Have you ever heard the phrase, “Better safe than sorry”? That’s the mentality you should have when considering your organization’s network. From performance optimization to data management, you should have eyes on every single aspect of your IT infrastructure to keep it running as smoothly as possible. Here are seven free network monitoring solutions that give you the tools to optimize your network environment and support your operational needs.
We’ve listed our top pick of the free network monitoring systems first: SolarWinds® ipMonitor® Free Edition, which offers a user-friendly, centralized monitoring solution. However, if you realize free network monitoring software isn’t sufficient for your needs, we think you should consider a solution with more comprehensive features, SolarWinds® Hybrid Cloud Observability.
A List of the Best Free Network Monitoring Tools
- SolarWinds ipMonitor® Free Edition
- Paessler AG PRTG Network Monitor Freeware Edition
- Cacti
- ManageEngine Site24x7 Free Server Monitoring
- Nagios Core
- Zabbix
- Prometheus
Paid Comprehensive Software for Medium and Large Organizations (Free Trial)
What Is Network Monitoring, and Why is it Important?
What Are the Benefits of Using Free Network Monitoring Software?
What Types of Network Devices Can a Network Monitoring Software Discover and Monitor?
How to Choose a Network Monitor that Meets Your Organization’s Needs
A List of the Best Free Network Monitoring Tools
Not only are these network monitoring systems free, but they are also effective. Here’s how these can help your organization save time and money so that you can focus your attention on other areas of your enterprise. But, if you need even more comprehensive network features, learn more about top paid monitoring tools here.
1. SolarWinds ipMonitor® Free Edition
Designed with centralization in mind, ipMonitor® Free Edition is your one-stop shop for keeping track of all your network nodes, cloud platforms, and software applications. While the free version of this monitoring tool doesn’t come with some of the intelligence features that its paid counterpart brings, you can still enjoy the benefits of Automated Network Discovery and granular monitoring for up to five nodes, all from a user-friendly interface.
Pros:
- Remediate areas of concern in real-time to prevent widespread disruption
- Automated discovery tools help uncover endpoints you might have forgotten about
- Provides comprehensive surveillance over node details like connectivity status, server backups, utilization, and more
2. Paessler AG PRTG Network Monitor Freeware Edition
Best fit for small businesses and more complex home networks, Paessler AG’s PRTG Freeware Edition network monitor gives you visibility over 100 sensors within your IT ecosystem. Receive SNMP and Syslog traps at a maximum rate of 10,000 messages per second. Find the root causes of latency issues within sites of interest, like your own company’s web pages, to maximize visitor engagement.
Pros:
- Predefined SQLs allow for database monitoring that keeps data transfers transparent and successful
- Monitors a maximum of 100 devices capable of supporting flow streams
- Eliminates the need for special solutions that are costly, such as tools for VMware or printer monitoring
3. Cacti
Highly scalable and equipped with extensive features, Cacti can collect data from any external command or script, making this open-source network monitor compatible with almost all types of IT frameworks. Recorded data is displayed in graphs, so you can easily view and reference information without sorting through long lists of dizzying data. You can customize the interface with skins and themes to bring personality and fun aesthetics to your network monitoring platform.
Pros:
- Leave no stone unturned with multi-dimensional data queries
- Assign different permissions to users for safe management and clear accountability
- High customizable configurations and settings make this tool malleable to your network’s needs
4. ManageEngine Site24x7 Free Server Monitoring
If all you need at the moment is to monitor network uptime and server availability, then ManageEngine Site24x7 Free Server Monitoring will check these tasks off your to-do list. With monitoring for up to five servers and compatibility with Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and OS X systems, this software is a suitable first step into network monitoring without being overwhelmed by a library of intricate details.
Pros:
- A lightweight, beginner solution to network monitoring
- Compatibility with most operating systems
- Unlimited free use for reliable surface-level surveillance
5. Nagios Core
You can explore the entire suite of Nagios monitoring products with a free 30-day trial or opt for Nagios Core, an Open Source IT monitoring engine. With added forum support and hundreds of free add-ons, this basic interface can become quite the opposite with some manual command line configuration. Nagios Core doesn’t have as many features as its paid counterpart, Nagios XI, but it does offer complete network monitoring so that you can spot trouble residing in any area of your network.
Pros:
- Community-created front-ends keep your interface updated, centralized, and easy to navigate
- Extremely scalable, with native integration into Linux systems
- Perfect for general scheduling, data processing, event management, and alerting
6. Zabbix
In just 10 minutes, you can discover the nooks and crannies of your network with Zabbix. Intended for immediate enterprise use without hidden costs or restrictions, this free network analysis tool has it all: from complete infrastructure stack monitoring and multi-vendor support to simulated transactions and personalized metric collection. No need for hardware or software supplements — Zabbix is ready to integrate with the platforms and devices you’re already using, making the installation and setup process a breeze.
Pros:
- Aligns with industry-leading security standards for reliable safety on-premises and across the cloud
- Automatically resolves network issues so that you don’t have to pause important tasks
- Minimize confusion with root cause analysis to get straight to the source of a problem without fixating on secondary issues
7. Prometheus
Like Zabbix, Prometheus is entirely free, comprehensive, and community-driven, making it a highly accessible and dynamic tool for any household or business. What’s unique about this free network monitoring solution is that it uses its unique querying language to gather data called PromQL (Prometheus Query Language) and organizes information into time series. This makes monitoring easier to reference and address when adverse events occur. Command-line coding is required to configure several features, such as network alerts and data recording, so you may need to draw on your computer programming skills.
