Network management vendor AdventNet recently unveiled software to help IT operations staff monitor routers, switches and more.

ManageEngine OpUtils 3 is a Java- and Web-based troubleshooting product for IT resources such as routers, switches, servers and desktops. The toolset is designed for network operations staff responsible for maintaining and monitoring networks. ManageEngine OpUtils 3 (even though the product has “3” in the name, it’s brand-new) professional edition costs just under $200, and the company makes a scaled-down version of the software available as a free download from the company's Web site.

Among the 25 network monitoring tools included in the free edition are Ping Scan, SNMP Scan, MAC Scan, DNS Scan, Enhanced Ping and Proxy Ping. The utilities can check the health, status and availability of managed devices, collecting metrics such as CPU utilization, hard disk space and process monitoring. The free download also includes SNMP tools like SNMP Walker, SNMP Graph, MIB Viewer and Trap Receiver.

OpUtils is a Web-based product and the company says network managers can install the software on a single machine and enable multiple-user support via the Web.

The free edition provides real-time monitoring tools to troubleshoot network performance, bandwidth utilization, and connectivity issues. OpUtils 3 can also monitor delayed response times, CPU usage, hard disk utilization, device availability and software inventory.

The professional edition has more than 40 tools that include Switch Port Mapper, IP Address Manager, Wake-on-LAN, and performance and bandwidth monitoring. The professional edition also monitors metrics having to do with IOS, the chassis, CPU, memory, interfaces and configuration files on Cisco routers.

To download the free edition go to: http://manageengine.adventnet.com/products/oputils/index.html

Ann Bednarz is associate news editor at Network World.