oh, yes, geeks love freebies with bells and whistles on them. If ever there was a phone booth nearby, these OS tools turn a mild-mannered geek into Super-geek. Notwithstanding OS tools' utility, there are costs and security risks associated with their use. Because they are software they are vulnerable to exploit. Also, any tool that creates a vector in or out of the network increases risk. My point is that there are costs associated with everything that is free. It's about time IT managers recognize this fact and accept the responsibility for their actions. And by this I don't mean simply buying more technology. God only knows that we've instrumented to the teeth and networks are still at-risk. It's more about getting one's fingers dirty and learning how the technology is being used rather than simply doing more of what have proven to be less-than-satisfactory.
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NetFlow: NTOP Vs. Scrutinizer
NTOP is free for the UNIX community. You must pay for a windows NTOP version. Scrutinizer NetFlow Analyzer is free on Windows however, it drops all data at midnight. A commercial version is also available. http://www.plixer.com/products/free-netflow.php
Another free toolset
Here is a free toolset from NetQoS. It includes a network latency calculator
www.netqos.com/resourceroom/calculator/
Free PCI DSS / Unix / Oracle Audit Tool
Have a look at the free PCI ( Payment Card Industry ) audit tool called GANDER available from www.coaudit.com. This includes PCI questions, Unix and Oracle. Let us know what you think.
JB McCarthy
CEO CoAudit
Paglo: Another free tool that makes IT management easy
Paglo (www.paglo.com) is the world's first search engine for IT. Paglo allows you to discover all of your IT data and use search to quickly solve computer, network, and user problems. Users can create and share custom searches, charts, dashboards, and alerts, including inventory management, network management, software auditing, remote monitoring, and much more. Paglo is offered as SaaS and enables users to benefit from the community and the contributions of their peers.