Nagios vs Packet Capture

Nagios

Description: Nagios is an open-source monitoring system that allows administrators to monitor network infrastructure like servers, switches, applications, and services. It can notify users when issues arise and help identify problems in a timely manner.

Type: software

Pricing: Open Source

Packet Capture

Description: Packet capture software intercepts and logs network traffic passing through a network interface. It can help analyze network issues, view raw network packets, monitor bandwidth usage, debug protocols, etc. Popular open-source packet capture tools include Wireshark, tcpdump, and Windump.

Type: software

Pricing: Freemium

Nagios Features

• Monitoring of network services (HTTP, SMTP, POP3, ICMP, etc)
• Monitoring of host resources (processor load, disk usage, etc)
• Simple plugin design for easy extensibility
• Alerting and notification when problems arise
• Web interface for viewing current network status, alerts and reports
• Support for SNMP polling for switch/router monitoring
• Remote monitoring capabilities with secure tunneling

Packet Capture Features

• Real-time packet capture and analysis
• Support for hundreds of protocols and network standards
• Powerful display filters for drilling down on specific traffic
• Expert Info to explain meaning of network packets
• Statistical reports on network usage and metrics
• Ability to reconstruct TCP sessions and application streams
• Export captured packets in multiple formats (pcap, csv, xml, etc)

Nagios

• Open Source

Packet Capture

• Freemium