Network Monitoring tool

[Ghost_25inf]

Hello Everyone

I'm looking for a network monitoring program. I would prefer that it was free or at least cheap. I want to be able to track my network traffic, bandwidth, and computers on the network; I would also like to see which computer is using up the bandwidth. I am running a windows XP network. Ive tested several that are out there (used Google search), but I didn’t find what I was looking for. Has anyone here heard of or used such a tool? Thanks

[jackminder]

Have you checked out BigBrother?


http://www.bb4.org/

[Ghost_25inf]

Is there any graphical monitors out there?

[catch]

eEye's Iris Network Traffic Analyzer ( http://www.eeye.com/html/products/Iris/ ) is prolly the best choice for your situation and requirements, save one thing. It is about $1,300. However depending on your needs I am sure you could find a solution.

cheers,

catch

[XTC46]

Solarwinds is pricey but great. So is Network Solutions Sniffer program.

[ammo]

MRTG, sFlow/netflow/fprobe/ng_netflow/flow_tools, Ntop, argus...


Ammo

[gore]

You can download Solar Wind's products right here on AntiOnline. The one this page has is free. Download those. And if you can, use IPtraf which is really cool. You might want to make a little PERL script that uses a couple of these and outputs it to a text file which can then be mailed to you.

[ss2chef]

As mentioned, IPTraf and MRTG are great tools.
A key tech to be informed about to put these tools to work is SNMP.
Once you have found the correct MIBs (Management Information Base) for each
device to be monitored, you can track and or monitor almost anything.

For remote port monitoring I like Nagios www.nagios.org
It also has agents to allow you to watch everything from CPU utilization to disk space usage.

A commercial product I use for routers, switches, and firewalls is Cybergauge.
http://www.neon.com/CGwin.shtml
I like it better than MRTG or similar others because of its SNMP walk performance.
There is a ton of device support build in.

If you have a modern switch with even the most simple management tools built in, you should
be able to watch each switch port in action and see whos port is pegged throughout the day.