Product Comparisons

Our products have a wide range of functionality and features. At the same time, they share a common look and feel. This makes it easy to move among applications, but it might make it a little harder to see how they're different. This page will help show their similarities and differences. If you have further questions, please contact us.

In general the products are typically used as follows:

PA Server Monitor: Monitors local and remote servers and devices (generally Windows servers, but others supported too. More info...). Rich alerting and reporting.

PA Storage Monitor: In-depth analysis and tracking of local and remote file storage, including file and file-owner information. Some monitoring capabilities as well as rich alerting and reporting.

PA File Sight: Real-time monitoring of file access on the local system. Can report who accesses and deletes files. Alerting and reporting included.

PA WatchDISK: Create snapshots of directory sizes (no file or file-owner information), and view information immediately in a grid showing side-by-side directory sizes over time.

High Level Comparison

Feature	PA Server Monitor	PA Storage Monitor	PA File Sight	PA WatchDISK
Checks server CPU usage, memory used, NIC usage,etc (performance counters), Event Logs, web pages, ping response, mail servers, temperature, etc. etc.
Checks and alerts on free disk space
Monitors and alerts on server and/or server room temperatures
Monitors local file access in real time and can report who deletes or changes files
Scans local and remote files for changes (but no user information) -- think host-based intrusion detection (IDS)
Scans and records directory, file and file-owner information for resource planning and rich reports
Scans and records directory information for resource planning and rich reports
Alerts and reports
HTML reports with support for emailing the reports				(reports via Excel)
Server status report
Scans and records directory sizes for resource planning
Runs as a service in the background				(can run as a scheduled task)

Detailed Feature Comparison

Three of our products are very similar. To compare exactly how they are similar and different see the table below. All three products have the same list of response actions, so those are not shown.

Monitors

Monitor the free disk space on server drives. You can set the warning threshold in absolute size, or percentage of disk space. Includes reports and auto-configuration.

PA monitoring product monitors web pages and validates they are up

Web Page Monitor

Monitor one or many pages on a web site. Checks for positive cases (text that must be found), negative cases (alerts if error text found) and if the page has changed at all. Response times are checked and recorded, and reports can be generated to understand trends.

PA monitoring product monitors the Windows Event Log for events that you filter on

Event Log Monitor

Checks any specified Windows Event Logs (Application, System, Security plus custom event logs) and executes actions you specify if a source you're interested in adds an event to the log.

PA monitoring product can ping devices and let you know if they don't respond

Ping Monitor

Tests a connection/device by periodically testing it with a ping. No response or too great a delay triggers actions. Ping response times are recorded in a database for reporting and graphing.

PA monitoring product can monitor log files for specific text

Log File Monitor

Periodically checks the content of one or more log files for target text. Target text and be a simple text phrase or a regular expression.

PA monitoring product queries SNMP agent values

SNMP Monitor

Connects to local or remote SNMP agents and queries SNMP object values. Custom MIBs are supported. The value is compared to a threshold that you set and actions are fired as specified. SNMP values are also recorded to a local database for reporting purposes. Supports SNMP v1, v2c and v3.

PA monitoring product tests TCP connection availability

TCP Port Monitor

Makes a TCP connection on a specified port. Optionally send command text and check response text. Timing data is recorded for reporting purposes.

PA monitoring product monitor server temperature

Server Temperature Monitor

Using the free SpeedFan utility, the Server Temperature Monitor will watch the values from the various temperature probes on your server and notify you if they go above the thresholds you set.

NOTE: This monitor ONLY works on the computer PA monitoring product is installed on.

PA monitoring product monitors file access, creation and file deletes

File Sight Monitor

The File Sight monitor watches real time file access by users and programs. You can configure which files it watches, and how you are notified when a particular action (file read, write, delete, etc) occurs. The Pro version also lets you record the file access actions and run reports on past data (by user, by file, by file action, etc).

NOTE: This monitor ONLY works on the local computer. Watching files on remote computers requires that PA monitoring product be installed on the remote computers.

PA monitoring product can watch directories for changes to files including changes in content, date or even file creation and deletion

File & Directory Monitor

This monitor is a host-based IDS (Intrusion Detection System) that will notify you when the date, size or even content of a file changes. File creation and deletion is also monitored. A good tool to help with configuration management as well. Auto-configuration functionality is available.

PA monitoring product can generate reports on server volume files

File System Analyzer

Scan any size local or remote disk volume on a scheduled basis. Get in depth understanding of the files via rich reports including:

Directory Growth
Duplicate Files
File Age/Type Distribution
Largest Files by Owner

Largest File Users
Sub-Directory Growth
Custom File Sets
And more...

PA monitoring product tracks user disk quotas and sends notification if users are over

User Quota Monitor

Checks a data set produced by a File System Monitor scan for user disk usage. If they are over their quota, actions (including email sent to the end user) can be activated.

PA monitoring product can monitor can assist in directory quota management

Directory Quota Monitor

The Directory Quota Monitor keeps track of directory sizes, and executes actions if the directory sizes are over the quota. End users (directory owners) can be notified via email with the Monitor-Directed E-mail action. Includes reports.

File/Directory Size Monitor

Track the size of a directory or a set of specific files within a directory. Includes reports.

PA monitoring product can monitor SMTP, POP3 and IMAP mail servers

Mail Server Monitor

Monitor your mail servers (POP3, IMAP & SMTP) and validate that they are running and accepting incoming connections.

