What Network Monitoring Is
Written by MSP Outpost.
In Short
Network monitoring watches the devices between the computers: switches, firewalls, routers, access points and printers, and draws the map of how they connect. The RMM watches the machines that run its agent. Network monitoring covers everything that cannot run one, usually through a small collector at each site.
What It Does
- Discovery. Finds every device on the network and keeps the inventory current as things are added or moved.
- Topology map. Draws what is plugged into what, down to the switch port, so a technician can trace a fault remotely.
- Alerting. Flags a device that goes offline, a port throwing errors or a link that is running full.
- Config backup. Saves switch and firewall configurations and shows what changed, so a bad change can be rolled back.
- Traffic analysis. Shows which devices and applications are using the bandwidth when a client says the internet is slow.
- Remote access. Many reach a device's management page through the collector, without a VPN into the client's site.
When You Need One
Probably not yet. The RMM, the firewall vendor's own console and a documented network cover most small clients, and a tool with no minimum can be added for the one complicated site.
Once clients have several sites, managed switches and wireless, the first slow internet ticket that takes a day to diagnose pays for it. Roll it out to every network you manage so the maps and backups exist before the outage.
Network monitoring becomes part of onboarding and of every contract that includes network support. Integration with the PSA and the documentation platform matters, so alerts become tickets and maps live in one place.
What to Look For
Must Have
- Automatic Discovery
- Topology Map
- Config Backup
- Multi-Tenant Console
- Alerts to the PSA
- SNMP Support
Worth Having
- Traffic Flow Analysis
- Remote Device Access
- Internet Performance Testing
- Documentation Sync
- Wireless Monitoring
How It Is Priced
Network monitoring is usually priced per device or per site each month, and a few tools charge by usage. Check what counts as a billable device, whether devices found in discovery count even if you do not monitor them, and how the price moves when a client adds a building. Self-hosted options often sell an annual license, and the server it runs on becomes your cost.
Switching
Leaving is moderate work: the collectors come out easily, but the device history, config backups and alert tuning stay behind. Before you sign, find out whether you can export the inventory and config backups, and keep your own copy of each map in the documentation platform so it does not depend on the tool.
Questions to Ask a Vendor
- What counts as a billable device, and do discovered devices I do not monitor count?
- Which switch, firewall and wireless vendors do you back up configurations for, and which only get basic monitoring?
- What does the collector need at each site, and what happens to monitoring when it goes offline?
- How do you price a site that has only a handful of devices?
- Can I export the device inventory and config backups if I leave?
- Do alerts create tickets in my PSA directly, and can I choose which ones do?
