What would be a trivial bottleneck in a small home or office network can become a snowballing avalanche of outages, delays, and angry customers in an enterprise network.

Server and application performance monitoring software can range from home-brewed solutions thrown together with a few lines of code, all the way up to enterprise-scale implementations designed to be used across a global network for large service providers.

With large networks that have the potential for hundreds of thousands or even millions of requests each day, even the most minuscule delays can amount to hours of collectively lost time. Choosing the right tools for monitoring performance is vital.

Here is our list of the best server and applications performance monitors available:

  • SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor EDITOR’S CHOICE A premium server and application monitor that integrates on a common platform with other SolarWinds infrastructure management tools. Start a 30-day free trial.
  • Paessler PRTG Network Monitor (FREE TRIAL) An integrated network, server, and applications monitor. Runs on Windows Server. You can evaluate the software on a free 30-day trial.
  • Datadog Server & Applications Performance Monitoring (FREE TRIAL) Server and application performance monitoring for on-premises, remote and cloud-based servers from this SaaS platform.
  • Atera (FREE TRIAL) A system monitoring service that covers servers, applications, and networks. Aimed at MSPs.
  • Sematext Infrastructure Monitoring (FREE TRIAL) A cloud-based system that extracts performance data from uploaded log records. Available in free and paid versions.
  • Site24x7 Server Monitoring (FREE TRIAL) A cloud-based infrastructure management tool that monitors networks, and servers, and applications.
  • LibreNMS Free, open-source network monitoring system that can be customized.
  • ManageEngine OpManager Network management tool that installs on Windows Server and Linux.
  • Open NMS Free, open-source available in stable and Beta editions.
  • P5 Integrated infrastructure monitoring system that includes server and applications management.
  • Icinga Free, open-source network monitoring tool with community-written add-ons available.
  • Anturis Cloud-based infrastructure monitoring system available in both free and paid versions.
  • LogicMonitor An online service that is charged for by subscription. Includes process automation.

Every administrator is going to have a slightly different take on what’s ideal for performance monitoring. Some will want to see every last detail of resource usage and optimize all their applications to fit that need. Others are purely interested in service response and uptime. Most will want a mix of both. None of these approaches are wrong, and finding the right server monitor that fits your needs is a huge part of network optimization.

What to look for in a server monitoring tool

Performance and resource usage of the application itself

  • Good monitoring applications will use a minimum of resources to do their job. Even comprehensive networking suites usually place a strong focus on minimizing the amount of system and network resources they use to do their jobs. The best performance monitors will utilize just enough resources to effectively maintain close watch over the nodes they are assigned to.

Versatility

  • Before jumping into any application, it’s good to know exactly what it needs to do in a given network. Some performance monitors are very basic, only tracking system resource usage on a server. Others are more robust and will track everything from bandwidth to system usage and perform in-depth analysis on a node-by-node basis. These systems often come in larger packages designed or intended to be used with other applications to create a full network management system. Deciding which features are needed on your network will help you narrow down which pieces of software will potentially work for you.

Presentation and ease of use

  • Many performance monitoring applications come with detailed graphs, charts, and statistical information to help you better understand how your network is working. The way this information is displayed plays a big part in how useful it will ultimately be. The way this information is presented and organized is also a huge factor in how easy the software is to use. Being able to quickly identify which parts of a usage report are valuable to your network will increase efficiency and help you get more out of your software.

Deployment

  • Does the software need to be installed on one centralized control location, or on every node it is monitoring? Is it a cloud-based service? Are agents easily installed if they need to be placed on multiple nodes throughout the network? Even small networks should take this into consideration, as ease of installation on a given device can vary widely from network to network.

The best server and application performance monitoring tools

There is no “one size fits all” solution to server performance monitoring, so we’ve compiled a list that comprises a range of platforms and applications. This list includes everything from open-source, free solutions, to enterprise-grade paid implementations used by some of the biggest networking giants on the planet. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the goal is to help find the right one that works for your network.

1. SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (FREE TRIAL)

The first entry on this list, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, is a standalone product in the overarching Orion platform family developed by SolarWinds. An extremely versatile application monitor that is designed to scale with your network, Server & Application Monitor can be set up to be a one-stop-shop for a variety of networking needs.

