The new version includes an enhanced reporting system that details network usage down to the last packet captured. Its enhanced capture driver and parsing engine offer the possibilityto work with higher volumes of traffic than before. With enhancements to almost all its previous features Network Monitor now adds the function to capture the network statistics directly to an Access database file, making the way for it's new report builder to create ever more specific reports on the traffic that is on a particular network segment. The new report builder comes with several predefined templates that look at many aspects of the statistics collected, as well as the ability to build custom templates for different levels of detail in reports.

    The release of Distinct Network Monitor version 5 was announced by Distinct Corporation recently. The program can still be used on any segment or node in the network to help locate specific issues, its statistical reporting shines when captures are taken at the mirror port of a switch. By capturing the statistics for entire segments or subnets and running reports on the statistics collected one can readily see where the network bandwidth is being used up, the protocols that are using this up and the actual systems responsible for the bulk of bandwidth usage.

Among the new features of the program we can find:

    * Additional Tools have been added. Among these is a utility program that can be run to detect systems that are currently active on your network and reveal several server types such as FTP, SMTP or HTTP.
    * A new Packet Generator for software developers and network administrators that want to test custom packets on their networks.
    * Enhanced capture driver and parsing capabilities. Distinct Network Monitor has an enhanced capture driver as well as the ability to scroll through big capture files fast. Additionally it now permits users to fine tune buffer sizes to enhance performance on a system basis.
    * The ability to search packet captures for packets while the capture is still active, making it even easier for you to track down live problems.
    * Enhanced Statistics module with new ReportBuilder. Distinct Network Monitor version 5 saves all statistical sampling to an Access database. It comes with a separate report building application that gives administrators the possibility to get different views of the statistical sampling taken on their networks. The level of detail in these reports is much greater than what was previously disponibble. In addition to pre-built report templates, the new ReportBuilder offers the possibility to create your own custom templates tailored to your specific needs. Reports include Bandwidth calculation for both IP traffic as well as all network traffic, IP applications, IP traffic by system, detailed reports for HTTP and FTP traffic and many more. ReportBuilder comes with its own scheduler allowing you to conveniently run reports overnight. Reports can be run on live captures or completed captures.
    * A user-definable live-statistics window that can be customized to span from a quarter of an hour to two hours of the most recent traffic.

For more information visit http://v5.network-monitor.com/