Vunetrix Manual: Detailed System Requirements

This section lists different aspects of system requirements for Vunetrix. Please consider these requirements in order to avoid issues while network monitoring.

• Supported Operating Systems
• Hardware Requirements
• Sample Configurations
• Running Vunetrix on Virtual Machines
• Web Browser Requirements
• Screen Resolution
• Requirements for Monitored Devices
• Requirements for the Enterprise Console
• Requirements for Mobile Web GUI
• Requirements for Smartphones

Supported Operating Systems

The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the following operating systems are officially supported for Vunetrix Core Service and Probe Service (Intel x86/x64 architectures only):

• Microsoft Windows 7
• Microsoft Windows 8
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012**
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2**
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later
• Microsoft Windows Vista*
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008*
   

* For performance reasons, we do not recommend using Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 R1, especially when monitoring via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Using these operating systems, you will only be able to add a limited number of WMI sensors! If you need to use Windows Server 2008 R1, we strongly recommend installing Service Pack 2 (SP2).

** Windows Server 2012 in Core mode and the Minimal Server Interface are not officially supported.

The version (32-bit or 64-bit) of the Vunetrix Core Server depends on the version of your operating system. The 64-bit version of the Vunetrix Core Server will be installed if

• the operating system is a 64-bit Windows system, and
• the system provides 6GB RAM or more.

Otherwise the 32-bit version of the Vunetrix Core Server will be installed.

We recommend you to provide Microsoft .NET Framework versions 3.5 and 4.0 (with latest updates) on all systems running a Vunetrix probe. Note: Version 4.0 is imperatively needed for monitoring VMware and XenServer virtual environments.

More details: Some sensor types need the Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed on the computer running the Vunetrix probe. This is either on the local system (on every node, if on a cluster probe), or on the system running a remote probe. Depending on the sensor type, the required versions are 2.0, 3.0, or 4.0. Note: According to the Microsoft website, .NET version 3.5 contains versions 2.0 SP1 and 3.0 SP1. Version 4.0 is not downward compatible, but must be installed side-by-side to older version(s), if required.

For best performance of hybrid sensors using Windows Performance Counters and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), we recommend Windows 2008 R2 or higher on the computer running the Vunetrix probe: This is either on the local system (on every node, if on a cluster probe), or on the system running a remote probe.

Hardware Requirements

Hardware requirements for Vunetrix Core Service and Probe Service mainly depend on the sensor types and intervals used. The following values are provided as reference for common usage scenarios of Vunetrix (based on a default sensor interval of 60 seconds).

• CPU
  An average PC built in 2007 can easily monitor 1,000 sensors (see sensor type specific notes below). Vunetrix supports native x86 architectures.
• RAM memory
  Minimum requirement: 1024 MB RAM. You will need about 150 KB of RAM per sensor.
• Hard Disk Drive
  You will need about 200 KB of disk space per sensor per day (for sensors with 60 second interval).
• Internet connection
  An internet connection is required for license activation (via HTTP or email).
• Stable network connection for remote probes
  Remote probes require a stable network connection between the Vunetrix core server and the remote probe. Unstable connections, for example via 3G, might work but it could be possible that you lose monitoring data if the connection is non-reliable.

There are also non-hardware dependent limitations for some sensor types, for example, WMI and SNMP V3 sensors. These limitations can be overcome by distributing the sensors across multiple remote probes. If you plan installations with more than 500 to 1,000 sensors, or more than 10 Packet Sniffer or xFlow (NetFlow, sFlow) sensors, please consult the site planner tool linked in the More section below.

Sample Configurations

The sample configurations in the table below will give you an overview of the hardware requirements for Vunetrix, based on your configuration.

* CPU load is higher while users are accessing the web interface.

