You're looking to optimize your business network. What are the top software solutions for traffic analysis?

1 What is network traffic analysis software?

Network traffic analysis software is a type of application that collects, analyzes, and displays data about the network traffic on your devices, servers, routers, switches, and firewalls. It can use various methods, such as packet capture, flow analysis, or SNMP polling, to gather information about the source, destination, volume, speed, and type of network traffic. It can also provide reports, alerts, and visualizations to help you understand and manage your network traffic.

2 Why do you need network traffic analysis software?

Network traffic analysis software can be used to optimize your business network in a variety of ways. It can detect and troubleshoot network issues, such as congestion, latency, packet loss, or misconfiguration. Additionally, it can be used to monitor and optimize network performance like bandwidth, throughput, or quality of service. Moreover, it can help identify and prevent network security threats, such as malware, denial-of-service attacks, or unauthorized access. Finally, it can analyze and optimize network usage with application, user, or device activity.

3 What are the features of network traffic analysis software?

When choosing network traffic analysis software, there are several features to consider. These include real-time and historical data collection and analysis, network mapping and topology visualization, traffic filtering and segmentation, alerting and notification, reporting and dashboarding, as well as forecasting and planning. Each of these features can vary in terms of functionality, complexity, and cost.

4 What are the top software solutions for network traffic analysis?

There are many software solutions for network traffic analysis available on the market, but some of the most popular and reputable are SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, PRTG Network Monitor, and Wireshark. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is a comprehensive and scalable tool that supports various protocols and technologies, such as SNMP, NetFlow, sFlow, J-Flow, IPFIX, and NBAR2. It can monitor and analyze network devices, applications, services, and users across multiple locations and cloud environments. PRTG Network Monitor is a versatile and user-friendly tool that can collect and display data from various sources, such as SNMP, WMI, NetFlow, Packet Sniffer, Ping, HTTP, and SQL. Meanwhile, Wireshark is a free and open-source network analysis tool that can capture and analyze network packets in real time or from a saved file. All three of these tools can provide network performance baselines, anomaly detection, root cause analysis, network maps, custom sensors, notifications, network statistics graphs, and color codes.

5 How to choose the best software solution for your business network?

The software solution for your business network needs to be tailored to your requirements, goals, and budget. Factors to consider include the size and complexity of your network, the type and volume of traffic, the level of detail and customization you need, compatibility and integration with existing systems and tools, ease of installation and maintenance, as well as customer support and documentation.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?