Best IT Server Network Monitoring Software

IT Server Network Monitoring Software Introduction

Anyone who has an online business should monitor its servers. This is an essential aspect to take care of if you wish to have efficient and productive operations. However, finding the right IT server network monitoring software is tricky, as you need to be aware of several technical aspects.

Therefore, this list is meant to help you find the best software for your business.

Ranking Methodology of the Best IT Server Network Monitoring Software

In order to create this list of products, we tested them by following this list of steps.

• First, we research the top 100 products and read their reviews to understand how they work.
• We also review all the demos we can find.
• Then, our team of experts ranks their UI design and usability.
• Finally, we use several social listening tools to understand their popularity and use all the data to set a final score.

Methodology Summary 

Now that you understand how we pick our best products, you can be 100% sure that these network monitoring tools are the best you are going to find on the market.

Our decision is based on the opinion of our group of experts. These experts are meant to analyze each aspect of these platforms and compare them with others to identify their perks and weaknesses. 

After this thorough research, we came up with this list of the best products out of 100 other brands, so any of these network monitoring tools are sure to meet your needs. Still, if you’re not sure which one to get, the best advice we can give you is to test them out by yourself and find out which one suits you better.

Luckily for you, most of these platforms feature demo versions and free trials for you to try out and choose the one you like the best. Now, we’re going to go through the basics of network monitoring tools so that you can properly understand how these platforms work.

IT Server Network Monitoring Software Overview 

A network monitoring tool gathers and connects the important information of a network to improve its efficiency and help its administrators with its overall control. These tools are crucial for any business to make sure all data is centralized and the network’s performance is optimal. Moreover, it can monitor both external and internal components of the network.

What Is an IT Server Network Monitoring Software?

IT server network monitoring software and network monitor tools are systems created to ensure that every aspect of the network is working correctly and that all possible bugs and errors stay under control. This is done by tracking a series of parameters and constantly comparing the network’s data.

If any of the measured items surpass the established parameters, the software is going to trigger an alarm and find a way to solve the issue. You can set up as many parameters as you wish so that your network is always working correctly. Moreover, it may help you find a way to solve all issues as soon as they appear.

However, you can also eliminate the parameters you don’t wish to track anymore. This is going to stop the alerts and allow your items to surpass the parameters established by the software.

What Does an IT Server Network Monitoring Software Do? 

Network monitoring is a crucial aspect of network management. It consists of setting up software that’s meant to identify any bugs or errors in the network before they start causing problems. Some of the most common bugs are crashed and overloaded servers, failing routers or switches, etc.

Once the system identifies these bugs, it is going to trigger an alarm so that the administrator is aware of the bug. Administrators typically use these systems to fix all bugs before they affect the performance of the network. Moreover, these systems are also helpful to make sure the network is connected to the internet and people can easily access it.

Still, it is essential to use other external security protocols to ensure the network is 100% safe for all its users.

IT Server Network Monitoring Software Meaning

Information technology (IT) server network monitoring software is a system that monitors and manages everything that happens on a server. Therefore, it is meant to find all bugs and errors that could cause a crash on the network.

These platforms are used by administrators who wish to make their daily activities much more efficient and ensure all servers within the network are working correctly.

Main Features of an IT Server Network Monitoring Software 

After analyzing the best network monitoring tools, we concluded that any efficient platform must have the following characteristics.

Automatic Discovery

Performing a manual discovery leaves room for errors, especially in extensive networks that are constantly being upgraded. This is why your software must be able to automate the discovery of bugs while also leaving space for an emergency forced discovery.

Smart Classification and Mapping

Each server and application in the network are going to have different parameters, which is why your monitoring software must be able to classify each environment in smart clusters for a better organization and visualization of the network. This may improve the overall management of the network conditions.

In-depth Performance Monitoring

Your main concern should be making sure your network has peak performance. You can do this by choosing a monitoring software with in-depth performance monitoring that can help you identify system errors such as a LAN failure and a database crash.

Benefits of Using IT Server Network Monitoring Software

You can use IT server network monitoring software for several different purposes that are sure to give you all sorts of great benefits. This is why these platforms have become so popular. They help network administrators from all over the world keep their pages as safe as possible and eliminate any potential risks as soon as they appear. The following are some of the most common benefits you may receive when using these platforms.

Network Visibility

An important aspect to keep an eye on is the visibility of your network. Therefore, you must track its traffic and all the devices attached to it, as this may help you find any performance lags and ensure the network’s health.

However, this is a tricky job, so your monitoring tool must feature an automated mapping tool, as it is meant to help you have complete visibility of your network at all times.

Maintaining Compliance

Suppose you need to maintain compliance with some sort of regulation. In that case, you are going to need to acquire appropriate network monitoring tools, as this is going to help you reach the level of internal control you need for maintaining compliance.

However, please make sure to use strong external safety protocols so that you can meet the rest of the requirements for maintaining compliance.

Preventing Downtime

Downtime wastes your time and money. Some companies have even reported losses of up to $5,000,000 per hour of downtime. Therefore, your monitoring software must be able to quickly identify and prevent these issues. 

This is done by identifying warning signs that indicate outages and trigger alarms for the administrator to take care of.

Finding and Fixing Problems Quickly

Having network monitoring tools help you fix your network problems much faster. These tools can identify problems and trigger an alarm in less than a second, which is crucial if you don’t want to spend hours figuring out the source of the problem and losing money due to downtime or poor network performance.

