<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Bandwidth Monitoring Comparison

The following table shows the differences between the four bandwidth monitoring methods available in PRTG:

 

WMI

SNMP

Packet Sniffer

xFlow (IPFIX, NetFlow, sFlow, jFlow)

Setup

Medium

Easy

Easy to complex (depending on filter rules used)

Can be complex (for example, the switch must be configured)

Traffic can be filtered

No

No

Yes

Yes

Differentiate bandwidth usage by protocol or IPs

No

No

Yes

Yes

PRTG can show Toplists (Top Talker, Top Connections, Top Protocols, custom)

No

No

Yes

Yes

Filter bandwidth usage by IP

No

No

Yes

Yes

Filter bandwidth usage by MAC address

No

No

Yes

No

Filter bandwidth usage by physical network port

Yes

Yes

No

No

Monitor network parameters other than bandwidth usage

Yes

Yes

No

No

CPU load on the machine running PRTG

Low

Low

Higher, depends on the amount of traffic

Higher, depends on the amount of traffic

Excess bandwidth usage of monitoring

Small

Small

None (except when monitoring switch ports are used)

Depends on the traffic

More

Knowledge Base: Should I use SNMP, xFlow (IPFIX/NetFlow/sFlow) or Packet Sniffing for my monitoring?

Knowledge Base: How do I differentiate between excessive bandwidth usage with PRTG?

Keywords: Bandwidth Monitoring Overview