TABLE OF CONTENTS:
• Product features
• User Interface
• Monitoring
• Netflow & sFlow Traffic Analysis
• Mapping
• Alerting & Notifications
• Support
Simplify your network monitoring evaluation
While network monitoring software may be a universal necessity these days, the features and costs can range dramatically. It’s important to evaluate the benefits, cost, and ease-of-use of each option before making a decision.
This interactive checklist can help you identify your must-have features, compare vendors, and simplify your decision-making process. You'll also see how Intermapper, our own user-friendly network monitoring tool for macOS, Windows, and Linux, stacks up.
Related Content: Go deeper with our Ultimate Buyer's Guide.
| PRODUCT FEATURES Industrial-strength network mapping, monitoring, and alerting software. |
Others | Intermapper |
| Maps and monitors thousands of devices and interfaces, live in real time | ✓ | |
| Monitor everything from the server, no agent required | ✓ | |
| Provides custom reporting | ✓ | |
Runs on all major platforms/operating systems
|
✓ | |
| Runs on 64-bit OS platforms | ✓ | |
| Displays real-time knowledge about your network that’s not delayed by five-minute polling | ✓ | |
| Includes a preconfigured database, MS SQL not required | ✓ | |
| Single, one-time installation | ✓ | |
| Intuitive—does not require training or expertise to use | ✓ | |
| Get the state of devices and interfaces using virtually any protocol such as SNMP, TCP, ICMP, WMI, etc. or using scripting language such as Windows PowerShell | ✓ | |
| Low resource requirements—does not require high-end infrastructure to run | ✓ | |
| Free add-on to Splunk 7.3.x | ✓ | |
| Powerful network monitoring platform that does not require additional scalability engines | ✓ | |
| Reliable—set it and forget it | ✓ | |
| Works with any network hardware, physical or virtual | ✓ | |
| Comes with “helper apps” that can be customized to provide quick access to device troubleshooting or information on map creation | ✓ | |
| Set up access controls which allow you to limit who and from where someone can connect to the server, providing added security | ✓ | |
| Authenticates users through an external authentication directory (i.e. LDAP, RADIUS, Active Directory, IAS, Kerberos, and DND directories) | ✓ | |
| Integrates with Automate add-on and SIEM add-on | ✓ | |
| Complete audit log | ✓ | |
| USER INTERFACE Standard, web and remote access interfaces allow access anytime from any location. |
Others | Intermapper |
| Graphical user interface runs on central server or any remote desktop/laptop/mobile device | ✓ | |
| Same look and feel, no matter what OS used | ✓ | |
| Access the product from anywhere via web browser | ✓ | |
| Graphical map provides actionable information, including real-time status of your network | ✓ | |
| Interface is customizable for each user: they can control shape and size of icons, devices displayed in map, status windows, etc. | ✓ | |
| MONITORING Monitors every device in your environment with an IP address, live. |
Others | Intermapper |
| Strip charts present a graph of historical performance, allowing for trend analysis | ✓ | |
| Optionally stores all the data collected on its own server or SAN | ✓ | |
| Comes with hundreds of built-in probes, and users can create additional, custom probes to monitor devices | ✓ | |
| Off-server storage options help protect your data | ✓ | |
| Short polling interval gives you more real-time information than other products and can also detect traffic microbursts | ✓ | |
| Designate custom polling intervals depending on the network data desired | ✓ | |
Layer 3 traffic-monitoring feature includes:
|
✓ | |
| Collects operational statistics including response time, packet loss, and other values specific to the device being monitored | ✓ | |
Remote access feature allows you to access the software and manage your network from any location
|
✓ | |
| Device Status Window displays static information (such as device name, IP and MAC address, sysLocation and SysContact) as well as dynamic data including:
|
✓ | |
| A single interface status window displays availability, transmit and receive statistics, and utilization rates, among other metrics, for all of the interfaces on a particular device | ✓ | |
| Monitor switches, routers, interfaces, wireless access points, servers, firewalls, or any other network device. | ✓ | |
