As a network
grows in size and importance, as does the need to ensure that the network works
(and continues to function) effectively. To achieve this, it is necessary not
only to know which devices make up the IT infrastructure (inventory) but also
to monitor the availability, status and performance of these devices.
If it is
possible to monitor the IT infrastructure manually, especially in a small
network, it can take a long time and even impossible in most cases. For this
reason, there are several NetworkManaging Tools available to help you monitor your IT infrastructure, and
these tools will include features such as:
A way to add
devices/services to watch (for example, text, CLI, GUI)
Availability,
performance monitoring and / or health status
Alert to notify
the appropriate people in case of a problem (or about to happen): SMS, email,
etc.
Reports that
provide details of what happened/is happening
Here's a list of the Top IT Infrastructure Monitoring
Tools & Software of 2020
Solarwinds Network
Performance Monitor (NPM)
Solarwinds Server
and Application Monitor (SAM)
PRTG Network Monitor
WhatsUp Gold
Nagios XI
ManageEngine
OpManager
OP5 Monitor
Zabbix
LibreNMS
Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) –
Solarwinds is a
company that offers many Networking Monitoring Tools for different
things. The Orion toolset available from Solarwinds is relevant to this
article. This set includes means for performance monitoring, configuration
management, server and application monitoring, etc. While this makes your
solution robust, it can be confusing to know which Network Management Tool to use and which
modules you will need to install to use a specific feature. It also means that
the total cost of a complete solution can increase rapidly.
Solarwinds Orion is
Windows-based, although it can monitor a large number of devices. The configuration
is also done from a full Orion web interface, which can provide a wealth of
information about controlled devices (depending on the specific Networking Software Tools installed). Alerts and reports are also available in the Orion package.
We will consider two
tools from the Solarwinds Orion package: Solarwinds Network Performance
Monitor (NPM) and Solarwinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM).
When you think about
general infrastructure monitoring, Solarwinds NPM is the tool that performs
this function in the Solarwinds Orion toolkit. It provides information such as
availability, health status (temperature, energy, etc.) and performance
indicators (for example, use of the interface). You can report this information
on several devices, including Cisco, HP and F5.
Solarwinds Server and Application Monitor
(SAM) –
Solarwinds SAM
provides information about servers (for example, IBM and Dell servers) and
applications (for example, Microsoft Exchange, IIS, and Java). The tool comes
with monitoring templates to help you quickly configure. Models can also be
customized to monitor custom applications.
Solarwinds SAM is
also available for a 30-day free trial, after which licenses start at $ 2,995
for 150 monitors.
PRTG Network Monitor –
It is probably one of the best monitoring Network Monitoring Tools Free available in the market, considering its simplicity of configuration
and ease of use. PRTG covers the entire surveillance spectrum in an all-in-one
solution, which includes:
Network monitoring
Bandwidth monitoring
Server and application monitoring
Virtual Machine Monitoring
Alerts (SMS, email, push notifications of mobile applications, etc.)
Robust reports
Intuitive web interface
While PRTG provides an agent that can be installed on the devices to be
monitored, it is mainly based on agentless monitoring using a variety of protocols,
including SNMP, WMI, SSH, NetFlow, etc. PRTG can only be installed on the Network
Monitoring Tools for the Windows operating system, but it can be used
to monitor various types of devices, including Linux, Windows, Cisco, HP,
VMware, etc.
PRTG is entirely free for up to 100 sensors. If you Monitor Network
more than 100 sensors, PRTG offers an unlimited 30-day trial and then the price
starts at $ 1,600 for a license of 500 sensors. For more information on costs,
see the price list on their website.
Note: PRTG works with "sensors." A device is not a sensor
because it can activate multiple sensors in a single device. Even with this,
PRTG is usually cheaper than other paid surveillance solutions.
WhatsUp Gold –
In the past, WhatsUp Gold had many subscribers and full development. For
example, about ten years ago, almost all of Nigeria's financial institutions
(banks) had a screen to monitor their various branches and used Whatsup Gold.
Interest in this tool has declined in recent times, although they have recently
renewed the product (versions 16 and 17).
Beyond the story, WhatsUp Gold is an easy-to-use tool that offers several
features, including:
Discovery
Configuration management
Alerts (SMS, e-mail, etc.)
Reports
Monitoring of the virtual environment.
Some of these features are only available in specific editions, of which
WhatsUp Gold offers four (4) different versions: Basic, Pro, Total and Total
Plus. It is also important to note that WhatsUp Gold can only be installed on
the Windows operating system and may not be as customizable as other
Linux-based monitoring tools.
Although there is no specific pricing information on the WhatsUp Gold
website, you can request a quote for your sales and also download a 30-day free
trial. WhatsUp Gold also uses a device-based pricing model (a device can have
multiple items) versus a question, which means it can be cheaper than an
alternative (for example, Solarwinds or PRTG).
