Monitor Software Product Comparisons

Our monitoring software 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 for:

PA Server Monitor Agentless server and application health and performance monitoring software on local and remote servers and devices. Rich alerting and reporting.	PA Storage Monitor In-depth analysis and tracking of file storage and directory sizes (local and remote), including file and file-owner information. Some monitoring capabilities as well as rich alerting and reporting.
PA File Sight Real-time file access and auditing. Can report who accesses and deletes files. Ransomware protection, file-copy detection and USB drive blocking.	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

	PA Server Monitor	PA Storage Monitor	PA File Sight	PA WatchDISK
Server Health
CPU usage, memory, NIC usage (performance counters), Event Logs, web pages, ping response, SNMP, services running, etc.
Free disk space checks
Predicted disk full date
Server temperature or server room temperatures
File Auditing and Monitoring
Real-time file access auditing that can report who deletes or accesses files
Ransomware detection and protection
Information leak (file copy) detection and prevention (block users, block USB drives)
Polls files and directories for changes (local and remote systems, but no user activity reported) -- think host-based intrusion detection (IDS)
Scans and records directory sizes for resource planning and reports
Scans and records file and file-owner information for detailed reporting and planning (ie who is storing MP3 files)
Additional Features
Alerts and reports
HTML tabular, graphical and CSV reports with optional email delivery				(reports via Excel)
Server status report
Group summary reports
Runs as a service in the background

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	PA Server Monitor	PA Storage Monitor	PA File Sight
Action Scheduler Automate common IT tasks with the Action Scheduler. It will run your defined Actions when you specify.
Active Directory Login Monitor Monitor login and other security-related activity in Active Directory, Domain servers, and even for local logins.
Bandwidth Monitor Monitor bandwidth, network error counts, broadcasts and other values from SNMP-based devices as well as from Windows Performance Counters.
Calculated Status Monitor This monitor lets you calculate its status by running a script on the statuses of other monitors.
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.
Database Monitor The Database Monitor can watch that individual databases are up and running, keep an eye on the transaction log size, and alert if databases are added or deleted from a server.
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.
Disk Space Monitor 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.
DNS Monitor Monitor the results of a DNS lookup, or a reverse DNS lookup. You can specify which DNS server the request should be sent to. If an unexpected result is returned, actions are fired.
Drive Sight Protects servers and workstations by preventing CD/DVDs and/or external drives, including USB drives, from being attached. Any specified devices that are attached are immediately detached by the operating system so they cannot be accessed.
Dynamic Server List Dynamic Server Lists are groups of serves that meet your criteria. Once the list is known, you can define Dynamic Groups based on the list, and use that group everywhere else groups are used.
Email Monitor Monitor email messages in a POP3 or IMAP4 mail box for messages that contain specific text. When a match is found, alerts are fired.
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.
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.
Event Validator Monitor Verifies that specific events, such as backup succeeded or anti-virus pattern file updated events are in the event log. If they are missing, fire alerts.
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.
File Age Monitor Monitor file ages and alert if the files become too old (good for watching server queues, spool directories, etc).
File/Directory Size Monitor Track the size of a directory or a set of specific files within a directory. Includes reports.
File & Directory Monitor (CIFS 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 on local files, or files on any CIFS share. File creation and deletion is also monitored. A good tool to help with configuration management as well. Auto-configuration functionality is available.
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 operation (file read, write, delete, etc) occurs. The Ultra version also lets you: * Record the file access operations to a database for reporting (by user, by file, by operation, etc) * Alert on user usage patterns (i.e. user reads X amount of data in Y time, useful for ransomware protection and detecting file copying) NOTE: This monitor can ONLY monitor drives on the local computer. Watching files on remote computers requires that the [PA Monitoring Product] service (or a Satellite) be installed on the remote computers.
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...
FTP Server Monitor The FTP Server monitor can login to FTP servers (including SSL-enabled FTP servers) to make sure they are up and running.
Hardware Monitor Monitor the hardware status of ESX, Dell DRAC/iDRAC, HP iLO, IBM RAS and other IPMI-based devices.
Inventory Alerter Alerts on inventory data collected by the Inventory Collector monitor.
Inventory Collector Collects inventory information (hardware information, pending Windows Update, anti-virus status, etc) from a variety of sources including WMI, SNMP and an optional System Details application.
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.
Mail Server Monitor Monitor your mail servers (POP3, IMAP & SMTP) and validate that they are running and accepting incoming connections.
Network Scan The Network Scan monitor will periodically perform a ping scan of a specified IP address range looking for new devices that are not already being monitored. They can automatically get added to the system and configured for monitoring.
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.
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.
Plugin Monitor Runs an executable or external script launched via Windows, or via SSH, and parses the output to determine whether alerts should be fired. Plugins can also return values that are recorded to the database and can be charted.
Process Monitor Monitor that specified processes are running on Windows or Linux servers.
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.
Service Monitor Watches system services and runs customized actions (including restarting the service) if they are not running.
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.
SNMP Trap Monitor Receives SNMP Traps and optionally filters on trap text before running attached actions.
Syslog Monitor Receives Syslog log events and optionally filters on incoming log text before running attached actions.
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.
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.
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.

