Network Monitoring Tools

What are Network Monitoring Tools?

Network Monitoring Tools are the activities, methods, procedures, and tools utilized in the operation, administration, maintenance, and provisioning of networked systems.

Network monitoring tools continuously monitor a network for problems such as slow or failing components (caused by overloaded and/or crashed servers, network connections or other devices), and will alert the network administrator in case of severe slowdowns or outages. Commonly measured metrics include response time, availability and uptime, consistency and reliability.

Network monitoring systems are typically employed on large scale corporate IT networks.

Components of Network Monitoring

• Network Operation keeps the network running. It monitors the network to find and identify any problems as soon as possible, and ideally before users are even aware or affected by those problems.

• Network Administration is a broad area of network management that tracks and assigns resources within the network.

• Network Maintenance involves monitoring, repairing and upgrading the hardware and software that make up a network.

• Network Provisioning activities ensure certain services are supported within the network, monitors access rights and privileges for security, and configures network resources to support various services (usually related to telecommunication protocols and devices).

Pricing Information

There is a very broad range of options available, from low end, free or open-source systems, to higher end enterprise platforms that can be quite expensive. Many higher-end systems are close to $10,000 for the first year of use, and some are considerably more.