Running Vunetrix on Virtual Machines

Vunetrix core server as well as Vunetrix probe can be run on virtualized platforms. The following platforms were tested successfully:

Important notice: We recommend using a dedicated physical machine to run both the Vunetrix core server and Vunetrix remote probes. If you run Vunetrix on a virtual machine, we strongly recommend to stay below 2,000 sensors for performance reasons. Unfortunately, we cannot offer technical support regarding performance and stability problems for Vunetrix installations on virtual machines that run with more than 5,000 sensors. In this case, please migrate Vunetrix to one or more, preferably physical, machines.

Note: When running Vunetrix on a virtual machine, do not use dynamic resource allocation, but please make sure that full resources are available to the virtual machine at any time. In our experience, dynamic resource allocation is not working efficiently for a monitoring software and can therefore lead to massive performance issues.

Web Browser Requirements

The following browsers are officially supported by the Vunetrix web interface (in order of performance and reliability):

• Google Chrome 34 or later (recommended)
• Mozilla Firefox 28 or later
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 or 11

Note: Deprecated Internet Explorer versions as well as mobile browsers might not be able to display the full featured Ajax web interface. Using these browsers, you can access the feature-limited Mobile Web GUI, which does not require CSS or Javascript capability.

Vunetrix's web interface makes heavy use of Javascript and AJAX. We found that for some functions Chrome is up to 10 times faster than Internet Explorer, and 3 to 5 times faster than Firefox.

Screen Resolution

A screen resolution of at least 1024x768 pixels is sufficient for most functions of Vunetrix. However, we recommend a screen resolution of 1200x800 or higher.

Requirements for Monitored Devices

• SNMP monitoring
  The monitored device(s) must be equipped with SNMP Version 1, 2c, or 3 (i.e., an SNMP-compatible software must be installed on the device). SNMP must be enabled on the device and the machine running Vunetrix must be granted access to the SNMP interface.
• Windows/WMI monitoring
  In order to use WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) monitoring, you will need a Windows network. For client PCs monitored with WMI, only the operating systems as given above are officially supported. Windows 2000 is not officially supported. Please do not use Windows Vista or Windows 2008 R1 for WMI monitoring (they both have WMI performance issues). Windows XP is not officially supported and might not work with sensors which use Remote Powershell.
• xFlow (IPFIX, NetFlow, sFlow) monitoring
  The device must be configured to send NetFlow data packets (NetFlow version 5 or 9; IPFIX is the successor protocol of NetFlow 9) or sFlow packets (version 5) to the machine running the Vunetrix probe.
• Packet Sniffer monitoring
  Only data packets passing the local machine's network card can be analyzed. Switches with so-called 'monitoring ports' are necessary for network-wide monitoring in switched networks.

• Other sensor types
  Depending on the specific sensor type, you can find requirements (for example, modules, components, device configurations) which may have to be fulfilled in the corresponding manual section, as well as partly when adding the sensor to a device.

Requirements for the Enterprise Console

The optional Vunetrix Enterprise Console runs under all Windows versions XP or later. It has a built-in webkit browser engine and requires no specific browser installed on the system. See also section Enterprise Console—Requirements for Connections to Vunetrix Web Server(s).

Requirements for Mobile Web GUI

The feature-limited mobile web interface is optimized for low bandwidth and mobile access. It has been designed for and tested with iOS (iPhone, iPad), Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and also deprecated Internet Explorer versions.

Requirements for Smartphones

The optional smartphone apps for iOS devices require iOS version 6 or later and Vunetrix v12 or later. For Android devices, the app "PRTG for Android" requires Android OS 4.0 or later (version 4.1 or later recommended), as well as Vunetrix Network Monitor 13.1 or later. For more information, please see Smartphone Apps. The 'Mobile Web GUI' interface can be used on most phones with a browser. It has been successfully tested on Symbian, BlackBerry, Windows, Android, and iOS devices. These apps are available for free download from our partners at Paessler.

Introduction Topics

• Welcome to Vunetrix Network Monitor
• About this Document
• Key Features
• New in This Version
• System Requirements
• Detailed System Requirements

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