Key Features:

  • On-site server monitoring
  • Cloud platform monitoring
  • Application dependency mapping
  • Configuration controls
  • Hardware warranty tracking

Thanks to its quick and easy setup, Server & Application Monitor can be rapidly deployed to monitor large and complex network environments. SolarWinds provides an exhaustive list of application monitoring templates so that it can be tailored to fit almost any environment.

It allows for infrastructure monitoring on both AWS and Azure cloud-based IaaS configurations, giving administrators the control they need over their entire network, regardless of physical location or setup. Virtualization monitoring is also available, giving Server and Application Monitor the versatility it needs to fit into the vast majority of network and service designs.

Automatic asset discovery and an active inventory help make even complex networks a breeze to establish within the software, and SolarWinds product enables storage performance monitoring to help ensure smooth data access across large storage platforms. The software is able to help diagnose and identify the root cause of application problems for quick solutions to potential issues.

As a part of the larger Orion platform, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor can be combined with other products to give comprehensive management coverage over web performance, network, database, and virtualized resource configuration and monitoring. SolarWinds offer a free 30-day download for evaluation on their site.

Pros:

  • Designed with large and enterprise networks in mind
  • Supports auto-discovery that builds network topology maps and inventory lists in real-time based on devices that enter the network
  • Has some of the best alerting features that balance effectiveness with ease of use
  • Supports both SNMP monitoring as well as packet analysis, giving you more control over monitoring than similar tools
  • Uses drag and drop widgets to customize the look and feel of the dashboard
  • Robust reporting system with pre-configured compliance templates

Cons:

  • Designed for IT professionals, not the best option for non-technical users

2. Paessler PRTG Network Monitor (FREE TRIAL)

EDITOR’S CHOICE

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is our top pick for a server and applications monitoring tool because it includes an autodiscovery function that will generate hardware and software inventories and then track the lifecycle of those IT assets. This service identifies application and service dependencies, so you get a map of how all of your software interacts with each other and with server resources. This provides an instant root cause analysis when things go wrong. You can identify the exact cause of all of your problems and get the system running well very quickly. The tool also provides alerts for performance issues, so you can get on with other tasks knowing that you will be notified if your attention is needed.

Download: Get a 30-day free trial

Official Site: https://www.solarwinds.com/server-performance-configuration-bundle/registration

OS: Windows Server

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor is a highly customizable performance monitoring solution that extends its flexibility all the way down to its pricing system. With a freeware version offering up to 100 free “sensors,” this can be a good option for networks that will scale over time without breaking the bank.

  • Assemble your ideal package
  • Generates a hardware inventory
  • Server resource availability tracking
  • Choice of application sensors

Each monitored resource on a given device is considered a “sensor.” As an example, monitoring the CPU usage on a server would be a single sensor. PRTG estimates that most devices would require anywhere from four to seven sensors each, so even its freeware version can work for small- to medium-sized networks.

Automatic device discovery enables fast deployment, and PRTG can monitor on-site or cloud-based resources. Customized alerts and bandwidth monitoring provide critical details on network and application slowdowns. A wide range of data presentation options help the analysis of key performance information in a way that makes sense to its users.

The software’s pricing is based on how many of these sensors will be deployed across a network, with different price tiers based on total sensors. You can download and evaluate PRTG Network Monitor on a free 30-day trial.

  • Uses a combination of packet sniffing, WMI, and SNMP to report network performance as well as discover new devices

  • Autodiscovery reflects the latest inventory changes almost instantaneously

  • Drag and drop editor makes it easy to build custom views and reports

  • Supports a wide range of alert mediums such as SMS, email, and third-party integration

  • Supports a freeware version

  • Is a very comprehensive platform with many features and moving parts that require time to learn

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor Download 30-day FREE Trial

3. Datadog Server & Applications Performance Monitoring (FREE TRIAL)

Datadog provides a SaaS system management platform, which includes server monitoring tools. The server supervision utilities are included in the Datadog Infrastructure module. This suite of tools can be used as a standalone service or combined with other infrastructure monitoring facilities, such as Datadog Network Performance.

  • SaaS package
  • Server capacity visualizations
  • Anomaly detection

The Infrastructure system is a subscription service and it is available in three plans – the cheapest of these is Free. The two paid plans are Pro, at $15 per host per month and Enterprise, which is priced at $23 per host per month.