| Virtual network monitoring for AWS | ✓ | |
| NETFLOW AND SFLOW TRAFFIC ANALYSIS Find the biggest talkers, listeners, and traffic bottlenecks. |
Others | Intermapper |
| Proactively monitors bandwidth utilization | ✓ | |
| Live, visual traffic flows | ✓ | |
| Retains all flow data (not just top-N data sources) | ✓ | |
Stores network flow data for:
|
✓ | |
| Data broken out by applications, conversations, domains, endpoints, and protocols | ✓ | |
| Support for NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow, and cFlow | ✓ | |
| Displays network infrastructure metrics that help you meet SLAs and stay compliant | ✓ | |
| Easily identify top talkers, top hosts and top listeners on your network to quickly resolve network congestion before it impacts network performance | ✓ | |
| MAPPING Real-time mapping with live, color-coded alerting. |
Others | Intermapper |
| Auto-discovers every IP-enabled device on your network, eliminating the need to manually enter device information | ✓ | |
| Provides big picture view and easy access to highly granular detail | ✓ | |
| IT professional, compliance officer, internal auditor, or business manager can quickly, completely and accurately document the design or assets of your network | ✓ | |
| Create customized maps with different layouts (geographical, physical, hierarchical), background images, and icons | ✓ | |
| Dynamically update changes to your network automatically via a living map. No need to update separate network diagrams stored in 3rd party software like Visio diagrams | ✓ | |
| Easily integrates with Google Maps, Google Earth, floor plans, and more | ✓ | |
| Submaps let you layer your network views for easier location of devices and overall monitoring, drilling down into very specific details of your network | ✓ | |
| Scheduled auto-discovery of new devices at specified dates/times | ✓ | |
| Ability to scan an IP address range or subnet for more granular monitoring | ✓ | |
| Real-time notifications when new network devices are detected | ✓ | |
| Separate interface displays newly-discovered devices that can then be added to active maps | ✓ | |
| Export maps to Microsoft Visio and .SVG format | ✓ | |
| Provides Layer 3 view of Network Topology or logical view of network | ✓ | |
| ALERTING AND NOTIFICATIONS Contact those who need to know the status of your network with multiple communication methods. |
Others | Intermapper |
| Powerful escalation and notification options | ✓ | |
| Build your own alerts by creating scripts that provoke action in response to failure | ✓ | |
| Customize alerts to be sent to specific individuals or groups | ✓ | |
| Notification schedules (e.g. time of day, weekend only, etc.) | ✓ | |
| A wide variety of alerting methods—sounds, email messages, pages, text messages to cell phones via SMS, SNMP traps, pop-up messages, syslogs, and more | ✓ | |
| Command line notifiers allow you to run a shell script, batch file, or exe file to be executed as a notification | ✓ | |
| Time delays minimize “nuisance” alarms | ✓ | |
| Ability to acknowledge an alert condition and assign it to specific person helps with auditing | ✓ | |
| Notifications can be assigned person-by-person to accommodate individual responsibilities or schedule shifts, or to entire groups of individuals, alarms | ✓ | |
| Supports HTTP APIs for retrieving and sending data, allowing you to integrate web services into external applications such as helpdesk apps | ✓ | |
| SUPPORT Dedicated to providing you unsurpassed technical support and service. |
Others | Intermapper |
| Speak to a live person, every time | ✓ | |
| Active user community | ✓ | |
| User community forum to share knowledge and discuss future enhancements | ✓ | |
| Continually adds new probes as part of the normal product release process | ✓ | |
| Unlimited email support during regular business hours | ✓ | |
| Minor and major product enhancements and fixes | ✓ | |
| Remote assistance via WebEx | ✓ | |
| Option to upgrade to unlimited support and receive additional training for new software versions | ✓ | |
Monitor Your Network Free for 30 Days
Intermapper has all the essential features you need to keep your network healthy. Live map all your devices, monitor in real time,
and get alerts when performance is out of whack.
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