PA monitoring product monitors performance counters that are exposed through PerfMon

Performance Monitor

The entire breadth of the system Performance Counters can be monitored allowing you to set actionable thresholds on CPU usage, memory usage, NIC traffic, etc. Performance counter values are stored in a database so you can view historical counter reports and understand trends.

PA monitoring product monitors service processes and makes sure they are running

Service Monitor

Watches system services and runs customized actions (including restarting the service) if they are not running.

PA monitoring product can execute your own scripts

Execute Scripts

Execute your custom written scripts written in the Visual Basic Scripting Edition language. You can use custom or 3rd party ActiveX controls. The script determines whether to trigger actions using your own logic.

PA monitoring product can monitor the Esensors EM01b Sensor

Environment Monitor

Connects to an Esensors EM01b Websensor on the LAN and monitors the current temperature, humidity and luminescence, and notifies you if the values go above thresholds that you set. Historical reports as well.

PA monitoring product can monitor processes

Process Monitor

Monitor that specified processes are running on Windows or Linux servers.

PA monitoring product monitors Citrix XenApp (Citrix Presentation Server) connect and login response times

Citrix Presentation Server Monitor

Monitor and alert on Citrix XenApp (Presentation Server) client connect and login response times. Alert if too slow, and record times for historical charts.

PA monitoring product watches a directory of files and notifies you if the files become too old or are too new

File Age Monitor

Monitor file ages and alert if the files become too old (good for watching server queues, spool directories, etc).

Reporting Features	PA Server Monitor	PA Storage Monitor	PA File Sight
HTTP accessible reports Reports are generated in HTML and accessible from within the PA monitoring product Console application, or from a web browser
Server Summary Report Easily see at a glance the state of your server along with system statistics
Summary Status Report See a one line status indicator per server to see at a glance how the servers in your data center are doing. Per-group status reports are also supported.
Visual Status Map See a graphical map that contains status indicators that show you at a glance how servers in different geographic regions are doing.
Scheduled Report Generation You can create scheduled reports which will get created when you want them, and optionally email the report to a list of recipients. Scheduled report URLs are stable so you can add them to your Favorites list to quickly and easily see the latest results.
Ad Hoc Report Generation Generate reports on the fly to quickly see graphical trends
Republish HTTP Reports PA monitoring product supports the ability for its reports to be published via your web servers for further distribution

Other Features	PA Server Monitor	PA Storage Monitor	PA File Sight
Runs as a service PA monitoring product is composed of a console that you interact with, and a system service that is started when the computer boots up and is always running in the background.
Monitors Multiple Servers from a Single Installation No agents are needed in order for PA monitoring product to monitor multiple servers from a single installation.
Event Escalation If a problem persists for longer and longer, different sets of actions can be run to progressively deal with the issue (for example try auto resolving, and if that doesn't work contact the tech staff).
Server Grouping Group servers together in visual groups to help keep track of them. Group-based status reports are also available.
Maintenance Schedule While a computer is in maintenance mode, PA monitoring product won't run monitors. It will turn itself back on automatically after the maintenance window expires if you forget to.
Configuration and Monitoring Security Using system alerts, you can get a configuration how you like it and then enable Security Alerts. These alerts will tell you anytime something happens that would affect the system's ability to monitor. For example, stopping the service, putting a server into maintenance mode, changing configuration settings, etc. You can also set a password on the configuration application.
Console Lock Lock the PA monitoring product Console to keep anyone from purposely or accidentally changing the configuration (great for consultants)
Simple Branding Easily brand PA monitoring product to have your name and graphics by simply dropping a couple of files into the installation directory.
Easy to Use and Configure "...hands down the most straight-forward, uncluttered and effective monitoring tool I have used" - A satisfied customer
Smart Config Automatic Configuration Automatic configuration of monitors for a server. Each monitor inspects a server and then creates appropriate default monitors for that specific server.
Smart Configuration Feature Paste a list of servers or IP address into a list and let PA monitoring product inspect and self-configure for each server/device. Or easily copy the configuration from one configured server to one or more other servers.
Bulk Config Bulk Configuration Perform changes of settings in actions, monitors, reports and scheduling for several servers at one time, or copy configuration settings to other servers.
Bulk Configuration Feature Paste a list of servers or IP address into a list and let PA monitoring product inspect and self-configure for each server/device. Or easily copy the configuration from one configured server to one or more other servers.
Simple Installation Takes less than 3 minutes to install and get a default installation customized for your system.
Easily Duplicate Configurations Although a single installation of PA monitoring product can watch multiple servers, you may find you want to install it in many locations. A server can be quickly configured by passing a configuration file via the command line. This is also useful if you want to bundle <%=GetShortProductName(baseProdID)%> with your product.
Smart Config Automatic Configuration Automatic configuration of monitors for a server. Each monitor inspects a server and then creates appropriate default monitors for that specific server.
Easy Configuration Feature Paste a list of servers or IP address into a list and let PA monitoring product inspect and self-configure for each server/device. Or easily copy the configuration from one configured server to one or more other servers.
Easily Duplicate Configurations Although a single installation of PA monitoring product can watch multiple servers, you may find you want to install it in many locations. A server can be quickly configured by passing a configuration file via the command line. This is also useful if you want to bundle <%=GetShortProductName(baseProdID)%> with your product.
System Activity Log Quickly see which monitors are running, how long they are taking, which actions are being fired and more.

Product Comparisons

High Level Comparison

Detailed Feature Comparison

Popular Links