All plans are hosted in the cloud and can monitor servers anywhere, even those that are also based in the cloud. The Free service includes all of the great server performance monitoring features of the paid version. However, it lacks the alerting system of the higher plans. The free version also isn’t able to integrate with other utilities and it doesn’t include container monitoring or outlier detection like the paid plans.

Datadog has some very advanced features that aren’t often encountered in server monitors. These are AI-based machine learning routines and they are only included with the Enterprise plan. The AI service, called Watchdog, will discover problems much faster than standard threshold-based performance monitors. The other AI feature of Datadog is called Correlations. It can identify the root cause of a problem, enabling your tech team to save time when they need to fix server performance problems quickly.

Cost-saving assistants in the Datadog Infrastructure system include an automatically created host map, which can identify underutilized servers as well as show which servers are getting close to full capacity. The dashboard can be manipulated and customized through drag-and-drop methods. It works on a drill-down system, which makes it easy to spot where problems are occurring and then investigate quickly.

  • Easy-to-use customizable dashboards

  • Cloud-based SaaS product allows monitoring with no server deployments or onboarding costs

  • Can monitor both internally and externally giving network admins a holistic view of network performance and accessibility

  • Supports auto-discovery that builds network topology maps on the fly

  • Changes made to the network are reflected in near real-time

  • Allows businesses to scale their monitoring efforts reliably through flexible pricing options

  • Would like to see a longer trial period for testing

Datadog offers a 14-day free trial for both of its paid Infrastructure plans.

Datadog Server & Applications Performance Monitoring Start 14-day FREE Trial

4. Sematext Infrastructure Monitoring (FREE TRIAL)

Sematext Infrastructure Monitoring offers a cloud platform for system monitoring. The basis of this tool lies in log file management. Log messages contain constant reports on system activities, including the workings of servers, services, and applications.

  • Physical servers and cloud platforms
  • Hypervisors and containers
  • Distributed tracing

The Sematext system can monitor all of your servers wherever you are. The cloud location of this service means that it isn’t limited to scouting around one network. The dashboard offers an overview of all server activities and lets you drill down to views of the performance of each server.

The server properties that the Sematext system tracks include CPU, memory, disk, and I/O interface capacity and utilization. It is possible to sort and filter the live reports that the Sematext dashboard shows and also access historical data to watch resource utilization over time.

As well as using the service for system capacity assessments, you can set up performance thresholds that will trigger alerts if crossed. This allows you to leave Sematext to perform automated system monitoring.

The capabilities of Sematext Infrastructure Monitoring extend to virtual systems, including containers, virtualizations, and cloud resources. The activities of these virtual systems can be connected through to resource usage on the underlying physical servers.

Other services that the Sematext Infrastructure Monitoring system covers include databases and application performance. Application tracking includes transaction tracing that will record actions through layers of services across the internet to remote microservices supporting the APIs that your system uses.

Sematext Infrastructure Monitoring is a metered service with three plans. The first of these is Basic, which is free and will monitor up to three hosts. The next plan up is Standard, which is charged at $0.007 per host per hour. The Pro plan has a longer data retention period and more service features and costs $0.011 per host per hour. You can access a 14-day free trial of Sematext Infrastructure Monitoring.

  • Monitors physical and virtual servers, correlating events through layers of infrastructure

  • Offers live performance data as well as the opportunity to query historical data

  • Includes transaction tracing through to remote, third-party services

  • Provides the opportunity to set performance thresholds that trigger alerts when crossed

  • Unifies the monitoring of servers on multiple sites plus cloud resources

  • The tool offers a large amount of data that you need to learn how to filter

Sematext Infrastructure Monitoring Start 14-day FREE Trial

5. Atera (FREE TRIAL)

Atera is a system monitor that is designed for use by managed service providers (MSPs). This is a cloud-based platform that combines both remote monitoring and management (RMM) services and the professional services automation (PSA) functions that MSPs use to run their businesses.

  • Versions for IT departments and MSPs
  • Software deployment and patching
  • Automated server performance monitoring

Atera audits servers as soon as it is put into service for a new client. It monitors the CPU, memory, and ports of the server to ensure that they are not hitting their full capacity and impairing performance. The tool will also take an inventory of all of the software installed on servers and match those up with the licenses that the client possesses. The software inventory also supports software updates and system patch management.

