Manage Your Office LAN with Network Monitoring Tools

Network monitoring is the job of managing a Local or Wide Area Network system, including both software and hardware components. It involves checking the status of the server, allocation of bandwidth and resolving issues. Traditionally, network monitoring was a cumbersome task. But now, small open-source network monitoring tools allow everyone to easily manage their home and office network like a pro.

The usual setup in a Local Area Network is a nodes-to-access point setup. Computers access each other and connect through the internet through a router or access point. For more computers, it is advised to have them connect to a single computer, called the server. The server is the one directly connected to the internet, and it takes care of exchanging packets to and from the modem, and between computers. In both cases, software for network monitoring plays an important role.

The software tells the different preferences for networking such as bandwidth allocation and access. For example, in an office, you don’t want a particular desktop to hoard much of the internet bandwidth. With a few commands on the monitoring tool, you can limit the data traffic that a computer can use for a specific time. With passwords and privacy monitoring, network software can also allow or block users from accessing specified computers via LAN.

Take Putty for example. It is a light yet effective networking tool, with the size of only 444 KB. It has full support for IPv4 and IPv6 protocols. Even if it is that small, it can manage all your networking needs for both Windows and UNIX systems. Putty works on the telnet, SSH protocols and serial cable setups. It can save your network settings. You can access Putty at any PC in the LAN, as long as you have a copy of it and you have the administrator’s username and password.

Another advantage of networking software is remote computer management. For example, you want to turn the server off or restart it for some changes to take effect. It will be hassle if it’s on another floor or a distant room. Simply run your Putty or similar software and input commands to restart the server.

Similar network monitoring tools, such as Network Ping, allows the administrator to monitor the networking activities of other nodes in the LAN. You can block their access to particular sites if you want. You can program your preferences to Network Ping. If changes on a node are deemed necessary by Ping, as you programmed it, it will automatically send alerts to the user of the node.


Visit my site Network Monitoring Software for a complete listing of Network Monitoring Tools and Network Management Software.