The open source network performance testing tool is one of the best free test management solution for the web site administrator who want to track the progress of there website, because it is an internet based software, but network performance tools are snmp monitoring kit is the best one.
Below are the top free open source network performance tools that I have used on multiple monitoring projects.
Cacti
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If you know anything about open source network monitoring tools, you’ve probably heard of Cacti. It’s a graphing solution that acts as an addition to RRDTool and is used by many network administrators to collect performance data in LANs. Cacti comes with Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support on Windows and Linux to create graphs of traffic data.
Cacti typically works by using data sourced from user-created scripts that ping hosts on a network. The values returned by the scripts are stored in a MySQL database, and this data is used to generate graphs.
This sounds complicated, but Cacti has templates to help speed the process along. You can also create a graph or data source template that can be used for future monitoring activity. If you’d like to try it out, download Cacti for free on Linux and Windows.
Nagios Core
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Nagios Core is one of the most well-known open source monitoring tools. It provides a network monitoring experience that combines open source extensibility with a top-of-the-line user interface. With Nagios Core, you can auto-discover devices, monitor connected systems, and generate sophisticated performance graphs.
Support for customization is one of the main reasons Nagios Core has become so popular. For example, Nagios V-Shell was added as a PHP web interface built in AngularJS, searchable tables and a RESTful API designed with CodeIgniter.
If you need more versatility, you can check the Nagios Exchange, which features a range of add-ons that can incorporate additional features into your network monitoring. These range from the strictly cosmetic to monitoring enhancements like nagiosgraph. You can try it out by downloading Nagios Core for free.
Icinga 2
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Icinga 2 is another widely used open source network monitoring tool. It builds on the groundwork laid by Nagios Core. It has a flexible RESTful API that allows you to enter your own configurations and view live performance data through the dashboard. Dashboards are customizable, so you can choose exactly what information you want to monitor in your network.
Visualization is an area where Icinga 2 performs particularly well. It has native support for Graphite and InfluxDB, which can turn performance data into full-featured graphs for deeper performance analysis.
Icinga2 also allows you to monitor both live and historical performance data. It offers excellent alerts capabilities for live monitoring, and you can configure it to send notifications of performance problems by email or text. You can download Icinga 2 for free for Windows, Debian, DHEL, SLES, Ubuntu, Fedora, and OpenSUSE.
Zabbix
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Zabbix is another industry-leading open source network monitoring tool, used by companies from Dell to Salesforce on account of its malleable network monitoring experience. Zabbix does network, server, cloud, application, and services monitoring very well.
You can track network information such as network bandwidth usage, network health, and configuration changes, and weed out problems that need to be addressed. Performance data in Zabbix is connected through SNMP, Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI), and IPv6.
Zabbix offers a high level of convenience compared to other open source monitoring tools. For instance, you can automatically detect devices connected to your network before using an out-of-the-box template to begin monitoring your network. You can download Zabbix for free for CentOS, Debian, Oracle Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, and Raspbian.
Prometheus
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Prometheus is an open source network monitoring tool with a large community following. It was built specifically for monitoring time-series data. You can identify time-series data by metric name or key-value pairs. Time-series data is stored on local disks so that it’s easy to access in an emergency.
Prometheus’ Alertmanager allows you to view notifications every time it raises an event. Alertmanager can send notifications via email, PagerDuty, or OpsGenie, and you can silence alerts if necessary.
Prometheus’ visual elements are excellent and allow you to switch from the browser to the template language and Grafana integration. You can also integrate various third-party data sources into Prometheus from Docker, StatsD, and JMX to customize your Prometheus experience.
As a network monitoring tool, Prometheus is suitable for organizations of all sizes. The onboard integrations and the easy-to-use Alertmanager make it capable of handling any workload, regardless of its size. You can download Prometheus for free.
AppNeta PathTest
AppNeta PathTest is a free network capacity testing tool designed to help businesses understand the true capacity of their network. PathTest seeks to improve layer 3 and layer 4 performance by displaying an accurate picture of your network’s maximum capabilities. It deliberately floods your network with data packets to fill the network to its full capacity. Users can set the duration of this test up to a maximum of 10 seconds and run the tests at any time.
Cacti
Cacti is an open source network monitoring tool based on RRDTool’s data logging and graphing system. The tool uses network polling and data collection functionality to gather information on devices on networks of any size. This includes the ability to design custom scripts for data collection alongside support for SNMP polling. It then displays this information in easy-to-understand graphs which can be arranged in whatever hierarchy your business is most comfortable with.
EventSentry Light
EventSentry Light is a free version of EventSentry’s SIEM, server monitoring, and network monitoring tool suite. The Light version still features the same event log monitoring capabilities as the full version, so your enterprise can collect and interpret data from logs on devices connected to your network. EventSentry Light also handles system health monitoring functions, including service monitoring, performance issue monitoring, and hardware failure monitoring.
