Netflow Module versus Network Engineer Toolkit

Question

I have recently purchased Orion NPM and I am really starting to get my feet into it and would like to know would it be better at this point to purchase the module for Netflow or purchase the toolkit. I am working on a very limited budget so I am not sure. I also do not have all my switches and routers up to a IOS level that can handle Netflow, but I need to start breaking down my network bandwidth into valuable analysis and see what is taking the most utilization up.

Kind of new to all this stuff, finally starting to get into my Network Engineer Role and looking for some guidance.

Thanks!

kweise · Answer

Another option if you want to try and get some of both would be to get the Engineer Toolkit and use the free Real-Time NetFlow Analyzer.  You won't get as much functionality with the free Analyzer as you will with the NetFlow module for Orion, but you can still take advantage of the information available from NetFlow (it will just require a bit more work on your part when you want to get that data.)  You can read about the free Analyzer here:

http://www.solarwinds.com/products/freetools/netflow_analyzer.aspx

cnorborg · Answer

It depends on what you want more, they're really two seperate beasts.   The toolkit is just that, a toolkit you might take to diagnose some network problems.  While Netflow is to get a handle not only on the amount of traffic on your systems, but exactly what traffic it is.  While the Netflow stuff is >very< useful, the toolkit is too, the ability to do SNMP sweeps, browsing your network, produce quick reports, DNS audit, the list goes on and on...

What I would probably do in your position is give them both a try.  You can download a 30 day demo of each and see which one you use more...