Monitoring and evaluation are the things that every network administrator requires, to resolve the issues one needs authentic and reliable tools. You may find several tools available over the internet but choosing the right one is a hard decision.
You need to look for all features i.e., reporting, packet loss, devices, ping status etc. In one application, from my experience and according to internet’s rating PRTG- a Network Monitoring Tool is the tool that complies with all the requirements of the small-medium network.
It is not freeware but you may find a free trial version on the internet. PRTG Stands for Paessler Router Traffic Grapher.
How to use PRTG- a Network Monitoring Tool
1. Open the Paessler Router Traffic Grapher in the web browser and enter username and password.
2. Click the ‘devices’ tab, that is the interface which will yield the stats and monitoring results.
3. Select ‘root’ and then select ‘local probe’.
4. Now click on any added device, you will now a preview of all the ports available on that device. Note here it will give the results according to the sensors added by the administrator on that specific port.
5. Click on the port, now you will get to see traffic utilization patterns and different graphs showing the trend.
6. Select ‘reports’ and then select any report you want to export. While exporting keep this in mind that it will download the report on the system where originally the PRTG software is installed.
7. Back to the top bar click on the ‘alarms’, now choose the alarm depending upon your requirement you also may see the different count of different alarms on the topmost right corner. Each color depicts a different alarm.
Red —-> dead devices
Orange —> unusual
Yellow —>warning
Blue —-> paused
Green —> ok
Grey —> new entries made
8. Select the ‘map’ and choose the dashboard you like to be on your screen.
Now you have got the basic idea that this system works so may use it.
