6 Killer Open Source Network Monitoring Tools

Network monitoring is necessary to ensure that the network always runs in a hassle-free manner. There are several open source network monitoring tools which are capable of excellent functioning and perform the basic tasks like checking for host availability and measuring bandwidth usage at their best. Here are the best six out of them:

1. Zabbix: 

Zabbix is easy to install, has an intuitive user interface and sufficient granularity to perform network monitoring tasks. Zabbix is completely open source without any paid Enterprise version. Its source code is open and available which makes it most attractive to small as well as large enterprises. Zabbix doesn't offer a commercial version though. It has commercial support contracts in different levels from Bronze to Enterprise.

2. Cacti: 

It's an extensive performance graphing and trending tool which is used to track any monitored metric which is possible to get plotted on a graph. If it's possible to monitor disk utilisation and fan speeds in a power supply, then Cacti can track it and make the data quickly available.

3. Observium: 

This command-line powered product is based on Linux and it features a web-based monitoring interface. It's licensed under QPL Open Source license and it's available in both community and professional editions. RRDTool is used for buffer storage and graphing capabilities. It also supports auto-discovery of devices from servers and switches to printers and power devices. It has a nice user interface with modern features and good on-screen reporting but it has no direct export or reporting capabilities. It also doesn't allow adding devices by using IP address only.

4. Nagios: 

Nazios is one of the old guards of system and network monitoring. It's quite fast, reliable and extremely customisable. It's definitely a challenge for newcomers and it also has a complex configuration. But Nagios somewhat lacks in power and reliability sometimes.

5. Icinga: 

It also has a complex configuration and it has a modular design which allows the user selecting the core server, preferred GUI and add any desired plug-ins like reporting and graphing tools. The basic server can be installed using two simple commands. It also offers a simple online documentation. It has a modern interactive Web GUI, rich features and granular configuration options.

6. NeDi: 

It's a great solution for tracking devices across a network. It works through a network infrastructure and catalogues devices. It also keeps track of everything it discovers and provides current location of any device. It's mostly used to locate stolen and lost devices and it can also display known and discovered connections on a map.