The Atera monitors supervise the actions and performance of applications, such as database management systems and web and email servers. The combination of network, server, and application monitors make this tool an ideal system for keeping track of the performance of virtualizations. Atera is particularly adept and monitoring Hyper-V implementations.

The Atera platform is delivered from the cloud – the MSP doesn’t need to install any software. The technicians of the MSP access the Atera dashboard through a standard web browser or a special mobile app. As it is geared to monitoring remote systems, the Atera service is able to serve multi-site networks, and can also monitor cloud servers.

Atera is a subscription service, charged for per technician per month. There is also a yearly subscription rate, which works out cheaper. You can get a 30-day free trial to test Atera before subscribing.

  • Minimalistic interface makes it easy to view the metrics that matter most

  • Flexible pricing model makes it a viable option for small businesses

  • Includes multiple PSA features, great for helpdesk teams and growing MSPs

  • Can track SLAs and includes a time-tracking option for maintenance tasks

  • Smaller organizations may not able to use MSP-specific options

Atera Start 30-day FREE Trial

6. Site24x7 Server Monitoring (FREE TRIAL)

Site24x7 is a cloud-based infrastructure monitor that is available in tailored packages for website monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, and application performance monitoring.

  • Combines networks, server, and application monitoring
  • Monitor on-site servers and cloud platforms
  • Code profiling

Server statuses monitored by Site24x7 include CPU performance, memory capacity, disk space usage, and network interface activity rates. It can integrate with Active Directory and manage Syslog and Windows Event log records.

The application monitor in Site24x7 is able to track the performance of databases, web servers, and email servers. It is also able to analyze the performance of all software running on a server, getting down to code level. The code analyzer looks for inefficient processes written in for Java, Node.js, Ruby on Rails, and PHP. Application performance alert thresholds are constantly revised by Site24x7 through an AI-based machine-learning process.

Site24x7 is charged for on a subscription basis, monthly or yearly. The Pro package includes both server and application monitoring and you can get a 30-day free trial.

  • One of the most holistic monitoring tools available, supporting networks, infrastructure, and real user monitoring in a single platform

  • Uses real-time data to discover devices and build charts, network maps, and inventory reports

  • Is one of the most user-friendly network monitoring tools available

  • User monitoring can help bridge the gap between technical issues, user behavior, and business metrics

  • Supports a freeware version for testing

  • Is a very detailed platform that will require time to fully learn all of its features and options

Site24x7 Server Monitoring Start 30-day FREE Trial

7. LibreNMS

A popular open-source NMS software, LibreNMS is the first entirely free entry on this list. It has a detailed and extensive knowledge base to help new users get accustomed to the software. Years of combined community collaboration and tinkering has led to numerous plugins, variations, and implementations of LibreNMS.

  • Free and open source
  • Device discovery
  • Hardware inventory

Automatic network discovery is supported by a huge range of plugins designed for device configuration, performance monitoring, and consistent performance. Oxidized, RANCID, and Nisen are just a few popular plugins that are easily paired with LibreNMS for a comprehensive network management system.

LibreNMS also supports access to the platform from a mobile device with an available Android and iOS app. This gives administrators control over their networks even when away from the office. Distributed polling gives LibreNMS the capability to scale and provide a solution even for large networks.

As open-source software, LibreNMS has a huge amount of depth and flexibility, but most of its advantages will come from experienced users with the time to dive into the nitty-gritty insides of LibreNMS. While diving into LibreNMS’ codebase isn’t a requirement by any means, most of its strengths shine when it’s operated by individuals who are not afraid to get their hands dirty. Read the installation docs to get started.

  • Completely free platform

  • Open source transparent project

  • A wide variety of plugin options for monitoring

  • Users are reliant on community forums and knowledgebases for support

  • Is more technically challenging than similar application monitors

  • The interface is not easy to customize

See also: Application Mapping Tools

8. ManageEngine OpManager

ManageEngine’s OpManager is a dedicated performance and infrastructure monitoring tool. It provides scaling performance monitoring across a range of devices and includes all the standard performance monitoring statistics, including CPU usage, memory, storage, and more.

  • Network and server monitoring
  • Database monitoring
  • Monitors virtualizations and containers

ManageEngine’s major selling point for OpManager is its inclusion in the larger ManageEngine product family, making it a single cog in a larger wheel of networking products. It can function perfectly well as a standalone product but was designed with the intention of being used with other ManageEngine software to comprehensively manage larger networks.

