When you're trying to monitor your network, there is a dizzying array of tools available to help you out. Network monitoring tools will help you keep track of all the activity happening across your network at any given time, and will help you maintain an efficient and smooth running computer setup.

Some of the most common - and cheap - network monitoring tools involve the simpler network activities. You can, for example, often download free network monitoring tools that allow you to keep track of all of the users on your local area network, and see how much bandwidth each is using. This knowledge lets you adjust your network or, possibly, your access regulations to optimize performance.

Network Monitoring Tools
If you have a larger network including network specific servers, you'll need more advanced network monitoring tools. Server monitoring systems let you manage the status and performance of all of your servers at once. This is a more advanced function than the simple network monitoring tools mentioned above, and will likely come as part of a fairly costly package. If you have a large enough network, though, a few hundred for a good software package is an excellent investment.

One thing most people don't realize is that the hacker's best weapon isn't some high tech van full of gadgets - it's a technique called "social engineering." That means they convince someone on the inside to help them out. Event logs will keep track of the activity within your network, allowing you to detect this kind of activity and terminate it.

Tags: DHCP, networking, ethernet