CPU Monitoring Software

What is a CPU monitor?

CPUs not only regulate the performance of the various applications and programs running on a given device, but they’re also responsible for managing how the device processes and transmits data. This means CPUs are almost constantly in use, which can lead to overheating, damage, and system failure if they’re not kept cool and load properly managed, especially in the case of large, complex systems.

A CPU monitor is a program or application designed to track performance and health metrics related to the central processing unit of a computer or networked device. These tools can grant visibility into each device’s CPU load and resource utilization, so you can detect and resolve performance issues before they impact end users and business operations. For instance, by tracking the demands devices are placing on their CPUs during everyday operations, CPU monitoring software makes it easier for you to identify performance issues before they cause major impacts.

CPU monitors are essential for effectively managing and maintaining network performance, as they can keep you up to date on issues as they develop, while also helping speed up troubleshooting time by providing deeper insights into root causes. CPU monitoring software also typically provides reporting capabilities, which can give you actionable insights for scaling, provisioning additional resources, upgrading hardware to optimizing CPU loads, and pinpointing bottlenecks. CPU monitoring tools can help you more easily highlight extraneous background processes that may be creating unnecessary resource drains, which is useful for ensuring optimal device performance and network uptime.

How does a CPU monitor work?

CPU monitors typically use the SNMP protocol or local communication protocols to assess the current CPU utilization and capacity for locally monitored devices, remote Windows systems, or other networked devices. This allows you to keep an eye on devices with heavy CPU utilization and load, so you can intervene before potential performance issues interrupt typical system performance and business operations.

Why should I use a CPU monitor?

CPUs are a critical component of computing devices. A device without a healthy and properly functioning CPU is likely to be prone to crashing or performing in an extremely limited capacity—if the device starts up at all. For this reason, CPUs should be monitored and managed in the same way physical devices require regular care and maintenance to ensure proper function and longevity.

CPU monitoring, a subset of network performance monitoring, tracks the health of network devices and is an efficient method of keeping track of overall network function and ensuring optimal performance. CPUs are central to the processing capacity of devices and are good indicators of the capacity of your network at large.

CPU monitoring tools can also help with troubleshooting efforts. By collecting and analyzing data about specific performance metrics—such as CPU load and speed, idle time, processor time, user time, and more—the software can provide valuable insights into device performance issues, while also helping you more easily identify the impact specific devices have on network performance. Diagnostic tools that also monitor a comprehensive set of CPU performance metrics can be used to highlight the aspects of hardware performance responsible for network slowdowns and other issues.

How can I set CPU alerts?

ETS’s CPU monitoring tool offers the ability to easily set and modify the performance metric thresholds that trigger automatic alerts when reached or crossed. The process of creating a new alert in ETS includes:

1. From the dashboard, click Alerts, then Configure Alerts. Select New Alert in the new window and, once you’ve entered a name, click Enable this Alert.
2. Next, select Property to Monitor and choose the specific property or performance metric to associate with the alarm. (Each alarm can only be tied to one monitored property.)
3. From there, select Monitored Network Objects and choose the devices or objects to be linked to the alarm.
4. Then select Alert Trigger and enter values to activate and reset the trigger. Different monitored properties will provide different values when specifying trigger activation and reset. The received bits per second for an interface property, for instance, will allow you to set trigger and reset thresholds, whereas the IP address for a node property won’t provide selectable triggers and will instead send notifications if the device’s IP address changes. (An alert’s trigger action will not repeat until the reset threshold or conditions have been met.)
5. Navigate to Time of Day and select the times and days the alert should trigger. The Alert Suppression option provides additional control and specificity, should there be certain situations when you do not want the alert trigger to activate.
6. Lastly, select Actions and Add Alert Action. This will allow you to define one or more actions to be taken after the alert trigger activates. Certain actions will require additional input—setting up an email alert, for example, will prompt you to enter the email addresses for the alert notification, the source email address, the particulars of the alert and reset messages, and the address and port of the SMTP server.

These options give you granular control over alarm contingencies. For example, notifications can be sent to different team members depending on the event type, day of the week, or time the event trigger activates. ETS alerts can also be sent to other monitoring programs and includes options for the following actions:

• Sending email notifications or entire webpages
• Playing alert sounds on ETS’s network performance monitor tool
• Logging details of the alert event to a file or Windows Event Viewer
• Generating syslog messages
• Executing external applications or scripts
• Modifying interface or node property values
• Activating a paging service
• Sending SMS messages
• Activating a Windows command prompt net send command
• Sending SNMP traps
• And more

More tools from Engineer's Toolset

SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolset (ETS) includes more than 60 tools designed to assist network administrators in managing their systems more effectively and efficiently. From memory, response time, and CPU monitoring capabilities to DNS auditing and MAC address scanning, ETS provides a powerful and affordable set of functions built by experts.

Automated network discovery simplifies onboarding through tools like advanced subnet calculators, port scanners, and switch port managers, to help ensure consistency of service operations. Real-time network availability and device health monitoring keep administrators up to date on the state of their systems, and diagnostic tools like TraceRoute can help highlight failures in specific bandwidth and network segments, thereby streamlining the troubleshooting process and providing valuable insights that can help to minimize problem resolution time.

Tools like WAN Killer and Ping Sweep allow admins to check available IP addresses, test network connections, and modify network load to be within acceptable parameters. ETS also includes tools specifically for managing Cisco devices and analyzing NetFlow.

Many of the most popular ETS tools are now available via a convenient and easy-to-use web dashboard, including the CPU monitor, interface monitor, memory monitor, response time monitor, and TraceRoute. ETS tools also seamlessly integrate with SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) for even greater monitoring efficiency and enhanced network security.