Easy Network Service Monitor for Windows

User Reviews

• False negatives are not good, mmmkay?

  ASPISMMarch 22, 2006

  Pros

  This product has an intuitive interface, and setting up monitors for traditionally more complicated objects, such as databases is easy. The variety of what can be monitored is nice--even web site content and custom TCP or UDP ports.

  Cons

  Considering what monitoring software does, what is the worst possible flaw that it could have? The answer is false negatives--in other words, the inability to detect that a monitored device is having a problem. With Easy Monitor that is exactly what you get. I set up a Ping monitor on a server's interface (on the same subnet as the monitoring machine) and then shut that interface down. Easy Monitor will continute to believe it is alive through several of its testing cycles. Eventually it discovers its down, but then shortly thereafter it believes that it is back up again (it isn't). It continues this up/down/up/down at random intervals. <p> <p>Furthermore, once Easy Monitor realizes there is a problem, the software continues to alert you that it is down. Over and over, even though I told it to give me only one notification. Imagine if you had this thing paging you! You would be bombarded with up down down down up down down down messages. <p> <p>As another reviewer has noted, the remote support consisted of "We can't get this problem to happen" on their end. Furthermore, they state "remote troubleshooting is difficult" and just offered to give me my money back. <p> <p>Don't be fooled by good results with the demo--its limited to 2 or 3 monitors maximum. The problems start to happen when you get about 5 or more. <p> <p>If you want monitoring software that won't reliably alert you to problems, then I highly recommend this product.

  Summary

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