[OPLINTECH] Network Monitoring Software

[Chad Neeper]

I leverage free and open source software whenever possible, so I'm not
familiar with the commercial offerings such as what you're using and I
don't know how the ones I've used compare, so YMMV. But both Zabbix and
Netdata are powerful enterprise-level solutions that may meet your needs
and might be worth investigating. Regarding cost, both are free solutions
but also have commercial-backed subscription options which presumably
provide additional capabilities. (But I don't subscribe to either.)

I've used Zabbix for monitoring my libraries' Windows servers, linux
servers, firewalls, network switches, VPNs, routers, etc. It's a robust
enterprise-level solution that gives you complete control over the level of
monitoring and metrics you want to collect data on, limited only by the
amount of effort you put into learning and configuring the system to suit
your needs.

While I still do maintain my Zabbix server, I've been largely phasing it in
favor of Netdata. For my own needs, Netdata essentially provides a turnkey
solution via its default client installation without any additional
configuration. In my use case, it requires very considerably less effort to
configure. There are some key differences in how the two solutions operate,
but Netdata with almost no additional configuration works perfectly for me.
In the way I use Netdata, I can't use it to monitor network appliances like
switches, routers, printers, so I probably won't *entirely* phase out my
Zabbix server and will just maintain a simple config for up/down status and
maybe some basic metrics/alerts on devices I don't otherwise have the
Netdata client installed on. But if you subscribe to the Netdata cloud
offering, perhaps/probably it would fill in those particular blanks.

2 cents. Good luck with your quest!

______________________________
*Chad Neeper*
Senior Systems Engineer

*Level 9 Networks*
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

*Full IT/Computer consulting services -- Specialized in public libraries*


On Wed, Mar 26, 2025 at 2:23 PM Kevin Freeman via OPLINTECH <
oplintech at lists.oplin.org> wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
>   The networking monitoring software we use is up for renewal with a very
> large price increase. We are currently using Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
> which is very good about alerting but I am not sure it is worth the price
> jump. I would like to know what other Network Monitoring tools others are
> using and how pricey they might be.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> Kevin Freeman
>
> Coordinator of Information Technology
>
> Fairfield County District Library
>
> 219 N Broad Street
>
> Lancaster, OH 43130
>
> 740-653-2745 ext 201
>
>
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> OPLINTECH mailing list
> OPLINTECH at lists.oplin.org
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>
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