Network Monitor opinions 1

[MattWray]

I am looking for a strong network monitor. I'd like one that can monitor between routers, if at all possible.
Right now we use MRTG and it is great. But we have a flood of traffic going between 2 routers and cannot figure out where it is coming from.
I'd like one that I can monitor the entire network. All the sniffers I have can only monitor what hits my NIC. Are there any that can sniff thru switched networks?
All opinions and/or experiences are welcome!


Thanks,

Matt Wray
MCSE, MCSA, MCP, CCNA

http://www.sss-steel.com

 

[pansophic]

Does your switch support SNMP? I know cisco switches with router blades can be monitored with MRTG. I thought that all of the Catalyst switches could be monitored.

You can do port mirroring (called spanning in cisco's stuff) to allow you to monitor different segments of your switched network.

You might want to try Etherape with port mirroring, but you'll need to check the logs on your switch in order to determine which port to mirror.


pansophic

 

[MattWray]

<smack> That was the sound of my hand hitting my forehead!
I don't know why I never thought of that. I'm sure the switches support SNMP, they're brand new Catalyst 3500 series.
Does the MRTG output graphs per port? That would be perfect to figure out who the &quot;hogs&quot; are!
Thanks!

Thanks,

Matt Wray
MCSE, MCSA, MCP, CCNA

http://www.sss-steel.com

 

[pansophic]

I don't know myself. I've only used it when they had a router blade inserted, and we only monitored the WAN segments, not the LAN side. But I'm sure that the data is there, I just don't know if MRTG reads it.


pansophic

 

[FaiTHLeSS]

Yes if the Switch has snmp then you can monitor each port of the switch with mrtg, another bit of software you can use is network inspector but it doesnt come cheap. You can download a trial version from them

http://www.flukenetworks.com