Way cool network monitoring

OK, you absolutely have to check out this way cool tool – it is called Network Probe and it is offered for free by ObjectPlanet (see below) whose Table applet we discussed last week.

Network Probe is also a Java applet that monitors network traffic and analyzes protocols. It operates in real time and data giving detailed information about hosts and protocols is displayed in your Web browser. The network information can be searched, sorted, and filtered by protocols, hosts, conversations, and network interfaces.

Installation is painless and adds a packet driver that the Java-based monitor applet uses to watch network traffic. You provide user names and passwords to control access.

When launched the Network Probe applet is available on port 7030 (this port cannot be changed).

Once loaded in your browser, Network Probe displays, in the top half of the browser window, a table showing protocols, hosts or conversations. There are also variant displays that provide per host and per conversation details.

In the bottom half of the browser window a graph is displayed showing the data from the table above. And the table and the graph are updated in realtime. Way cool.

The Network Probe Server can run on Windows NT/2000/XP, Linux, FreeBSD, MacOS X, and Solaris Intel with Java 1.1.8 runtime or later installed and a network card with promiscuous mode capability.

The Network Probe Client can be any web browser with Java support (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla).