Cacti vs darkstat

Struggling to choose between Cacti and darkstat? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Cacti is a Network & Admin solution with tags like network, monitoring, graphing, statistics.

It boasts features such as Graphing and monitoring tool for network devices, Supports SNMP polling for data collection, Customizable graphs and dashboards, Threshold-based alerting, Supports RRDTool for data storage, Web-based interface, Plugin architecture for extendibility and pros including Free and open source, Easy to install and configure, Wide range of supported devices, Flexible and customizable, Active community support.

On the other hand, darkstat is a Network & Admin product tagged with traffic, analyzer, statistics, bandwidth.

Its standout features include Captures network traffic and calculates statistics, Generates graphical reports and serves them over HTTP, Monitors total bandwidth usage and bandwidth usage by IP address, Tracks TCP/UDP traffic and packets per second, Runs on Linux and BSD systems, and it shines with pros like Open source and free to use, Easy to install and configure, Provides useful network monitoring capabilities, Lightweight and low resource usage, Can monitor multiple interfaces.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

Cacti

Cacti

Cacti is an open-source network monitoring and graphing tool that provides easy monitoring of network devices and servers. It polls devices for utilization data, stores the data, and generates graphs and statistics to help analyze network traffic and utilization.

Categories:
network monitoring graphing statistics

Cacti Features

  1. Graphing and monitoring tool for network devices
  2. Supports SNMP polling for data collection
  3. Customizable graphs and dashboards
  4. Threshold-based alerting
  5. Supports RRDTool for data storage
  6. Web-based interface
  7. Plugin architecture for extendibility

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Easy to install and configure

Wide range of supported devices

Flexible and customizable

Active community support

Cons

Steep learning curve

Complex interface

Manual configuration required

Limited scalability

No official support


darkstat

darkstat

darkstat is an open-source network traffic analyzer that captures network traffic, calculates statistics, and serves reports over HTTP. It runs on Linux and BSD systems and provides visibility into bandwidth usage.

Categories:
traffic analyzer statistics bandwidth

Darkstat Features

  1. Captures network traffic and calculates statistics
  2. Generates graphical reports and serves them over HTTP
  3. Monitors total bandwidth usage and bandwidth usage by IP address
  4. Tracks TCP/UDP traffic and packets per second
  5. Runs on Linux and BSD systems

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Open source and free to use

Easy to install and configure

Provides useful network monitoring capabilities

Lightweight and low resource usage

Can monitor multiple interfaces

Cons

Lacks some advanced monitoring features of commercial products

HTTP interface can be difficult to secure properly

Not optimized for very high traffic volumes

Setup requires familiarity with Linux/BSD systems

Limited official support due to open source model