The price on the new monitoring tool is low enough that an administrator can probably buy it without getting approval from higher-ups, according to the company.Much like David taking on Goliath, network monitoring tool vendor Paessler is keeping up with the big guys in its efforts to provide a feature-rich network monitoring tool that’s streamlined and affordable.
The company’s newest offering, announced Feb. 25, features a full re-architecture of the company’s underlying the software. PRTG (Paessler Router Traffic Grapher) Network Monitor Version 7 includes a new automatic network discovery feature that constantly scans network segments for new devices and configures the appropriate sensors for those devices. A more customizable user interface using AJAX and Flash technologies is also designed to help administrators review and deliver monitoring results in real time.
The new version also supports more than 30 sensor types for analyzing network traffic and behavior, a well as device configuration templates for popular devices such as routers, Microsoft SQL Server databases, Exchange servers and network printers. Other new features include remote network monitoring capabilities, an enhanced reporting engine, and data storage in a native database.
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The system is specifically targeted at organizations with less than 1,000 employees, said CEO Dirk Paessler, with a price low enough that the IT person testing and using the software probably will be able to decide whether to buy it without getting additional approval from higher-ups.
The system is also easy to use, Paessler said. For an average midsize company with three Web sites, 10 servers, 200 workstations, five NAS (network-attached storage) systems, five switches/routers, three firewalls and a VPN, it should take a few hours to set up complete monitoring of service availability and network usage, including reporting and alerting, he said.
“Our goal is to provide the features that our users need and leave out the complex stuff,” he said.
One example is the restructured user interface, which is easier to set up so as to manage many sensors. For example, the new content-based PacketSniffer sensor examines the packets traveling through the LAN to identify the type of network protocol and then presents a graph showing the usage of the various network protocols in the LAN. To make this happen, “All you need to do is to set up a sensor,” Paessler said.
With the new product, Paessler is going head-to-head with well-entrenched vendors SolarWinds and Ipswitch, both of which also have continued to shore up their network monitoring tools, also geared to the midmarket.
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Because there is no one-size-fits-all product in the network management market, the market is fragmented, including tools from prominent vendors like Ipswitch and SolarWinds and from smaller vendors like Paessler, as well as open-source tools and point solutions. As the size of a company grows, companies generally want a more complete view of the network, which leads them away from point solutions and toward more comprehensive solutions, explained Tracy Corbo, an analyst for IDC.
In the midmarket, where companies have limited funding and personnel, ease of use and reasonable cost are very important, but there are other variables as well.
“There are lots of tools because one size doesn’t fit all,” Corbo said. “The basic differences are what the tools monitor; how they are licensed and priced; how easy they are to use and set up; and how well they integrate into existing system management tools. The trick for the customer is to find the right tool for their environment, and not necessarily the one with all the bells and whistles.”