Uncovering Security Threats

Another great benefit of having IT server network monitoring software is uncovering security threats. These systems know how to identify suspicious activity and discover malware and viruses, which prevents them from turning into a bigger threat to your network. Then, once the platform identifies the threat, it immediately bans any similar behavior on the platform, which reduces the risk of finding another virus.

Which Companies Should Buy IT Server Network Monitoring Software 

Any company that needs to control its network and have more efficient processes should get an IT server network monitoring software, as it is meant to help keep everything in control and improve the network’s performance. However, the most common companies that could benefit from this type of software are the following:

Cyber-security Companies

Cyber-security companies need to monitor their network to identify any malware or viruses trying to sneak into their pages and destroy their servers. Moreover, these companies must also ensure complete safety for their users, so they must quickly identify any possible threat and eliminate it.

Shipping Companies

Shipping companies can lose a lot of money when their network crashes, and the amounts of money can be massive for big corporations with high traffic, such as Amazon. Therefore, they must avoid downtime and allow users to enjoy their services as much time as possible. The best way to do this is by using a network monitoring tool that can quickly identify bugs and crashes.

Internet Providers

Finally, internet providers can’t afford to let their servers fail, as this could cause their internet service to stop being distributed, and many users may get outraged. Therefore, to avoid receiving upset calls, emails, and potentially losing customers, the best thing an internet provider can do is to get a network monitoring tool to fix any problem that may appear.

What Does IT Server Network Monitoring Software Cost? 

The cost of these services varies depending on the brand. Several brands offer free services, but the most expensive ones can even reach $10,000 per year. However, the average price estimate ranges from $390 to $1,400 per year.

Nonetheless, there are many pricing models for these systems, and the most common ones are: per device, per license, per technician, and tiered packages.

Types of IT Server Network Monitoring Software

It is also essential for you to be aware of the different types of network monitoring tools, so we gathered the three most common ones for you to review.

SNMP-based Network Monitoring Tools

These are the most common types of network monitoring tools. They use a standard-based SNMP protocol to monitor the network and identify pre-determined red flag aspects, such as memory consumption. Once they notice these triggers, the platforms generate alerts for the administrator to see and fix the problem.

Flow-based Network Performance Monitoring Tools

Flow-based tools, or traffic flow tools, are meant to gather real-time data and show you statistics about everything on your network. This can help you identify performance issues in a particular server and find a faster solution.

These tools work by capturing a flow and sending it to a storage center, where it is processed and translated into data that you can read to understand the behavior of a particular server.

Active Network Monitoring

Finally, the last type of software is active network monitoring, which releases real packets into the network and measures specific properties to make sure they meet the pre-established parameters.

This is usually used to test applications and improve their performances. Moreover, it is a highly accurate and efficient measuring method, as you get to test the entire network from the user’s perspective instead of measuring individual components.

Trends in IT Server Network Monitoring Software 

The current cyber-trends may also affect which network monitoring software is the best for you, as they may shape your current and future needs. Therefore, you must keep the following aspects in mind when choosing your system.

Device Sprawl Affects Network Monitoring Posture

When the pandemic started, remote working became the default option for most companies globally. This reality pushed IT departments to acquire new technology to support an online workforce.

However, this caused a series of problems, and one of them is delimiting which devices are allowed to enter the enterprise’s network. This is a severe problem because workers use virtually any device they have at their houses, which could potentially cause data leaks. Therefore, network monitoring systems are crucial to avoid this.

Growth of Open-source Network Monitoring Software

Open-source monitoring tools have become extremely popular in the past few years due to their highly customizable settings, which are meant to suit the particular needs of every business. However, you need to be aware you may have a slight learning curve when using these systems. 

Increased Focus on User Monitoring and User Experience

Initially, these platforms were focused on the internal aspects of the network, but IT has become much more customer-focused in recent years. Hence, enterprises began using monitoring software to track their users’ behavior and improve their experience.

Moreover, this is also useful for tracking suspicious behavior and preventing data thefts.

Consolidating Network Management in a Single Tool

Simplicity is key. In the past, many businesses would hire dozens of management tools, which is highly unproductive and could cause compatibility issues. Therefore, you must find a tool that meets as many needs as possible.

Which Is the Best IT Server Network Monitoring Software?

It is extremely hard to choose only one IT network monitoring software, which is why we recommend trying out as many as you can until you find the one that suits you better. 

You can start with those we listed at the start of this article, which are the very best IT server network monitoring software.

How to Choose the Right IT Server Network Monitoring Software

You must consider several aspects before choosing your IT network monitoring software. Remember, we are here to help you, and you can ask us about anything, which is why we gathered the following list of aspects that you should keep in mind when trying out network monitoring services.

• Make sure to be aware of your priorities. Sometimes the best software isn’t the most expensive, so you must know what you’re looking for before committing to a platform.
• It must be customizable and have excellent usability. Even if you find the perfect software, it isn’t going to be worth it if it is hard to use.
• If you plan on growing your network, your system must also be able to support as many nodes as you wish to add later on.

Conclusion

Network management tools are extremely important for any online business that aims to increase its productivity and become much more efficient. Now you know everything you need to find the best IT server network management software, but if you’re still unsure which one to get, please feel free to check out our curated list of the best systems we could find.

Remember that every business has different needs, and the only way to be sure if you have found the right system is by testing it out.