Famatech Advanced IP Scanner
Famatech’s Advanced IP Scanner is a free network monitoring scanning tool that provides analysis on LAN networks and devices. Advanced IP Scanner allows you to scan for devices on your network and remotely control connected computers and nodes. You can switch computers off from the tool if you know that the device isn’t in use and is utilizing valuable resources. The tool connects with Famatech’s Radmin solution for remote IT management, so you can manage IPs from anywhere.
Icinga
Icinga is an open source network monitoring tool that measures network availability and performance. Through a web interface, your enterprise can observe hosts and applications across your entire network infrastructure. The tool is natively scalable and can easily be configured to work with every kind of device. There are also a handful of Icinga modules for specific monitoring capabilities, such as monitoring for VMWare’s vSphere cloud environment and business process modelling.
LibreNMS
LibreNMS is an open source network monitoring system that uses several network protocols to observe every device on your network. The LibreNMS API can retrieve, manage, and graph the data it collects and supports horizontal scaling to grow its monitoring capabilities alongside your network. The tool features a flexible alerting system that is tailor-made to communicate with you via the method that works best for your company. They offer native iOS and Android apps as well.
LogRhythm NetMon Freemium
LogRhythm NetMon Freemium is a free version of LogRhythm NetMon that provides the same enterprise-grade packet capturing and analysis capabilities as the full version. While there are limits on packet storage and data processing, The freemium version still allows users to perform network threat detection and response functions based on data packet analysis. It also provides the same network threat alerting system as the full version, allowing you to stay up to date on your network’s performance and security.
Nagios Core
Nagios Core is a free network monitoring tool designed as the basis for other monitoring and alerting software offered by Nagios. It is primarily a performance check tool that schedules and executes checks for network performance across the entire infrastructure. As the event processor for performance checks used by other Nagios software, Nagios Core is also able to extend its capabilities with independent add-ons via the Naigos Exchange.
Observium Community
Observium Community is the free version of Observium’s network monitoring tool. With the free version, you can monitor an unlimited amount of devices while also taking full advantage of Obersvium’s network mapping features. The Observium network monitoring platform features automatic discovery of connected devices. It also comes equipped with discovery protocols to ensure that the map of your network is up to date. This way, you can account for new devices as they connect to the network.Our Free and Open Source Network Monitoring Buyer’s Guide contains profiles on the top free and open source network monitoring tools that provide similar monitoring capabilities to enterprise-grade commercial offerings for a fraction — or none — of the cost of a premium tool.
Pandora FMS
Pandora FMS is an open source monitoring tool that helps companies observe their entire IT infrastructure. It not only features network monitoring capabilities, but also Windows and Unix servers and virtual interfaces. For networks, Pandora FMS contains features such as ICMP polling, SNMP support, network latency monitoring, and system overload. You can also install agents on devices to observe factors like device temperature and overheating, as well as logfile occurrences.
Paessler PRTG 100
Paessler PRTG 100 is a network monitoring tool that offers a free version: PRTG 100. PRTG offers this tier of their monitoring program that supports 100 devices on a single network. PRTG’s monitoring features include capabilities to track network traffic, applications, data packets, and bandwidth. The software functions as an all-in-one monitoring suite which is also able to monitor cloud environments, virtual machines, and hardware in addition to a network.
Prometheus
Prometheus is an open source monitoring solution focused on data collection and analysis. It allows users to set up network monitoring capabilities using the native toolset. The tool is able to collect information on devices using SNMP pings and examine network bandwidth usage from the device perspective, among other functinos. The PromQL system analyzes data and allows for the program to generate graphs, tables, and other visuals on the systems it monitors.
SolarWinds Real-Time Bandwidth Monitor
SolarWinds Real-Time Bandwidth Monitor is a free bandwidth monitoring tool. The tool tracks bandwidth usage in real-time and displays graphs on your network’s bandwidth based on bandwidth polling. The tool alerts you when bandwidth usage enters a critical state, letting your enterprise instantly know when your network’s bandwidth is running low. You can define critical bandwidth usage levels yourself so the tool knows exactly when the devices on your network are using too much bandwidth.
Spiceworks Network Monitor
Spiceworks Network Monitor is a free network monitoring program and one of several networking tools that Spiceworks offers. Their monitoring solution offers real-time monitoring capabilities for networks and devices. You can perform ping checks to verify that your network and all connected nodes are currently functional. The tool also supports common network protocols, like HTTP and SIP, or user-defined custom protocols, as well as custom settings for alerts based on sensitivity.
Telerik Fiddler
Telerik Fiddler is a free web monitor and debugging proxy program. The tool is designed specifically for HTTP and HTTPS monitoring, with Fiddler’s web traffic monitoring and data collection capabilities. It can also debug web traffic by ensuring that the proper cookies, headers, and cache directives are being transferred. Fiddler also has a focus on network monitoring by delivering HTTP caching and data compression, in addition to finding performance bottlenecks.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the tools that are freely available to help you monitor your network. As always, if I have missed any tools that you think should be included, please let me know! This list of open source network performance testing tools was created based on my experiences in both professional and personal environments. They are all free to download!