Network Traffic Analyzer Recommendations?

Hello,

I am looking for an inexpensive network traffic analyzer (<$250) I can run
on an XP workstation in a Windows 2003 domain and identify what workstations
are using the most network bandwidth. I'd like to use this to identify who
might be doing large Internet downloads, etc. A graphical display is a
plus but not necessary.

Thanks in advance,
Harvey Juster

How about free? Ethereal is a great open source packet analyzer.

http://www.ethereal.com/

--


Paul Bergson MCT, MCSE, MCSA, CNE, CNA, CCA
http://www.pbbergs.com/

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Harvey Juster" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:tXHOf.65954$(E-Mail Removed). com...
> Hello,
>
> I am looking for an inexpensive network traffic analyzer (<$250) I can run
> on an XP workstation in a Windows 2003 domain and identify what
> workstations are using the most network bandwidth. I'd like to use this
> to identify who might be doing large Internet downloads, etc. A
> graphical display is a plus but not necessary.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Harvey Juster
>
>

Are you looking for a full-on IDS? If so, try Snort - its open-source,
free and infinitely configurable. You can run it on almost any platform
you like and there are excellent guides on setting it up available on
the net. For instance, if you want to run it on Windows, try
http://www.winsnort.com

Also available for use with snort are various plugins which enable you
to monitor activity on your LAN - BASE or ACID are graphical front-ends
for snort concentrating on intrusion detection - they should be able to
show you the info you need.

If you're just after a basic bandwidth monitoring tool, you could do
worse than using the built-in Windows performance monitoring tools -
there are ways of monitoring individual workstations (hint: use the
'select counters from computer' in your trace.

Alternatively, there are numerous reasonably cheap tools that will give
you what you want (and improve greatly on the rather rudimentary feel
of Performance Monitor) Some of these include NetFlow, EtherPeek and
Sniffer Pro (just google 'em)

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the tip Paul, I'll check it out.
Harvey Juster

"zebulebu",
Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll check them out one by one.
Harvey Juster