I'm dropping a quick note for myself and other system admindistrator types looking for good info on network monitoring tool. I've been in need of something to help me monitor both local and wide network stuff, so I finally broke down and did a little research. I am currently tired of doing roughly 20 tasks manually to make sure everything's running properly... yeah, stupid waste of my time, that.

So, here's a great place to start, even though it's a bit exhaustive to have such a huge list of stuff... the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center put together this list of Network Monitoring Tools that I figure will just about get everyone to what they need at some point. It's not showing reviews or anything, but it's a great resource. I would rather have had someone saying "get product Z, it's the best," but I'm not always that lucky.

I'm needing to get back to monitoring the servers and services that I mentioned, so I'm grabbing one of these tools in particular to see how the free version works. iReasoning Network's SysUpTime Network Management System is what I'm trying first (though it maybe be massive overkill), if you want to come play alongside me. Beyond that, I'm not sure where I'll go.