Top 10 Server Monitoring Tools

Server monitoring tools are used to monitor the system resources of servers. This software is used to collect and maintain performance data. Each server monitoring tool has its own features, but all are intended to help administrators in general situations. These tools allow you to view information on a variety of network devices, listen on ports and services provided by them, as well as events that occur on these resources.

The information collected by these tools is used to determine the cause of failures, or for help in planning to increase and improve server performance.

Tools for monitoring different networks and devices are suitable for different organizations. This is due to the differences in security requirements, network structure, internal programs of organization and other features. Based on these distinctions, manufacturers of server monitoring tools I provide a wide range of options to choose from:

To choose the best server monitoring solutions, you will need to know the specifics of your organization. It is best to determine what data you want collected and presented in reporting, as well as look at other capabilities that are important for monitoring servers located in the network.

It is also necessary to consider how much you can afford to pay for server monitoring solutions, and whether or not this amount fits into your budget.

Software tools monitor servers and network resources are paid, but not all expensive computer programs permit users to find a free solution Web server monitor. The number of available software solutions intended for monitoring different types of servers is growing every year. They are used not only by individual organizations and small businesses, but also by large corporations with an extensive range of services provided on a large scale.

In spite of the fact that there are many available solutions and servers monitoring tools, to implement a successful solution, it is necessary to choose one server monitoring tool. It should correspond to requirements in terms of quality and costs.

So what are the best tools available? Here are the top 10 server monitoring tools.

1. Nagios

Nagios is an open source system monitoring tool that provides detailed information about network resources like CPU load and network traffic, and also checks services like Apache web servers, FTP servers etc for availability and performance levels, alerting administrators through e-mail when any problems occur . One can observe all processes running on the host computer.

2. Zabbix

Zabbix is an enterprise-level open source network monitoring solution for heterogeneous networks, originally created by Alexei Vladishev in 2005 . It provides a web interface and the ability to monitor servers, services, devices and numerous other network resources . No cost versions are provided as well for personal use such as home business or small networks.

3. SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

SolarWinds is another popular tool that can track every aspect of your computer systems , from performance metrics to configuration data across an entire network to help you monitor, manage and resolve IT issues faster. It includes a powerful server monitoring service that can automatically alert you when a problem arises on your network .

4. Icinga

Icinga is an enterprise level open source tool for monitoring servers, applications and services across heterogeneous networks at no cost . Hosts or groups of hosts may be monitored for availability, density (CPU load, memory usage), processes, hardware utilization etc. Alerts are triggered for failures.

5. Cacti

Cacti is an open source, web-based front end for RRDTool , a data logging and graphing system for time series data. Cacti provides a fast poller, advanced graph templating, multiple data acquisition methods, user management features, and flexible reporting and notifications .

6. Opsview

The Opsview open source monitoring tool has been designed to provide complete oversight of the operating environment by tracking metrics such as server load and disk usage - all from one central location within the IT infrastructure . The platform is offered in both free (community) and paid (enterprise) versions.

7. Zabbix

Zabbix is an enterprise level open source network monitoring solution for heterogeneous networks, originally created by Alexei Vladishev in 2005 . It provides a web interface and the ability to monitor servers, services, devices and numerous other network resources . No cost versions are provided as well for personal use such as home business or small networks.

8. Nagios

9. ManageEngine OpManager

OpManager is an enterprise-grade server, network and application monitoring tool for heterogeneous IT environments that integrates with leading Enterprise Management Suites . Monitoring capabilities are derived by utilizing the software’s out-of-the box integration modules that can detect slowness of servers or services as well as unplanned events such as a system reboot due to power failure, intrusion detection etc. It also has intelligent distributed monitoring , offering load balancing across servers and fast failover in event of a problem.

10. Nagvis

Nagvis is an interactive map generator for creating visualizations of statistical data . The maps can display geographical information about visitors of websites, weather forecasts, election results etc., where each object on the map can be clicked to get more information. It is a visualization layer on top of other software such as Google vis and therefore makes use of its API .

Paid versions are also available for small businesses, allowing users to track up to 50 servers per server license. The free version is only restricted by number of hosts - 500 for each license.

To conclude, there are numerous open source tools available for monitoring and alerting in a network environment. The above selection is based on the popularity of these tools, their extensibility, ease of use as well as the ability to generate dynamic maps. The list does not include monitoring tools for dedicated purposes such as network traffic analysis or performance testing.