Every IT administrator no matter the size of the organization or network can utilize a tool such as network monitoring software. From monitoring devices on the network to analyzing the traffic flooding your network in real-time, choosing the best network monitoring software to fit your needs is crucial to the security and stability of your entire network. Let’s take a look at some of the more important and impactful features you may want to consider when conducting your research and shopping around.
Easily troubleshooting identified problems can prove to be a very effective feature that should not be overlooked when choosing software. In many software packages, you will be able to choose settings to accordingly match with your network’s protocols and applications. Whichever software you choose, make sure they can mesh successfully.
In the increasingly mobile business environment a networking monitoring software that can be accessed from your smartphone or tablet can prove to be incredibly convenient to manage and monitoring your network of applications and servers. Many of the very best network monitoring software available on the market today offers a client application to track anything from network outages, specific nodes, security alarms and other the ability to monitor other factions of your network directly from your smartphone or tablet. With many business professionals and IT managers working remotely, this is a feature many find to be valuable.
When looking for the best network monitoring software to fit your needs, one feature that is arguably the most important is the level of detail in which you have access to when analyzing traffic and other data your network will produce. Specifically, a tool that captures HTTP traffic from specific computers and their host internet can be useful in identifying incoming security threats before they hit your servers and potentially cause destruction. Much of the software available allows you to customize which traffic is analyzed and from which applications and browsers.
Overall performance monitoring of your network will prove to be crucial no matter the network monitoring software you chose. Choosing software that consistently monitors your servers, most used applications and overall communication channels of your entire business is a necessary feature and the primary reason for the software in most cases. Choosing a software that has an alert system to automatically notify you of a suspicious chain of events can be prove to highly valuable for the IT administrator always on the road or simply with just a lot on his or her plate. The ability to configure your monitoring agents and plug-ins is a crucial feature that cannot be overlooked in your search for the best network monitoring software.
As with much software in today’s tech landscape, some of the best network monitoring software is offered in free (but limited) version to test the interface and see if would be a good fit for your needs from an aesthetic and user dashboard level. Most of these free versions are only good for smaller enterprises, but can be useful none the less in making an often very important decision for your IT well-being.