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Nagios XI vs Wireshark comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Nagios XI
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (13th), Server Monitoring (8th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (12th), Cloud Monitoring Software (16th)
Wireshark
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Network Troubleshooting (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Nagios XI is designed for IT Infrastructure Monitoring and holds a mindshare of 4.0%, down 4.8% compared to last year.
Wireshark, on the other hand, focuses on Network Troubleshooting, holds 12.9% mindshare, up 13.0% since last year.
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
Network Troubleshooting
 

Featured Reviews

FakhruddinLokhandwala - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 17, 2022
A simple monitoring tool that is scalable and stable
Nagios XI doesn't provide scripting. For example, if we have built up multiple IPX tunnels from a base location to a data center location and want to monitor or trigger an alert if the tunnel goes down, Nagios XI does not automatically send alerts notifying us that the tunnel is down. This is a feature we want, and in the past, Nagios completed scripting for us, but it didn't work out well. In addition, Nagios XI doesn't have a feature where we can push the configuration from the server to all our devices. For example, if there are 500 devices in our network and we need to write down a simple command like a show clock or want to write the configuration, we cannot execute this command on all of our devices. We have already raised this issue with Nagios, and they told us they would speak with the BU team to see if this can be applied in the next release. If they do, it will come with an additional license. Another feature we want is the IP SLA Tracking in Cisco. For example, if our ISP connection is traversing through an L2 point, which is a layer two point, we don't have IP-to-IP communication to track those interfaces. So if we need to implement something end-to-end and the interface goes down, we should get alerts for that. And if the interface goes down, there should be specific behaviour so that our traffic can switch over from the LAN or the WAN. That is not in the current Nagios deployment, but they have advised they are working on it.
DonniUgalde - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 18, 2024
Provides visibility into the network, and the GUI is easy to use
I wish the filters were a little bit more prepopulated. It would have been easy to hit a drop-down and select a filter. If I only wanted to look at DCP, UDP, or IP, it would be easy to filter it out. Advanced network knowledge is required to get a lot out of the tool. However, it's very easy to install and deploy. It would be nice if there were some handheld Android devices with a Wireshark-specialized application that would allow us to mirror a Cisco port. Then, we can just plug into the port and click the green start button, and it will start ingesting the packet capture. Then, we won’t be using a laptop. The only downside is that we must have a laptop and connect a network cable. Some new laptops don't have network ports, so we have to get another adapter. Having an all-in-one device, like NetAlly or Fluke, and some of their network devices would be cool.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The dashboard allows you to see what's going on in the overall system."
"I can monitor a software made in-house to software of bigger companies."
"Nagios XI is stable."
"Nagios allows us to configure any device so that we can send pager alerts when people don't have access to emails. It also allows us to schedule downtime and maintenance."
"The technical support is good."
"The installation is no problem. I've installed Nagios several times."
"The solution has a lot of plugins and scripts integrated with it."
"Nagios XI helped me to draw the network and check for system failures."
"It has a good syntax to put the commands in and get information out of."
"I like the filtering feature as we can filter data easily. This feature is also available in tcpdump, but it's a simple piece of software. Wireshark is more advanced and has many features. It allows you to filter a lot of things. The output can be filtered easily. The most important feature is colorization. If I say, "Okay, this particular SMB protocol in red, it will show me red." It's easy to identify that protocol or capture data."
"Packet-capture files can be hard to use due to their size. Wireshark has a tool called tshark that can parse the files with out opening them so that you can take large captures, say 2-10GB, and return only relevant information."
"The most valuable feature is the traffic gate, which shows which IPs are getting more bandwidth or traffic."
"Wireshark is a good tool to start with network analyzing and packet capturing."
"I can save the traffic and analysis when I want to. Also, it's especially helpful to follow the stream (TCP, UDP, etc.)."
"The solution is easy to install and use."
"The options that are required to get the details for the packet drops are good."
 

Cons

"The installation and monitoring need improvement."
"From an alerting point of view, some graphics and metrics don't work properly with Nagios XI as they do with Checkmk."
"I would like to be able to extend it to all of our data centers, whether they are in the cloud or not. It would be helpful if I could connect everywhere."
"We often need to develop custom plugins to get Nagios to work the way we want it to work because the features we need are not always available in Nagios."
"I would like to see support for notification via SMS."
"They need more documentation for the plugins."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"The tool's AI model needs to be fixed."
"The speed of the Internet could be improved, especially its performance."
"You need good network connectivity to download during the setup, otherwise, it might take a while."
"It is not an easy program. You will need to study to use it to its full capabilities (follow a course)."
"You need some basic knowledge to work with Wireshark. Maybe it could be more user-friendly just for new users. Just for the new generation."
"The product has been using the same GUI for many years."
"The initial setup depends upon the basics. You need to have a clear understanding of the basics."
"The system could be improved upon by adding a better and more powerful data processing engine."
"It would be better if they offered a hybrid version like My Cloud Control."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You can grow into the higher-priced scale as they learn how to utilize the features for Nagios XI."
"For our country in North Africa, it's expensive and we could purchase another solution for that price. But it's a reasonable price if we're speaking in international terms."
"The licensing fees for this solution are approximately $3,000 USD per year."
"We are using the free version of this solution."
"The pricing is high with separate licensing for the product and support."
"The pricing is really cost efficient. The licensing is perpetual and can be renewed very easily."
"Nagios XI is open source."
"Licensing costs are reasonable."
"It's a stand-alone tool. If there is a commercial license for it I am unaware of it."
"The tool is free."
"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."
"It is free to download and install. It runs on multiple platforms, so how can you go wrong?"
"We are using a freeware version of this solution, so there are no licence costs involved."
"I am using the free version of this solution."
"It is an open-source solution."
"Wireshark is open-source and free of charge."
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
58%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
University
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Educational Organization
10%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nagios XI?
It is an open-source platform with valuable features for performance and stability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nagios XI?
Nagios XI is an expensive solution. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten.
What needs improvement with Nagios XI?
From an alerting point of view, some graphics and metrics don't work properly with Nagios XI as they do with Checkmk. The solution's scalability, pricing, stability, and support could be improved. ...
What needs improvement with Wireshark?
I wish the filters were a little bit more prepopulated. It would have been easy to hit a drop-down and select a filter. If I only wanted to look at DCP, UDP, or IP, it would be easy to filter it ou...
 

Comparisons

 

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Sample Customers

Nagios has over one million users globally, including AOL, DHL, McAfee, MCI, MTV, Yahoo!, Universal, Toshiba, Sony, Siemens, and JPMorgan Chase.
Comversion, ADP, Talbots
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