faults and system errors and to ensure that users and customers can access information quickly and seamlessly.

A good and comprehensive network monitoring system is the heart of any network management solution. Only if you have reliable data about the state, the performance and the usage of your network, you will be able to effectively manage your network. Paessler's PRTG Network Monitor combines powerful monitoring tools with network management functionality.

The PRTG Network Management Software: Features

A Network Management Software is used to monitor, maintain and provision computer networks. It helps you to keep track of the network's bandwidth, availability, performance and hardware.

The Functionality of the PRTG network administrator software includes:

• Bandwidth monitoring: see how much network traffic is caused by which computer, application, or protocol
• Availability monitoring: the network management solutions continuously check whether your devices can be reached
• Performance and load monitoring: the monitoring software checks network speed, monitors CPU usage, RAM load, and other important system parameters

If one of your devices does not respond, if an unusual event is registered or a set threshold is being crossed, the netwok management software send you an instant alert that helps you to troubleshoot all network issues. You can also configure the PRTG network management systems to take a certain action in case of an alarm, e.g. restart Windows services or execute an external script. This way, network management can take care of many frequent network problems without any intervention from your side.

The separate capabilities of network management software PRTG can be divided into

• availability monitoring,
• activity monitoring
• and usage monitoring.

Network Availability Monitoring

Network management software detects failures, system or router slowdown and automatically informs the administrator about the status of these devices. Another part of network monitoring software is checking server and web site availability. These notifications about detected failing systems can be relayed via email, or methods such as network broadcast, text log or SMS.

Alerting the administrator in case of system errors is one of the most important functions of network monitoring software.

Network management software such as PRTG Network Monitor monitor your systems' up and downtimes, allowing you to immediately detect faults or system slowdowns. You can create reports for up and downtime values, helping you control Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Usage And Connectivity Management

To assure network, as well as server performance, it is important to know the overall bandwidth usage, disk usage, CPU load, etc. Once you find a performance issue caused by high usage levels, it is good to know which applications and servers/users are using up your bandwidth.

Usage and bandwidth monitoring based on multiple parameters, such as IP addresses, port numbers, protocols, etc. can be perfomed using either SNMP, Packet Sniffing or NetFlow (on certain Cisco devices).

PRTG Network Monitor allows administrators to discern actual bandwidth usage and record the monitoring data. The administrator can create an activity diagram that shows all network usage parameters.

Altogether, network management software offers comprehensive performance and fault management for networks and servers. It monitors networks for technical problems caused by overloaded servers, by crashed connections or by the users. Network monitoring software helps to control network usage or server capacity and availability.

Free Network Management Software

You can test our software with the 30-Day-Trial-Edition. The Freeware Edition is completely free for personal and commercial use and may be downloaded at no cost. The Commercial Editions are required if you want to monitor more than 100 sensors. Licenses start at $1,600 / €1,200.