Hi guys,

Ive been set the task of investigating whether our current network monitoring tool is up to scratch.

We currently use a program called: Spotlight on Windows which has been used for quite a while but my boss wants to route all problems such as UPS errors etc through one program and this application doesn't appear to be up to the job.

Also we want to be able to send alerts via sms, email, audio alert for PC situated in IT dept.

So far speaking to friends i have been suggested two packages 1) Alchemy Eye 2) Cacti

Just wondered if any of you have experiance with these or can suggest a tool you have used in the past.

We run XP environment, Windows 2000/2003 server.

Thanks in advance. :twisted:

You need an SNMP-based system. Cacti is open-source but I've never seen it used seriously for anything other than counting & graphing. You can get a plugin for it called Thold - but its not exactly a user-friendly solution.

At my current place, for historical reasons we use a piece of software called ServersCheck. (http://www.serverscheck.co.uk/default.asp?Region=EU&Country=UK&State=) There is a free version - limited on the number of hosts and type of things you can monitor but ideal to run on a trial basis - and, whilst it took me a couple of days to get used to, its pretty damn good.

Failing that, you could look at Event Sentry. (http://www.eventsentry.com/) There is a free version of this too, and it is more fully-featured than the free version of ServersCheck, but it isn't without its foibles.

We currently recommend OpManager (http://www.manageengine.com/products/opmanager/index.html?snmpmtr). Because it's an SNMP tool, it allows for centralized managent and monitoring. Works pretty well.

Edit: Also used it (trial version, though) and still using it as preferred test tool in school.

-Obie

My business used HoundDog (http://www.hounddogiseasy.com/) to monitor customer servers/systems. It was very good.

http://www.whatsupgold.com/

Solarwinds (http://www.solarwinds.com/)do a network monitoring tool (plus they have a certification program also).

Microsoft has a range of network monitoring tools, like Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 (http://www.microsoft.com/midsizebusiness/security/network-monitoring-software.mspx), plus they have a fuller product (http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/en/us/default.aspx).

-Ken

we run Nagios on a centos box, any machine will do it - an old desktop for instance and from what I understand it wasnt that much of a bear to setup up either.

We use this http://www.statseeker.com/

Has anyone tried Spiceworks (http://www.spiceworks.com/)?

Some consultants I was talking to about licenesing use it for software discovery and they rated it very highly. Havent used it myself but glowing recomendation from them.

Has anyone tried Spiceworks (http://www.spiceworks.com/)?

Yeah I use it at our office.
It's very good at keeping you up to date on what's going on in your network!

Thanks guys, just setting up a demo server now to see if it suits our needs(could save me some money as we where going to go with Solarwinds NPM)

I use SpiceWorks for ticketing/inventory and Servers Alive for network monitoring - I'd recommend Servers Alive, it's cheap and has quite a lot of functionality