A good resource for finding network / website / server monitoring software is the one located at the Stanford University SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) website.  Since 1996, Les Cottrell has been cataloging an ever increasing and enormous list of tools for the network and systems admin.  As the list has grown, the design of the site has barely changed, which creates a significant problem: how in the world does one choose a few tools to evaluate?  If there ever was an example of not seeing the forest for the trees, this is it!

This list has become important because it ranks high in the Google search results for search terms like “network monitoring tools“.  It ranks high on the search results for two factors: first, the page is huge!  It contains just about every tool out there and almost all of the keywords people search Google for when looking for a tool.  Second, the web page is hosted by Stanford, which immediately gives it a boost in the Google search rankings.

Is it the best list of tools?  It is possible the most comprehensive list of tools; however, it does require some patience when one is looking for a tool.