In computer networks, network traffic measurement is the process of measuring the amount and type of traffic on a particular network. This is especially important with regard to effective bandwidth management. A computer network is a system for communication among two or more computers. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

Tools

Various software tools are available to measure network traffic. Some tools measure traffic by sniffing and others use SNMP, WMI or other local agents to measure bandwidth use on individual machines and routers. However, the latter generally do not detect the type of traffic, nor do they work for machines which are not running the necessary agent software, such as rogue machines on the network, or machines for which no compatible agent is available. In the latter case, inline appliances are preferred. These would generally 'sit' between the LAN and the LAN's exit point, generally the WAN or Internet router, and all packets leaving and entering the network would go through them. In most cases the appliance would operate as a bridge on the network so that it is undetectable by users. A packet sniffer (also known as a network analyzer or protocol analyzer or, for particular types of networks, an Ethernet sniffer or wireless sniffer) is computer software or computer hardware that can intercept and log traffic passing over a digital network or part of a network. ... The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) forms part of the internet protocol suite as defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force. ... In the Microsoft Windows operating system, Windows Management Instrumentation is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model. ... In computer science, a software agent is an abstraction, a logical model that describes software that acts for a user or other program in a relationship of agency. ...

Measurement tools generally have these functions and features:

• user interface (web, graphical, console)
• real-time traffic graphs
• network activity is often reported against pre-configured traffic matching rules to show:
  • local IP address
  • remote IP address
  • port number or protocol
  • logged in user name
• bandwidth quotas
• support for traffic shaping or rate limiting (overlapping with the network traffic control page)
• support website blocking and content filtering
• alarms to notify the administrator of excessive usage (by IP address or in total)

Some of the available tools include: This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... In computer networks, rate limiting is the function of controlling the maximum rate of traffic sent or received on a network interface. ... In computer networking, network traffic control is the process of managing, prioritising, controlling or reducing the network traffic, particularly Internet bandwidth, used by network users, to reduce congestion, latency and packet loss. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

• Exbander Precision by DBAM Syetsms
• FireBeast is a software firewall that offers bandwidth management and traffic shaping.
• Infosim supports all different network flow technologies such as Netflow, sFlow, jFlow, cFlow or Netstream.
• PRTG runs on Windows, with graphical and web interfaces. It captures packets using Cisco Netflow or packet sniffing or uses SNMP to monitor bandwidth usages.
• MRTG
• Sandvine Intelligent Network Solutions measure and manage network traffic using Policy Traffic Switches
• Cricket is a tool originally written for WebTV Networks.

The Netflow article also lists devices which generate and applications which analyse Cisco Netflow records. Infosim was founded in 2001. ... Paessler Router Traffic Grapher (PRTG) is a network monitoring and bandwidth use software for Microsoft Windows by Paessler AG. Overview With PRTG bandwidth usage of a network can be monitored and classified using the three most common bandwidth data acquisition methods: SNMP: Reads traffic counters of network devices like switches... NetFlow architecture NetFlow is an open but proprietary network protocol developed by Cisco Systems to run on Cisco IOS-enabled equipment for collecting IP traffic information. ... A packet sniffer (also known as a network analyzer or protocol analyzer or, for particular types of networks, an Ethernet sniffer or wireless sniffer) is computer software or computer hardware that can intercept and log traffic passing over a digital network or part of a network. ... The Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) is a tool to monitor the traffic load on network links. ... Sandvine Inc. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... NetFlow architecture NetFlow is an open but proprietary network protocol developed by Cisco Systems to run on Cisco IOS-enabled equipment for collecting IP traffic information. ...

See also

• Intellipool Network Monitor
• IP Flow Information Export
• Network management
• Network monitoring
• Packet sniffer
• Performance management
• Traffic shaping

test Intellipool Network Monitor is a network, server and performance monitor designed to monitor Windows, Linux, Unix and SNMP enabled devices. ... Internet Protocol Flow Informaion eXport (IPFIX) is an IETF working group. ... Network management refers to the maintenance and administration of large-scale computer networks and telecommunications networks at the top level. ... The term network monitoring describes the use of a system that constantly monitors a computer network for slow or failing systems and that notifies the network administrator in case of outages via email, pager or other alarms. ... A packet sniffer (also known as a network analyzer or protocol analyzer or, for particular types of networks, an Ethernet sniffer or wireless sniffer) is computer software or computer hardware that can intercept and log traffic passing over a digital network or part of a network. ... Performance management may mean: Performance measurement is the process of assessing progress toward achieving predetermined goals, while performance management is building on that process adding the relevant communication and action on the progress achieved against these predetermined goals (Bourne, M.,Franco, M. and Wilkes, J. (2003). ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

External links

• Cricket on sourceforge.net