Comparison of network monitoring systems

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This is a comparison of the some common network monitoring systems.

[edit] Definition of Categories

Product Name
The name of the software, linked to its Wikipedia article. Any software listed without being linked to its article,
demonstrating its notability, will be removed.
IP SLAs Reports
Does the software feature reports on IP SLAs?
Logical Grouping
Does the software support arranging the hosts or devices it monitors into user-defined groups?
Trending
Does the software provide trending of network data over time?
Trend Prediction
Does the software feature algorithms designed to predict future network statistics?
Auto Discovery
Can the software automatically discover hosts or network devices it is connected to?
Agent
Does the product rely on a software agent that must run on hosts it is monitoring, so that data can be pushed back
to a central server? "Supported" means that an agent may be used, but is not mandatory. An SNMP daemon does
not count as an agent.
SNMP
Is the software able to retrieve and report on SNMP statistics?
Syslog
Is the software able to receive and report on Syslogs?
Plugins
Is the architecture of the software based on a number of 'plugins' that provide additional functionality?
Triggers/Alerts
Is the software capable of detecting threshold violations in network data, and alerting the administrator in some
form?
WebApp
Does the product run as a web-based application?
• No: There is no web-based frontend for this software.
• Viewing: Network data can be viewed in a graphical web-based frontend
• Acknowledging: Users can interact with the software through the web-based frontend to acknowledge
alarms or manipulate other notifications.
• Reporting: Specific reports on network data can be configured by the user and executed through the web-
based frontend.
• Full Control: ALL aspects of the product can be controlled through the web-based frontend, including low-
level maintenance tasks such as software configuration and upgrades.

Distributed Monitoring
Is the software able to leverage more than one server to distribute the load of network monitoring?
Inventory
Does the software keep a record of hardware and/or software inventory for the hosts and devices it monitors?
Data Storage Method
What method does the software use to store the network data it monitors?
License
Under what license is the software released? (e.g. GPL, BSD_license, etc.)
Maps
Does the software feature graphical network maps that represent the hosts and devices it monitors, and the links
between them?
Access Control
Does the software feature user-level security, allowing an administrator to prevent access to certain parts of the
product on a per-user or per-role basis?
IPv6
Does the software support monitoring IPv6 hosts and/or devices, receiving IPv6 data, and running on an IPv6-
enabled server?
[edit] Comparison

Comparison of network monitoring software

IP SLA Logical Trend Auto
Name Trending Agent SNMP Syslog
Reports Grouping Prediction Discovery

Argus Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes

Cacti Yes Yes Yes Yes Via plugin No Yes Yes

CiscoWorks
Yes Yes Unknown No Yes No Yes Yes
LMS

Push model;
collectd No No No No multicast Supported Yes Yes
possible
dopplerVUE Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes

FreeNATS Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Via plugin

Via gmond
Ganglia No Yes Yes No Yes Via plugin No
check in
Intellipool
Network Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes
Monitor

AdRem
No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
NetCrunch

IPHost Network
Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No
Monitor

Munin No No Yes Unknown No Yes Yes No

Nagios Via plugin Yes Yes No Via plugin Yes Via plugin Via plugin

NetMRI No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes

NetQoS
Performance Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Center
Nimsoft
Monitoring Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Supported Yes Yes
Solution

Yes Yes
OpenNMS Yes Yes Unknown Yes Supported Yes

OPNET ACE
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Live

Opsview Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes

PacketTrap No Yes Yes Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes

Pandora FMS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Supported Yes Yes

Performance
No Yes Yes No No Yes No No
Co-Pilot
PRTG Network
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Supported Yes Yes
Monitor

Scrutinizer Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes

ServersCheck Yes Yes Yes No Yes Supported Yes Yes
SevOne Yes Yes Yes Unknown Yes No Yes No
Orion Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Shinken Via plugin Yes Yes No Via plugin Yes Via plugin Via plugin

Spiceworks Yes Yes No No Yes Supported Yes No

TclMon Yes Yes Yes No Yes Supported Yes Yes

Zabbix Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Supported Yes Yes

Zenoss Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

Zyrion Traverse Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Supported Yes Yes
SLA Logical Trend Auto
Name Trending Agent SNMP Syslog
Reports Grouping Prediction Discovery