Pros:
- Imports Grafana dashboards tools for insightful and engaging visual graphics
- Match your application’s native language with adaptable client libraries
- Export databases to a variety of applications, messaging systems, APIs, and other hardware and software formats
Paid Comprehensive Software for Medium and Large Organizations (Free Trial)
For organizations of a larger scale, some of these free options might not meet your needs. Paid network monitoring software, like SolarWinds® Hybrid Cloud Observability offers several advantages that bigger businesses can’t compromise on, such as real-time monitoring, automated discovery, and comprehensive performance metrics, which may be limited or unavailable in free alternatives.
Also, paid software is designed to support enterprises and corporations with seemingly endless nodes and endpoints — many of which would be left in the dark with free options that monitor fewer than ten devices or servers at a time. The ability to customize monitoring features is essential to ensure that enterprises can address their network’s specifications and needs.
With larger companies, every minute in downtime equals more costs. Paid network monitoring tools typically offer around-the-clock technical support and community forums for timely fixes and minimal disruption — resources that are often unavailable with free versions.
Learn More about SolarWinds® Hybrid Cloud Observability
Network Monitoring Guide
What Is Network Monitoring, and Why is it Important?
Network monitoring helps you ensure your digital environment runs smoothly, performs at its best, and stays secure. It involves keeping tabs on every aspect of your network infrastructure, including devices, traffic patterns, and metrics that impact network operations.
By collecting and analyzing data, network administrators can gain insights into network performance, identify any issues or bottlenecks, and take timely action to resolve them. And to cover all bases, most network monitoring tools are equipped with real-time, automatic alerts and notifications to keep you informed when it matters most. Ultimately, information is power. Paid or free network monitoring software gives you the power to minimize downtime, maintain reliable network connectivity, keep data safe, and avoid potential disruptions to business operations.
What Are the Benefits of Using Free Network Monitoring Software?
There are several benefits to using free network monitoring software for organizations of all sizes, including the following:
- Fault Detection and Troubleshooting: With network monitoring, you can quickly spot and fix network issues like outages, high latency, and packet loss. Think of it as a detective devoted to helping you uncover the root cause of problems to get things back on track, address pain points, and keep your business operations humming.
- Performance Optimization: Gain insights into how your network is performing with metrics like bandwidth utilization, latency, and response times so you can better identify performance bottlenecks, optimize resources, and keep your network in top shape.
- Capacity Planning: High-end network monitoring solutions allow you to plan for the future with visibility into usage patterns and trends, helping you anticipate your network’s resource requirements, schedule upgrades, and streamline your infrastructure to meet future demands.
- Compliance and Reporting: Network monitoring keeps you compliant with regulations like PCI DSS and HIPAA, providing audit trails, logs, and reports that demonstrate your adherence to regulatory requirements so that you can focus on your core business.
- Proactive Maintenance: Enable proactive identification and resolution of potential network issues before they become more significant problems that can cost you time and money.
Whether you manage a home or company network, a monitoring program that can surveillance your entire infrastructure is a must-have asset. Note that paid tools will likely offer more robust functionality than free network monitors, so you will need to assess what is best for your needs.
What Types of Network Devices Can a Network Monitoring Software Discover and Monitor?
A network monitoring tool is designed to discover and monitor common nodes such as routers, wireless access points (WAPs), switches, servers, firewalls, and network printers. However, many network management software programs today extend their coverage to other connection points, including:
- Load balancers distribute network traffic across multiple servers to prevent network congestion.
- Virtual machines, or VMs, are digital operating systems that run on a single physical server and are responsible for deploying programs and applications.
Keep in mind that the specific devices supported may vary depending on the capabilities and compatibility of the network monitoring software, so be sure to check that a tool you’re interested in can fully monitor all aspects of your network. Leaving just one node unsupervised is all it takes for your network to fail suddenly.
How to Choose a Network Monitor that Meets Your Organization’s Needs
With so many network monitoring tools available, choosing the right one can be an overwhelming experience. Will you and your employees be able to navigate the new software solution easily? Is a dedicated team available to help your business safely and properly adopt a new network monitoring tool? These are all questions to think about and base your decision on. You’ll also want to:
- Identify your monitoring requirements, including the size and complexity of your network, types of devices, monitoring granularity, and specific metrics.
- Evaluate scalability and flexibility, ensuring the tool can scale with your organization’s growth, supports different types of networks, and adapts to evolving requirements.
- Assess the tool’s monitoring capabilities, including performance, fault detection, security, capacity planning, and reporting. Check for real-time monitoring, historical data collection, and customizable alerting and reporting options.
- Consider ease of use and integration, including user interface, setup process, and configuration options. Check for integration with existing management tools and technologies.
- Review support and updates, including regular software updates, bug fixes, and security patches, and the vendor’s customer support options.
- Evaluate cost-effectiveness, including upfront and ongoing maintenance costs and potential ROI.
- Read reviews and seek recommendations from trusted sources, such as industry experts, colleagues, and online communities.
When in doubt, see if the network monitoring solution you’re interested in has a free version or a trial period so that you can see how it could better manage your digital environment.
Network Monitoring Made Easy
With this guide, we hope you feel more confident about taking the next steps toward better network health. Feel free to try out our top picks above to gauge what your IT ecosystem needs and explore the features you’re most fond of. Our top free pick is the SolarWinds ipMonitor® Free Edition, but larger businesses will likely need to level up. Start with a free 30-day trial of SolarWinds® Hybrid Cloud Observability so you can see the difference when using a complete network monitoring package. With a malleable dashboard for customized viewing, end-to-end node oversight, and a running list of automated capabilities, let SolarWinds® Hybrid Cloud Observability take care of all your monitoring needs.
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