OpManager also features PGSQL database statistics, giving DBAs detailed information on performance and query times across large networks. This tool helps give data-intensive networks that are heavily reliant on databases a valued tool in reducing query times and improving efficiency.

OpManager includes a fair amount of customization in terms of monitoring configurations and custom alerts, helping to give administrators only the information and warnings they need to run their networks effectively. ManageEngine offers a 30-day free trial download for evaluation.

  • Designed to work right away, features over 200 customizable widgets to build unique dashboards and reports

  • Features traffic management options alongside DPI tools

  • Uses intelligent alerting to reduce false positives and eliminate alert fatigue across larger networks

  • Supports email, SMS, and webhook for numerous alerting channels

  • Can set up SLAs based on network, application, or process.

  • Is a feature-rich tool that will require a time investment to properly learn

9. OpenNMS

The second open-source entry on this list, OpenNMS is a network management software with a lot of utility and a dedicated user base. There are two branching distributions of OpenNMS, each with their own unique advantages.

The first, Meridian, is the standard OpenNMS distribution. It is essentially the “stable release” of OpenNMS and features the most product and community support of the two releases. The majority of OpenNMS users will choose to run Meridian.

The second distribution is Horizon. It could loosely be described as a beta platform for new technologies, ideas, and implementations. There is significantly less documentation and community support for Horizon, as most users will be coding and documenting for Meridian. It exemplifies the bleeding edge of OpenNMS open-source framework.

  • Free and paid versions
  • Monitors servers and networks
  • Generates a hardware inventory

OpenNMS features configurable service monitoring, performance management via a range of standard protocols, and allows for customized alerts. Automatic network discovery combined with topology discovery helps for quick and easy setup along with additional insights into the framework of its assigned network.

OpenNMS also integrates easily into existing infrastructure, with a significant amount of documentation from its community, to help with easy setup and integration into an existing platform. Read the installation docs to get started.

  • Open source projects, lots of room for customization, and personalized add-ons

  • Has a large amount of documentation available

  • Features two versions, a stable version and a beta test version for new features

  • Offers a wide range of monitoring options and flexible alert notifications

  • Is more complicated to set up than paid tools that focus on streamlining the onboarding process

  • Users rely on help documents and forums for support, which isn’t always the quickest way to resolve issues

  • It can take a long time to get things working the way you want them on the platform

10. OP5 Monitor

Designed specifically to be used as an enterprise-scale network performance monitoring solution, OP5 handles expansive networking environments extremely well. Everything from its dashboard, to its network mapping display, to the customization available within the software points to OP5’s intended usage as a service-provider scale monitoring platform.

  • IT asset monitoring
  • Monitor on-site and cloud resources
  • AI-based demand predictions

A great example of this is OP5’s macro view of monitored network nodes. An available map widget gives a real, global picture of how each system is interconnected based on geographic location.

OP5’s flexibility comes from its inclusion of widgets that can be added or removed from the central dashboard, giving administrators full control over the amount of information displayed. These widgets can be configured to display compartmentalized information to different departments to help personnel focus on critical data.

Visual reporting gives detailed information on potential bottlenecks or problem areas. These visual representations include graphs and charts to get a clear picture of when and where an issue could arise.

Additional redundancy monitoring helps further reinforce OP5’s design goal of being a one-stop-shop for enterprise-scale networking monitoring needs. Find out more about pricing on their download page.

  • Focuses primarily on offering their services to large enterprises

  • All features and interfaces are designed to scale and handle large amounts of data well

  • Simple widget customizations can be added or removed

  • Offers geolocation mapping, and dependency mapping to help visualize complicated network services

  • Must contact sales for accurate pricing information

  • The interface could be made more user-friendly with fewer menu options

11. Icinga 2

Another open-source performance monitoring tool, Icinga 2 is designed to provide robust performance monitoring while consuming a minimal amount of system resources. Available in a number of different variants and distributions, Icinga touts a huge amount of flexibility in an entirely free package.

  • Free and open source
  • Monitors networks, servers, and applications
  • Cloud and virtualization monitoring

Able to be integrated with other popular open-source tools, Icinga 2 can comprise one part of a complete network performance monitoring solution that is scalable to almost any size. Dynamic customization within the software itself, along with rules-based performance configurations allows administrators to tweak Icinga’s installation to meet their needs.

