5 Useful Console Based Network 'top' Tools
Out of the myriad of utilities that are available for Linux,
top is a troubleshooting tool that often comes up in conversation. With
good reason, top is a tool that many users frequently turn to. It is is
a small open source utility that offers a dynamic
real-time view of a running system, allowing users to monitor the
processes that are running on a system, and to identify which
applications are consuming more resources than they should. Whilst top
(and other alternatives)
are useful tools to monitor the running processes on a
system, functionality does not extend to network activity.
Monitoring processes is not, in itself, sufficient to ensure a
smoothly running system. Network monitoring tools can help to identify
issues before they escalate to emergency status. This type of software
is
not only useful for network administrators. Home users with a small
network or even just a single computer will benefit from the software
featured in this article.
The focus here is not to identify software that provides
general system monitoring solutions. We covered the finest open source
system monitoring tools in a previous Group
Test. Instead, the purpose of this article is to identify
small console based utilities that show network usage in a way
reminiscent to what the top utility does for processes. Rather than
borrowing code from top, the small tools here borrow ideas from
that troubleshooting tool, such as providing instant real-time data
about a system that updates as the situation changes. If you are
looking for small tools to diagnose TCP and UDP connection issues in
real time and other related issues, to help isolate the causes of
network problems, and to monitor bandwidth that is being consumed by
applications and users, the software featured in this article will be
of interest. We particulary like IPTraf. Although it has not been
updated in years, it remains an indispensable utility.
Now, let's explore the 5 network 'top' tools at hand. For each
title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an
in-depth analysis of its features, a screenshot of the software in
action, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.
| Network 'top' Tools |
| IPTraf |
Interactive Colourful IP LAN Monitor |
| iftop |
Displays
bandwidth usage on an interface by host |
| NetHogs |
Groups
bandwidth by process |
| ntop |
Network
traffic probe that shows the network usage |
| jnettop |
Traffic visualiser, capturing traffic going
through the host |
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Last Updated Tuesday, October 02 2012 @ 05:22 PM EDT
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