Top 5 Network Administrator Tools

1. Microsoft Network Monitor

Microsoft Network Monitor is a packet analyzer that allows you to capture, view and analyze network traffic. This tool is handy for troubleshooting network problems and applications on the network. Main features include support for over 300 public and Microsoft proprietary protocols, simultaneous capture sessions, a Wireless Monitor Mode and sniffing of promiscuous mode traffic, amongst others. When you launch Microsoft Network Monitor, choose which adapter to bind to from the main window and then click “New Capture” to initiate a new capture tab. Within the Capture tab, click “Capture Settings” to change filter options, adapter options, or global settings accordingly and then hit “Start” to initiate the packet capture process.

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2. Nagios

Nagios is a powerful network monitoring tool that helps you to ensure that your critical systems, applications and services are always up and running. It provides features such as alerting, event handling and reporting. The Nagios Core is the heart of the application that contains the core monitoring engine and a basic web UI. On top of the Nagios Core, you are able to implement plugins that will allow you to monitor services, applications, and metrics, a chosen frontend as well as add-ons for data visualisation, graphs, load distribution, and MySQL database support, amongst others.

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Tip: If you want to try out Nagios without needing to install and configure it from scratch, download Nagios XI and enable the free version. Nagios XI is the pre-configured enterprise class version built upon Nagios Core and is backed by a commercial company that offers support and additional features such as more plugins and advanced reporting.

Note: The free version of Nagios XI is ideal for smaller environments and will monitor up to seven nodes.

Once you’ve installed and configured Nagios, launch the Web UI and begin to configure host groups and service groups. Once Nagios has had some time to monitor the status of the specified hosts and services, it can start to paint a picture of what the health of your systems look like.

3. OpenNMS

OpenNMS is an open source enterprise grade network management application that offers automated discovery, event and notification management, performance measurement, and service assurance features. OpenNMS includes a client app for the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch for on-the-go access, giving you the ability to view outages, nodes, alarms and add an interface to monitor.

Once you successfully login to the OpenNMS web UI, use the dashboard to get a quick ‘snapshot view’ of any outages, alarms or notifications. You can drill down and get more information about any of these sections from the Status drop down menu. The Reports section allows you to generate reports to send by e-mail or download as a PDF.

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4. Advanced IP Scanner

Advanced IP Scanner is a fast and easy to use network scanner that detects any network devices (including wireless devices such as mobile phones, printers and WIFI routers) on your network. It allows you to connect to common services such as HTTP, FTP and shared folders if they are enabled on the remote machine. You are also able to wake up and shut down remote computers.

The installer allows you to fully install the application on your machine or run the portable version. When you launch Advanced IP Scanner, start by going to Settings > Options to select which resources to scan and how fast/accurate you want the results to be. You can then choose which subnet to scan and proceed with pressing the “Scan” button. Once the scan is complete, expand the results to see which resources you are able to connect to for each discovered device.

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5. Capsa Free

Capsa Free is a network analyzer that allows you to monitor network traffic, troubleshoot network issues and analyze packets. Features include support for over 300 network protocols (including the ability to create and customize protocols), MSN and Yahoo Messenger filters, email monitor and auto-save, and customizable reports and dashboards.

When you launch Capsa, choose the adapter you want it to bind to and click “Start” to initiate the capture process. Use the tabs in the main window to view the dashboard, a summary of the traffic statistics, the TCP/UDP conversations, as well as packet analysis.