Network monitoring tools operate by monitoring the network at the data link and
transport layers in the open system interconnection (OSI) reference model The tools
capture network traffic to help analyse incidents and problems determine network
trends and troubleshoot applications.
Most functions of network monitoring tools use a protocol called simple network
management protocol (SNMP) They also allow the network manager control of the
network via a central screen. The tools commonly use remote monitoring (RMON)
to achieve this.
Network information is generally stored in a management information base (MIB).
