Real Time Network Performance Monitoring: Techniques & Tools in 2024

Updated on May 13

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What is real time network performance monitoring?Techniques for Real-Time Network Performance Monitoring Why do businesses need real time network performance monitoring?Real Time Network Performance Monitoring Tools For more on network monitoring

A robust network monitoring tool becomes essential to monitor network performance effectively. With real-time network performance monitoring, businesses can navigate the complexities in their network systems, ensuring optimal performance, security, and reliability.

In this article, we deep dive into the features, benefits, techniques and tools for real time network performance monitoring.

What is real time network performance monitoring?

Real-time network performance monitoring is a critical aspect of managing modern IT infrastructures. It involves using network monitoring tools to continuously observe and analyze the performance of network devices and traffic in real time. This approach allows IT professionals to promptly identify and address network issues, ensuring the smooth functioning of the network. By leveraging real-time data, organizations can maintain optimal network health, preventing downtime and ensuring efficient resource utilization.

Techniques for Real-Time Network Performance Monitoring

Real-time network performance monitoring solutions are equipped with a range of features designed to optimize network management. Key features include:

Packet Analysis: Packet analysis involves capturing and analyzing network packets to identify traffic patterns, anomalies, and performance bottlenecks. Advanced packet analysis tools offer real-time monitoring capabilities, allowing administrators to monitor network traffic continuously.
Flow Monitoring: Flow monitoring tracks the flow of data packets between network devices, providing insights into network traffic patterns and bandwidth utilization. Flow monitoring techniques, such as NetFlow and sFlow, enable administrators to monitor and analyze network flows in real-time.
Synthetic Monitoring: Synthetic monitoring involves simulating user interactions with network applications and services to measure performance and availability.
Active Probing: Active probing techniques involve sending test packets or probes to network devices to assess performance and identify potential issues.
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Support: SNMP is widely used for managing network devices. Real-time monitoring solutions often support SNMP to collect and organize information about these devices.
Traffic Analysis and Bandwidth Monitoring: Network traffic monitoring helps in managing bandwidth allocation, optimizing network performance, and planning for capacity upgrades. By monitoring traffic, organizations can also detect unusual patterns that may indicate security issues.
Latency Measurement: Since latency directly affects the user experience, especially in applications requiring real-time or near-real-time communication, monitoring it is crucial. It helps in identifying network segments that are causing delays and aids in troubleshooting to improve the overall performance of the network.

Why do businesses need real time network performance monitoring?

Proactive Issue Resolution: By constantly monitoring network performance, businesses can proactively identify and resolve issues before they escalate.

Enhanced Security: Real-time monitoring helps in the early detection of unusual network traffic patterns, which could indicate security breaches.

Optimized Network Performance: Continuous monitoring enables businesses to ensure that their network infrastructure is performing optimally, leading to improved efficiency and productivity.

Compliance and Reporting: Many industries require strict compliance with regulatory standards, and real-time monitoring assists in maintaining these standards through detailed reporting.

Better Decision Making: Real-time data provides insights that help in making informed decisions regarding network upgrades and capacity planning.

Real Time Network Performance Monitoring Tools

A variety of real time network performance monitoring software and tools are available, each offering different features and capabilities. With a detailed analysis within the market, we shortlisted these 5 vendors according to the company size, user reviews and ratings:

Vendors	Price	Free Trial	Ratings	# of employees
AKIPS	Not shared publicly.	✅ for 30-days	5/5 based on 4 reviews	15
NinjaOne	Not shared publicly.	N/A	4.8/5 based on 1,187 reviews	909
Solarwinds NPM	Not shared publicly.	✅ for 30-days	4.5/5 based on 290 reviews	2,500
ManageEngine OpManager	Standard Edition: $245 [25 devices] Professional Edition: $345 [25 devices] Enterprise Edition: $11,545 [250 devices]	✅ for 30-days	4.6/5 based on 161 reviews	302
Auvik	Not shared publicly.	✅ for 14-days	4.6/5 based on 266 reviews	336
Paessler PRTG	Starting €1,649	✅ for 30-days	4.6/5 based on 279 reviews	364

You can check our in-depth vendor selection article where we compare and evaluate these vendors in detail.

If you have further questions, reach us:

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Transparency Statement: AIMultiple works with many vendors, including AKIPS.

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