1

Good morning my fellow Networking Admins & Systems Operators!

I am trying my hardest to find some software that specifically monitors traffic Ingoing&Outgoing on my Server/User PC’s etc.

What would be the best Solution on a tight budget.

Nothing to fancy, just need to be able to report on users that are using to much of the network and if I can remotely shut off their connection.

Thank you,

4 Spice ups
2

If you have 1-1 switch port to pc, or a 1-1 o’clock to user you could use snmp and cacti to track this.

But when you say using too much of the network what exactly do you mean?

If it’s internet usage you could use a proxy server like squid to track by IP address, or user if you make them authenticate.

You could also use something like ntop or solarwinds network traffic analyzer with Netflow or sflow enabled switches and routers to track this by IP address and traffic type.

3

If you are just looking to monitor bandwidth from a port level you can use PRTG which is free for up to 100 sensors. You could even monitor each system if you install SNMP. It is really a great product and easy to install.

I am not sure if it comes with any Netflow Sensors included in that license or not. There are other products out there that have been mentioned but I haven’t had any time to try any of them out yet.

If as Alex Mentioned you are looking for something to automatically shut someone off then I think you would be looking for more of a hardware solution.

1 Spice up
4

What do you have for a Router / Firewall? Do they offer anything? A lot of Firewalls have “Top Talkers” and if you would be using PFSense Firewall that has some really nice reporting and its free!

2 Spice ups
5

Sonicwall firewalls have the add-on product, Analyzer, and it works well. I myself am moving away from Sonicwallfor other reasons, but if you do have this firewall this is a cheap way to monitor WAN usage.

1 Spice up
6

PRTG

1 Spice up
7

What do you want to monitor for?
Bandwidth usage?
Errors?
Certain traffic types (TCP/YDP, port numbers etc.)?

8

You want WireShark

Add Riverbed Technology to WireShark and get even more:

• Visually rich, powerful LAN analyzer

• Quickly access very large pcap files

• Professional, customizable reports

• Advanced triggers and alerts

• Fully integrated with Wireshark and AirPcap™

• Troubleshoot problems faster

• Quickly identify the applications running on your network

• Monitor your virtual machine traffic

• WLAN packet capture and transmission

• Full 802.11 a/b/g/n support

• View management, control and data frames

• Multi-channel aggregation (with multiple adapters)

9

I basically want to monitor,

A group of PC’s IP Address’s that are connected to a specific server and monitor the amount of data is being trasnferred/lost throughout the day/week/month :slight_smile:

PRTG Seems to not be what I need.

10

If you’re wanting true 24x7 monitoring with rich analytics that alerts you to problems before they become an issue, you may look at NetExpress, which is Riverbed’s all-in-one application-aware Network Performance Monitoring solution for SMBs. This tool will get you visibility into areas where issues may occur – applications, network and infrastructure – in order to identify, diagnose, and troubleshoot problems (including network hogs). SteelCentral NetExpress combines the best of flow and packet capture plus analysis and reporting into a single solution. Here’s the link for more info in case you’re interested: Digital Experience Innovation & Acceleration | Riverbed

Or, you can check our a free 30-day trial here: http://www.riverbed.com/contact/Express-460-VE-Trial.html