* Readers share their favorite free net management software applications
There may be no free lunches but there are some free (or at most low cost) products out there that can help you more effectively manage your network environment.
In our Special focus section this week we informally polled readers about their favorite free net management software applications. Here are a few of their recommendations.
* Aida32: Developed, upgraded and maintained by Unlimited Possibilities in Budapest, Hungary, Aida32 works specifically on Win32 platforms and can help customers perform diagnostics and benchmarking on their systems. The software application extracts data from servers and PCs, and lets network managers gather statistics on the health and status of the machines. Also, Aida32 lets network administrators perform network audits and enables them to remotely access managed devices from any workstation. Network managers install the host on a server and can access the command prompt on the host computer. To manage other servers and desktops, network managers can use the built-in Java client or any standard terminal emulator.
* Network Probe: Network Probe is a free protocol analyzer that can give users a picture of the traffic situation in real time. Developed by ObjectPlanet, based out of Oslo, Norway, the Network Probe software application works much like products from companies such as Agilent or Fluke. The software can track and isolate traffic problems and congestion on network lines. The client/server based network probe is written in Java and runs on one machine, which collects statistics of the network traffic. The client runs on a Java-enabled Web browser on another machine, or on the same machine connecting to a local host. In Version 0.4, the host runs on Microsoft Windows NT, 2000 and XP; the client can run on Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Intel and Macintosh operating systems.
* Tight VNC: TightVNC is a free remote control software application derived from and designed to work with VNC, which is a remote display system that lets customers view a computing desktop environment not only on the machine from which it is running, but also from anywhere on the Internet.
* SNIPS: Network and system monitoring software System and Network Integrated Polling Software (SNIPS) runs on Unix systems and tracks the availability of devices. SNIPS, once called Nocol, can monitor syslogs, radius servers, Border Gateway Protocol peers, host performance and DNS, NTP, TCP or Web ports. And new monitors can be added via a C or Perl API. SNIPS’ comes from Nocol, which is no longer in development, but grew into the SNIPS development and also NetVigil. Network management start-up Fidelia now sells NetVigil as an enterprise class management product. SNIPS uses server software that runs on Unix and monitors that must be configured and pushed out to devices to be managed. While the developers of SNIPS urge users to register, the software application is free.
That’s just a few. For more information see: https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0331specialfocus.html