Icinga 2 efficiently uses system resources to create a bare-bones resource footprint while still providing enterprise-grade performance monitoring and statistics. Detailed performance data help guide users to potential problem areas, and a comprehensive alert system warns administrators of impending disaster.

As an open-source tool, much of Icinga’s flexibility comes in the numerous variants and plugins that can be utilized with the application. Even without extensive tweaking and research, Icinga 2 is incredibly capable as an out-of-the-box performance monitoring solution, but open-source enthusiasts will welcome the additional versatility that design philosophy provides. Visit their repositories on Github for download and installation information.

  • Transparent open-source tool

  • Can be configured via GUI or DSL, making it a good choice for admins who enjoy CLI tools

  • Supports built-in visual reporting

  • Modules allow for different functionality, keeping the base installation sleek and lightweight

  • Can run on Linux as well as Windows operating systems

  • Reliant upon the open-source community for support and updates

  • Designed for more technical users, other options have better out-of-box features

12. Anturis

Anturis offers a performance monitoring platform that is a SaaS cloud-based implementation. This gives it some unique upsides for network administrators seeking a more mobile monitoring platform to work with. Anturis has options for both agent and agent-less deployments, making it incredibly useful for highly mobile networking environments, or as a bridge platform to work from on more fluid networking setups.

  • SaaS package
  • Monitors sites and cloud platforms
  • Alerts for server problems

As a cloud-based service itself, it makes sense for Anturis to be able to monitor cloud-based services, and it is able to do so with minimal setup. It can monitor across multiple geographic locations, further reinforcing its design philosophy of being able to handle highly complex, extremely mobile networking infrastructures. This also gives it good marks as a scaling performance software able to handle large network monitoring.

A range of custom notifications and delivery methods keep administrators alerted to the key details and critical systems that need to be given attention for consistent service. Anturis can track standard performance metrics on servers and monitor networks for traffic to improve bandwidth and help identify problem areas where changes may be needed. Anturis offer a range of free and paid plans to suit your network’s needs.

  • Provides monitoring as a flexible SaaS product

  • Designed to provide application monitoring across multiple locations and a mix of environments

  • Monitoring capabilities scale well, good for budding mid-sized companies and enterprises

  • Offers a free plan for smaller networks and testing purposes

  • The interface could be made easier to navigate with fewer nested menus

13. LogicMonitor

Another SaaS cloud-based performance monitoring solution, LogicMonitor gives the same flexible advantages to dynamic networking environments that can utilize a more mobile monitoring application. Able to be quickly deployed and take advantage of automated device discovery, LogicMonitor can analyze resource usage on both on-site and cloud-based infrastructure.

  • Cloud-based
  • Capacity exhaustion predictions
  • Good for database monitoring

A customized dashboard can have information compartmentalized to provide information to groups or personnel that need it most. With a wide range of data presentation options, this information can be customized to quickly give important details on usage statistics, system loads, and application performance.

Flexible alerting and the ability to monitor and analyze network configurations in real-time give additional utility to LogicMonitor. It can actively monitor configuration changes and look for performance impacts to help give ever-changing networks valuable insight into the overall health of the network. LogicMonitor offers a 14-day free trial on their website.

  • Monitors application performance via the cloud

  • Can monitor assets in hybrid cloud environments

  • The dashboard can be customized and saved, great for different NOC teams or individual users

  • The trial is only 14 days, would like to see a longer testing period

Choosing a Server and Applications monitoring tool

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor and PRTG Network Monitor are two of the highest-performance tools on this list. The variety of infrastructure they can monitor has made them two of the best performance monitoring tools in the world.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor can monitor hardware as well as AWS and Azure IaaS infrastructure.

PRTG Network Monitor has its own unique sensors that you can download to monitor individual tools. For smaller organizations, PRTG Network Monitor is a particularly great choice. The reason is that there is a free version that supports up to 100 sensors. 100 sensors will cover many smaller networks without the hefty price tag that is associated with network monitoring products.

It is worth mentioning that both tools bring convenience to the table as well. PRTG Network Monitor and SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor each have an autodiscovery feature to identify devices in your network automatically. Autodiscovery makes sure that you’re always working with the most up-to-date version of your networking environment.

  • Best System Monitoring Software