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Simple internet bandwidth network monitoring tool

I’m looking for a simple network monitoring tool that will show me real time who is using my broadband bandwidth. Ideally program will run on a Windows Server 2003 machine but could run on a XP client if needed. Program doesn’t have to do anything more than show me IP Address, bandwidth %, bytes sent, bytes received of each connection. All servers and clients use the broadband draytek router as a gateway.

Data switch is mirroring all WAN traffic to the port the server is on, so server should see everything. Ideally program should inspect TCP/IP packets and not require SNMP. I tried SolarWinds Real Time Netflow Analyser but couldn’t get the node working.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Peter.

Coast-IT

I know you say it shouldn't use SNMP, but it is a whole lot easier setting a SNMP password on the box then using Paessler's free tool for monitoring interface usage.

Either way, this would be the tool for you

free version should do what you need;

http://www.paessler.com/

Peter_Cull

ASKER

Thanks Coast-IT. I have a HP DL160 G5 server running Windows Server 2003. How do you enable SNMP and set a password? Is this done in Windows or using a HP tool?

Coast-IT

If you are using a Draytek, you can log into it, and go into data flow monitor ;

http://www.support.draytek.co.uk/kb_vigor_dataflowmonitor.html

You can set up SNMP on the server, but all Internet traffic would need to go through the server for this to be of any use.

An easy way to do what you want to do without spending any more on hardware is to do all of your work via the Draytek.

You can set a threshold in Paessler and once this threshold is reached, you can view data flow monitor on the router to see how the culprit is.

There is a great page here detailing Paessler and Draytek.

Monitoring and reporting needs to be on the gateway, which in this case is the Draytek ;

http://www.draytek.com/.upload/pdffiles/ceb91468d64f0d5e7360ffe029660869.pdf

Peter_Cull

ASKER

Thanks Coast-IT but my ISP doesn't allow me to log onto the Draytek Router. I don't have any logon details. They will happily charge me to do a report of LAN/WAN traffic. I will try to enable SNMP on my windows server and use Paessier.

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Coast-IT

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Peter_Cull

ASKER

My idea was to use port mirroring on my HP Procurve switch to mirror traffic from/to the Draytek Router onto the port my server connected to. Then run some sort of packet sniffer tool.

SNMP is a better approach. I've asked my ISP for read only SNMP credentials and am waiting their response. Thanks.

gengw2000

I would recommend "WFilter Enterprise", it enables you to monitor all computers real-time internet connections from a mirroring port.
Key features:

# Show online computers, online messengers, online browsing and downloading files.
# Show online internet connections and bandwidth usage.
# Monitor each computer's real-time bandwidth.
# Real-time keywords alert and application launching alert.

http://www.imfirewall.us

IamnotanExpert007

here is a simple network monitoring tool

http://www.manageengine.com/products/netflow/bandwidth-monitoring.html

here are some other software related to this topic
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/port_monitoring_software_software/

http://netsecurity.about.com/cs/hackertools/a/aafreenetmon.htm

this is the most useful software

http://netsecurity.about.com/cs/hackertools/a/aafreenetmon.htm

i have given you many link of related software

download as per requirement

thanks

madunix

it's not simple .... but i would give it a try
MRTG(opensource)
The Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) is a tool to monitor the traffic load on network links. MRTG generates HTML pages containing PNG images which provide a LIVE visual representation of this traffic.
Project Home Page :- http://oss.oetiker.ch/mrtg/

Peter_Cull

ASKER

ISP has agreed to supply me read only SNMP credentials on the Draytek router. They recommend using SolarWinds real time netflow analyzer.