Networking professionals have a responsibility to the company to make sure that the network stays up and running. When you manage a network and changes are introduced, there is a risk of services being lost or speeds being severely impacted. End users can end up being completely unproductive because of changes to a network, so it is important to have a solid understanding of how to monitor your network to be on the lookout for these problems before they occur. Your employees need the network to be productive. Having the right network monitoring tools can help you to keep the network running at all times.

When you begin looking around for monitoring tools, you will have plenty available to keep you busy. There are a lot of different programs available to help network admins keep tabs on their networks. As you probably know, there are some pretty expensive software solutions out there. You don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money to get the best performing network monitoring tools. Before you dive in to the deep end of purchasing expensive software suites for monitoring, it is beneficial to know a few facts ahead of time

Searching for Network Monitoring Tools

You should try to find the right kind of network monitoring tools. This means looking for tools that are based on industry standards. Some network monitoring tools are very proprietary and will only work with certain operating systems or on certain hardware. Most networks have some mixture of hardware, so it's a good idea to have network monitoring tools that can work on a variety of different hardware and software platforms. A good thing to look for in network tools is to see if the monitoring tools run using SNMP and other recognized protocols. If a developer can clearly define standard protocols that are used in a particular piece of software, you will have a better chance of getting the kind of monitoring that you need for your network. You may need to integrate your current tools with other software in the future, so make sure that the products you settle on are able to be used in conjunction with other tools.

Open Source Software

Some of the best, most flexible network monitoring tools is open source programs. You can save a bundle on purchasing and licensing fees by choosing an open source network monitoring utility. Open source tools are typically compliant with established network protocols and are easily customized to work in many different environments. When you find a good open source utility there's a good chance that it will be easier to scale than many "shrink wrapped" solutions on the market. You don't want to have to purchase and install new monitoring tools every time your network grows. Open source tools give you the flexibility and scalability that you need.

Find the right network monitoring tool for your environment. It might be open source, or it might be an expensive suite of tools - whatever you chose, make sure that you have the tools you need to keep your network running successfully.