Is your network infrastructure a black box? As environments grow in complexity, lack of visibility creates massive risk. Both performance issues and security threats thrive unchecked.
Agentless network monitoring provides complete observability without installing software on devices. It leverages protocols like SNMP, WMI and more to remotely collect data.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- How agentless monitoring works
- Key benefits over agent-based methods
- Must-have features to look for
- The top 7 tools to consider
Monitoring your network and systems is no longer optional – it‘s essential. Read on to ensure you have the right visibility to optimize costs, security, and resilience.
Agentless vs. Agent-Based Monitoring: Key Differences
Before diving into tools, let‘s explore the agentless approach compared to traditional agent-based monitoring:
Agent-based monitoring uses software agents installed on devices to collect metrics and transmit back to a central server:
- + Provides granular, low-level data
- + Works for diverse hardware and apps
- – High maintenance overhead
- – Scalability and interoperability challenges
- – Security risks from agents vulnerabilities
Agentless monitoring remotely pulls data using protocols like SNMP, WMI, SSH etc.:
- + No agents to install/maintain
- + Centralized data for big picture visibility
- + Better security as no agents installed
- + Support diverse environments and devices
- – Less granular data in some cases
Here is a comparison of the two approaches across crucial criteria:
| Agent-Based | Agentless | |
|---|---|---|
| Installation Effort | High – agents on all devices | Low – no agents |
| Ongoing Maintenance | High – agent updates etc. | Low – no agents |
| Scalability | Hard to scale up | Highly scalable |
| Security | Risks from vulnerable agents | Improved – no agents installed |
| Supported Environments | Requires agent compatibility | Broad device/system support |
Based on the above, agentless monitoring delivers key benefits of reduced overhead, better security and higher scalability. Next let‘s explore why it‘s becoming crucial.
Why Agentless Network Monitoring Matters
Here are five key reasons agentless network monitoring is vital:
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Lower Costs: By eliminating agent installation and lifecycle management, you save substantially on software costs and IT time/resources.
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Enhanced Security: With no agents actually installed on devices, your attack surface is reduced. Patterns of unauthorized or suspicious device activity can also be detected.
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Increased Scalability: Quickly add new endpoints without costly agent deployment and compatibility testing. Ideal for dynamic environments.
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Greater Environment Coverage: Collect data from more device types, operating systems, virtual servers and cloud services without concerning yourself with agent compatibility.
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Unified Visibility: Get the complete picture by converging infrastructure metrics, application performance, user experience and business data. Solve problems faster with context.
As infrastructure complexity increases, the agentless approach overcomes many limitations of traditional monitoring tools using agents.
Key Capabilities to Look for in Agentless Monitoring
When evaluating tools, here are some key criteria:
- Auto-discovery to detect devices on the network automatically
- Remote collection via multiple protocols like SNMP, WMI, REST APIs etc.
- Dashboards to visualize performance and availability metrics
- Custom reporting for management and capacity planning
- Threshold-based alerts to stay ahead of potential issues
- Integration with management and ITSM solutions
Getting all your infrastructure and application data in one streamlined platform boosts efficiency through noise reduction and improved insight.
Next let‘s explore the top agentless monitoring tools available today.
1. SolarWinds Network Management Suite
SolarWinds is a popular network and systems management software provider aimed at mid-size to large organizations. For over 20 years, they have been a leader in delivering powerful yet easy-to-use solutions.
The SolarWinds Network Management Suite includes Network Performance Monitor (NPM) for infrastructure monitoring and Server & Application Monitor (SAM) for systems and app visibility.
Both tools include robust support for agentless monitoring leveraging standard protocols like WMI, SNMP, HTTP etc. NPM also has advanced network topology mapping while SAM covers server hardware all the way up through apps.
Benefits include:
- Broad native support for agentless monitoring
- Over 2000 out-of-the-box monitoring templates
- Powerful dashboards and reporting
- Smooth integrations with IT management solutions
- Relatively easy deployment and scaling
Ideal for organizations looking for polished, unified monitoring covering everything from network to apps.
Pricing starts at $2,995 per server for standard infrastructure coverage.
2. ManageEngine OpManager
OpManager by ManageEngine provides unified monitoring covering networks, systems, databases, custom apps and more.
It packs over 2000 built-in monitors plus deep support for agentless monitoring approaches:
- Network using SNMP, ICMP etc.
- Windows via WMI and remote PowerShell
- Linux/Unix via SSH, HTTP(S)
- Cloud apps using REST APIs
Benefits also include:
- Auto-discovery to detect new devices/services
- Threshold-based alerts with notification routing
- Customizable dashboards and reporting
- Support for flow monitoring and configuration management
- Integrations with ManageEngine ITSM and security tools
OpManager starts with a free version for up to five monitors. Paid editions scale all the way from small business to large enterprises.
