This one you will have to dig deep in your pocket for!
Colasoft’s Capsa Network Analyzer simplifies real-time network analysis. In addition to packet decoding, the approachable packet capturing, monitoring and analysis tool helps network engineers diagnose and solve network and bandwidth issues.
Manufacturer: Colasoft Corporation
Product: Capsa Network Analyzer
Version: 6.9 R2 Enterprise Edition
Operating systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP (32- and 64-bit versions), Windows Server 2003 (32- and 64-bit versions), Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit versions), Windows 2008 (32- and 64-bit versions) and Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit versions).
CPU: P4 1.2GHz or faster
RAM: 512MBFree Trial: Capsa Network AnalyzerPrice: $549
Who’s it for?
The Colasoft Capsa Network Analyzer Enterprise Edition aids systems engineers and network administrators responsible for managing corporate networks. Any technology professional tasked with ensuring smooth enterprise-wide network performance requires a reliable network analysis tool; Colasoft Capsa is just such a utility.
What problem does it solve?
The Capsa Network Analyzer is an easy-to-use network monitoring tool that collects critical information about network traffic, data packets and origination and destination data. The packet sniffing software provides powerful monitoring and reporting features, including graphing and diagnostic utilities, which help busy administrators and engineers quickly locate, diagnose and troubleshoot network issues.
Standout features
Simplicity - Colasoft’s Capsa network analysis tool is simple to install and easy to operate. Further, Capsa is easily customized. The packet analysis application boasts a wide range of easily altered settings and options for a vast array of parameters, including network adapters, packet types, physical addresses and more.
Powerful diagnosis - By combining real-time network monitoring and data recording with several integrated analysis and diagnostic tools, Capsa presents enterprise administrators with a powerful tool for determining the cause of network bandwidth issues and bottlenecks. Often the primary challenge when combating network slowdowns is tracing the source of bad packets or abnormal traffic generation. The software includes a Diagnosis console that lists events separated by OSI layers and enables sorting by severity, source address or event type to help speed recovery. A special Matrix view is available, too, that depicts connections at-a-glance, further enhancing diagnosis.
Comprehensive reporting - Capsa records considerable information. The network analysis software captures traffic statistics, bandwidth usage, data packet information for more than 300 protocol types, origination and source addresses, physical addresses, error rates and more. But its reporting tools are what prove valuable in helping administrators make sense of all that network information thanks to simple reports and graphical network representations.
What’s wrong?
Limited OS Support - Many enterprise administrators use Linux or Macintosh operating systems. Colasoft’s Capsa network analysis software, however, only works with Windows operating systems. Chances are some enterprise engineers would benefit from support for the packet sniffer on their mobile phones, too, but that may be asking too much.
Competitive products
Microsoft Network Monitor (
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=983b941d-06cb-4658-b7f6-3088333d062f&displaylang=en) Appears to be FREE!
PacketTrap Networks pt360 Tool Suite Pro (
http://www.packettrap.com/product/pt360_pro.aspx) $99.00
WildPackets OmniPeek Network Analyzer (
http://www.wildpackets.com/products/network_analysis/omnipeek_network_analyzer) No Price Listed Surprise!!
Wireshark (
http://www.wireshark.org/) FREE
Bottom line for businessEnterprise environments regularly present network challenges. Network administrators and systems engineers must possess potent tools capable of quickly determining the source of problems. With support for hundreds of protocols, real-time monitoring and simple graphical status representations, Capsa Network Analyzer assists enterprise professionals in maintaining secure, well-performing networks.
Capsa Activation Wizard
Colasoft Capsa requires activation using both a serial number and installation ID. Capsa Enterprise Edition costs $549 and includes advanced functionality, including graph and reporting features, for enterprise users.
Free Evaluation
Network administrators can test drive Colasoft Capsa 6.9 R2 Enterprise Edition Free. Trial downloads are available at
www.colasoft.com/capsa.
Simple Packet Capture
Capturing network traffic is easy using Capsa. Network administrators just need to open the Capsa console, click the Start Capture Now button, click OK to accept default Project Settings (or make any changes as required) and the Summary window begins tracking real-time network traffic.
Packet Graphing
Capsa includes graphical analysis tools, such as this graph tracking packets with errors versus properly structured packets, to help identify network errors
Customizable Settings
Additional network analysis settings can be adjusted by tweaking the tool's Options parameters. General options can be changed, as can be options for the protocol analyzer, decoder and format.
Capsa Logs
Capsa's log files record pertinent information, from the time items were recorded to the client and server IP addresses
Network Diagnosis
Using Capsa's Diagnosis console, administrators can identify problematic network issues adversely impacting performance. Source IP addresses, as well as source port identification, helps speed troubleshooting.
Protocol Analysis
Capsa tracks different TCP, UDP and RTP protocols, among others, active on the network. Quick protocol-at-a-glance information helps enterprise administrators quickly determine the source or nature of bandwidth bottlenecks.
Capsa Reporting
Capsa's reporting tools collect a wide range of information regarding network traffic, including physical errors, packet types, protocol statistics, physical addresses and remote IP addresses.
Capsa Matrix View
This Matrix view depicts connections at-a-glance, further enhancing diagnosis.
source:techrepublic
