Chris Pirillo » network-monitor http://chris.pirillo.com News and Reviews! Geek, Internet Entrepreneur, Hardware Addict, Software Junkie, Book Author, Once TV Show Host, Technology Enthusiast, Shameless Self-Promoter, Tech Conference Coordinator, Early Adopter, Idea Evangelist, Tech Support Blogger, Bootstrapper, Media Personality, Technology Consultant, Thicker Quicker Picker Upper. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:32:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Monitor Your Macs With iStat Menus http://chris.pirillo.com/monitor-your-macs-with-istat-menus/ http://chris.pirillo.com/monitor-your-macs-with-istat-menus/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:52:24 +0000 Chris Pirillo http://chris.pirillo.com/?p=17778

Monitor Your Macs With iStat Menus

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed Billy has done several screencasts in the past for our channels, and has received some pretty good feedback. Today, he’s going to show you how to monitor your system if you’re using OS X, using an application called iStat Menus. Remember, [...]

Monitor Your Macs With iStat Menus

]]> Monitor Your Macs With iStat Menus


Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

Billy has done several screencasts in the past for our channels, and has received some pretty good feedback. Today, he’s going to show you how to monitor your system if you’re using OS X, using an application called iStat Menus. Remember, if you want to submit a screencast for possible use on our channels, see the information in the link at the beginning of this description.

iStat Menus can monitor many different things on your system, including:

  • CPU – Realtime CPU graphs and a list of the top 5 CPU resource hogs. CPU usage can be tracked by individual cores or with all cores combined, to save menubar space.
  • Disk Usage – See used or free space for multiple disks in your menubar. More detail for all your disks is only a click away.
  • Memory – Memory stats for your menubar, shown as used and free memory or wired, active, inactive and free. The memory dropdown menu shows a list of the top 5 memory hogs, as well as other useful info.
  • Disk Activity – Detailed disk I/O in your menubar, including a variety of different read and write indicators.
  • Network – The realtime graph will keep your finger on the pulse of what data’s being sent and received for all network connections.

iStat Menus is fully customizable, and each menu extra comes with many different display modes, each featuring customizable colours, font sizes and widths.

Thanks for an excellent screencast, Billy! This little application is sure to come in handy for many Mac users!

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Monitor Your Macs With iStat Menus

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/monitor-your-macs-with-istat-menus/feed/ 0 Network Monitoring Software Review http://chris.pirillo.com/network-monitoring-software-review/ http://chris.pirillo.com/network-monitoring-software-review/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:34:54 +0000 Chris Pirillo http://chris.pirillo.com/?p=16664

Network Monitoring Software Review

While this blog post was sponsored by one of our community partners, SolarWinds, the opinions are 100% editorially-controlled. Comments are welcome. For years (according to him), Matt has been recommending one of the best network monitoring tools he’s ever reviewed: IPMonitor. Today, he’s helped me by sharing his personal top reasons as to why he [...]

Network Monitoring Software Review

]]> Network Monitoring Software Review

While this blog post was sponsored by one of our community partners, SolarWinds, the opinions are 100% editorially-controlled. Comments are welcome.

For years (according to him), Matt has been recommending one of the best network monitoring tools he’s ever reviewed: IPMonitor. Today, he’s helped me by sharing his personal top reasons as to why he recommends it over other options.


“Is the network up?”

This is something on the minds of most IT managers throughout the day (and night). Assuming they’re using a product like IPMonitor, then odds are in the IT manager’s favor that they would be “in the know” instantly… should network availability change for some reason.

So, really – why IPMonitor?

  1. Dead simple single installation. Rather than needing to install a bundle of applications just to keep the network in check, install IPMonitor and be done with it. Keep it simple.
  2. Easy device discovery. Rather than needing manually add every single device in your network and then hoping the provided list is up to date, just let IPMonitor do the heavy lifting for you.
  3. Install it once and then forget it. No need to install IPMonitor on every single computer. It’s running on the server of your choice – that’s all that is needed. One install does it all.
  4. Smart monitors. One of the best features is being able to set up Smart Monitor to keep an eye on specific aspects of your network – such as DNS, FTP, Web, SQL Server, etc.. More often than not, the monitors can even take corrective action to ensure that the entire network doesn’t melt down.
  5. NOC Dashboard. Without a doubt, it is the NOC Dashboard that makes IPMonitor one of the greatest options for me. Being able to stay in tune with what is going on at a glance is simply fantastic.

As anyone in IT knows: talk is cheap, and backing it up with a demonstration is needed. SolarWinds, once again, offers a 21-day free trial to get your feet wet with what IPMonitor has to offer you and your organization.

Thanks again to Matt for helping craft this post – and to SolarWinds for continuing to support our community endeavors.

Network Monitoring Software Review

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/network-monitoring-software-review/feed/ 1 More Network Tools for Professionals: PacketTrap pt360 http://chris.pirillo.com/more-network-tools-for-professionals-packettrap-pt360/ http://chris.pirillo.com/more-network-tools-for-professionals-packettrap-pt360/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:35:14 +0000 Chris Pirillo http://chris.pirillo.com/?p=12677

More Network Tools for Professionals: PacketTrap pt360

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed In some cases, you may be connected to the Intranet – meaning you need a set of tools to help you troubleshoot problems, or see a problem before you know it exists. PacketTrap’s pt360 allows you to flow results between tools, [...]

More Network Tools for Professionals: PacketTrap pt360

]]> More Network Tools for Professionals: PacketTrap pt360


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In some cases, you may be connected to the Intranet – meaning you need a set of tools to help you troubleshoot problems, or see a problem before you know it exists. PacketTrap’s pt360 allows you to flow results between tools, save network settings and favorites. The powerful, yet easy to use pt360 helps you tame your network.

You’ve pinged a server before to see how it responds. Instead of just getting numbers back, pt360 will give you a graphical presentation of how your website looks. There are a total of 14 extra tools that come with pt360 Pro, including things like Cisco config backup and a NetFlow analyzer. The free version is more limited, but still very useful. They are consolidating a bunch of open-source tools into one dashboard. It’s hard to build your own interface, and PacketTrap has taken that difficulty away for you.

The suite of tools is all wrapped up into one graphical user interface, and is tabbed for ease of use. You can use the Enhanced Ping tool to list your DNS, as well. There’s also a DNS search tool, which allows you to check to see what sites are owned by whom.

Offered at just $99, the PacketTrap pt360 Tool Suite PRO consolidates dozens of network management and monitoring tools into a single, integrated interface. When ordering, you can receive a free tshirt, simply by entering the coupon code CHRISPIRILLO.

This tool is great for small business owners, and even IT techs who have to go out into the field to troubleshoot networks. The tab feature is very easy and convenient to use. We use tabs in our web browsers, so it makes sense to use them in our network tools.

Many of the similar tools you’ll find will cost you well over $1000.00. This one, however, is only $99.00. This makes it super-affordable for the smaller businesses who simply cannot afford those high-end tools. And best of all – this program works just as well – if not better than many of those others!

Download PacketTrap pt360 today and try it free for seven days. I guarantee that at the end of the trial, you’ll be ready to buy the suite for yourself.

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More Network Tools for Professionals: PacketTrap pt360

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