Overall, it‘s an enterprise-grade monitoring platform covering all bases at an affordable price point.
3. Paessler PRTG
Paessler PRTG is renowned for power combined with simplicity in their network monitoring solution.
Out-of-the-box it packs hundred of sensors/detectors leveraging both agentless and agent-based approaches:
- Infrastructure via SNMP, Packet Sniffing etc.
- Systems via SSH, PowerShell, WMI
- Web services via HTTP, REST APIs etc.
- Flow data from NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow
Once activated, PRTG will auto-discover devices and start collecting availability and performance metrics. Alert thresholds can then be configured along with map dashboards for visualization. Custom sensors can also be built using Python and PowerShell scripts.
Finally, an elegant web interface surfaces powerful reporting to help analyze monitoring telemetry. Integration with ServiceNow and other ITSM tools is also smooth.
PRTG starts with a free version then offers a 30-day trial of the unlimited paid license.
For maximizing network visibility across physical, virtual and cloud environments – look no further than PRTG.
4. Nagios XI
Nagios has been a long time player in open source monitoring. Offering four editions – Core, Log Server, Network Analyzer and XI, there’s a version suitable for everyone.
Nagios XI delivers enterprise-grade infrastructure monitoring combining open source tools in an easy to use platform. Server root cause analysis is a key strength given support for both agent-based and agentless approaches:
- 1000+ native monitoring checks
- Agentless via SNMP, SSH, WMI, REST APIs
- Agent-based via Nagios agents when needed
- Auto-discovery integrated across most monitoring engines
Also included is graphical network topology visualization combined with intelligent event correlation to cut down alerts noise. Custom APIs are available to feed monitoring data into other apps. Pricing starts at $1,995 per server for a 1-year subscription.
For flexible, unified visibility across diverse infrastructure, Nagios XI excels. From small biz to the Fortune 500, it’s got you covered.
5. Datadog
Datadog is a powerful cloud platform specialized around monitoring dynamic compute environments and applications.
Coverage includes:
- Infrastructure: Server resources, network devices etc.
- Cloud Services: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform
- Containers: Docker, Kubernetes (K8s) clusters
- Application Performance: .NET, Java, PHP etc.
Key capabilities are:
- Auto-discovery of cloud assets
- Agentless monitoring of 50+ cloud services
- Dashboards correlating metrics across apps
- Machine learning powered anomaly detection
- Smooth workflow integrations with services like Slack, PagerDuty etc.
All packaged together in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model. Best suited for cloud-native development teams or internet scale properties.
14-day free trial available to test drive Datadog.
6. LogicMonitor
LogicMonitor excels at infrastructure monitoring for highly dynamic environments. Assessing over 2500 technologies, coverage is expansive – from network to servers to cloud.
Top features include:
- Auto-discovery using SNMP, JMX, REST etc
- Monitoring for AWS, Azure and 2000+ more techs
- Beautiful flexible dashboards
- Exceptional workflow integrations
- Global data collection infrastructure
LogicMonitor packs the enterprisy capabilities expected from on-prem software into a SaaS-delivered package. Fast time-to-value and usage-based pricing make it easier for lower friction procurement.
Free trial available. Overall, ideal for ITOps, DevOps and application owner roles tasked with managing hybrid infrastructure.
7. ProbeDashboard
ProbeDashboard is a modern monitoring platform optimized for scale, flexibility and ease of use.
It delivers unified observability across:
- Infrastructure: Network devices, servers, virtualization
- Cloud Services: AWS, Azure, Dynatrace, Datadog
- Applications: Exchange, Office 365, Dynamics etc.
Powerful functionality comes standard including:
- Automatic discovery of devices and dependencies
- Customizable dashboards and workflows
- Flexible alerting with intelligent suppression
- Public and private distributed probes
ProbeDashboard starts with a free offering then scales using a fair pay-per-use licensing model. All delivered through a SaaS platform equipped for the future of monitoring.
Conclusion and Key Recommendations
Visibility is power. Agentless network monitoring maximizes insight while minimizing friction.
As hybrid infrastructure dynamism increases, instrumenting each endpoint is an uphill battle. The agentless approach allows seeing more devices easier. Unified observability into performance and availability is crucial for modern digital businesses.
Based on your use case, choose the right balance of agentless and agent-based approaches. Seek out tools purpose-built for auto-discovery and scalability like SolarWinds NPM. Filter through the observability noise with advanced analytics – machine learning combined with human intelligence.
Lastly, don‘t forget the human behind the dashboard. Even the best tools require care and feeding by talented teams to smooth configuration and sustainably derive value.
What areas of your infrastructure still live in the dark? What would it take to shine a light? Now you know the top 7 agentless monitoring tools capable of giving you the visibility and insight needed to keep digital infrastructure humming.
