First released more than a decade ago, Network Inventory Advisor is our favorite LAN monitoring tool because it has all the attributes of a world-class LAN monitoring tool. It can track both hardware assets as well as software licenses.
Network Inventory Advisor offers several types of network scanning, and it supports all SNMP devices. If you want to, you can even use Network Inventory Advisor to track non-IT assets, such as office furniture.
How to Choose a LAN Network Monitor?
All best LAN monitoring tools use the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to check if network devices are functioning as intended. However, LAN monitoring tools can do a lot more than that, and the number of features a LAN monitor offers can range from just a few to a lot.
Of course, the number of shiny features on offer is not the only thing that matters. The best LAN monitoring tools are actually intuitive, reliable, and compatible with a broad range of network devices. Network administrators are forced to use too many clunky software applications as it is, so forcing them to use yet another one is never a good idea.
Here’s a short list of some attributes that you should take into consideration when choosing a LAN network monitor:
When looking at the available LAN monitoring tools, the following attributes were taken into:
- Features: The developers of LAN monitoring tools compete with one another by constantly coming up with new features to help network administrators manage their LAN environments. Since it’s never a good idea to pay for features, you don’t actually need, you should compare what individual LAN monitoring tools have to offer and choose the one that seems to fit your needs the best.
- Reports: It’s easy to underestimate the importance of reporting functionality until network administrators need to explain a technical issue to non-IT managers. Having the ability to generate a comprehensive report listing all network devices is indispensable, and you should make sure that your LAN network monitor has this functionality.
- Alerts: Proactive LAN monitoring tool incorporate a feedback system to alert network administrators of network problems a long time before they become costly and hard to fix.
- Customization: All LAN environments are different, which is why it’s best to select a LAN network monitor tool that can be customized to meet the needs of different organizations.
- Compatibility: Your LAN network monitor should be able to communicate with all existing equipment. Avoid LAN monitoring tools that only support a single vendor because you could otherwise become dependent on a vendor that no longer offers the best solutions.