Reporting Features	PA Server Monitor	PA Storage Monitor	PA File Sight
Ad Hoc Reports Generate reports on the fly to quickly see graphical trends
Branding Reports Easily brand reports with your company logo at the top
Group Settings Group summary reports can be specified and controlled in a per-group way. In addition, group reports can be automatically emailed to anyone that needs to keep track of the servers.
HTTP accessible reports Reports are generated in HTML and accessible from within the [PA Monitoring Product] Console application, or from a web browser
Inventory Collect and report on hardware and system inventory of the monitored servers and devices.
Multi-Port Chart Combines and shows multiple bandwidth charts on an efficient set of one or more graphs.
Password Protection Password protect web reports in [PA Monitoring Product]
Satellite Status Quickly see the current status of an individual Satellite Monitoring Service.
Satellite Summaries Two reports that let you see the status of all of the Satellites at once.
Scheduled Reports 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.
Server Status Easily see at a glance the state of your server along with system statistics
System Activity Log Quickly see which monitors are running, how long they are taking, which actions are being fired and more.
Standard Report Tabs View the tabs and information that is common among most report types.
Uptime Reports Uptime Reports can be run on many different types of data, with summarization at the raw, hourly, daily, weekly and monthly level.
FS: All Changes Get a quick report to see everything PA File Sight has recorded in a specified time frame.
FS: Custom Data Set Create a report that filters on many different File Sight criteria.
FS: File Changes Quickly see all changes that happened to specific file or set of files.
FS: Type of Change See all file operations of a specific type. For example, all files that were deleted in the past two days could be quickly shown.
FS: User Activity Find all users who have done more than a specified number of specific operations. For example, anyone that has deleted more than 50 files in the past week.
FS: User Block List Quick way to see which users are on the File Sight User Block List, and which are on the white list.
FS: User Changes Select a specific user and a time frame to see all recorded file activities they have performed.
FS: User R/W Amt Find all users who have read and/or written a specified amount of data in a given time frame.
Grp: All Errors Report The All Errors report show all recent errors on all monitors on all servers/devices within a group. This is a good place to quickly get a detailed view of any problems happening on the network.
Grp: All Servers Report This report shows all of your servers in a group in a single page. Each server is a small box that is color coded according to the status of the monitors on that server.
Grp: Custom Group Create custom reports at a group level to show custom HTML, charts, and other status values for the contained servers.
Grp: Group Overview A compact report that shows high-level server health with detailed monitor types in a column layout.
Grp: Group Summary 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.
Grp: Network Map View all of the servers/devices within a group in a single report, grouping all computers and showing their status.
Grp: Status Map See a graphical map that contains status indicators that show you at a glance how servers in different geographic regions are doing.
Sys: Config Audit This report shows you what your current configuration is with your Groups, Servers, Monitors, and Actions.
Sys: Conn. Sessions See all sessions (Console, Satellite, mobile apps) currently connected to the Central Service.
Sys: Error Audit Powerful report to look at current and past alert conditions that have been detected by the system.
Sys: Monitor Scope Displays a summary of what is being monitored on a per-group basis. This would be appropriate to show stake holders to indicate the level of monitoring work being done.
Sys: Monitor Status A quick table-based overview of current monitor statuses. You can specify a specific monitor type, only monitors in error, etc.
Sys: Statistics View system statistics such as HTTPS connections and data transferred, numbers of monitors and connected Satellites, etc.
Sys: System Audit Find out about activities within the monitoring system, such as alert emails sent, user logins, Satellite disconnects, etc.
Sys: User Permissions This report will display all users defined in the system, what they have access to, and their permissions.

Other Features	PA Server Monitor	PA Storage Monitor	PA File Sight
Automated 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 manually entered maintenance mode, or it can automatically enter and leave maintenance mode on a schedule.
Automatic Fail Over Setup a second instance of [PA Monitoring Product] to monitor the primary monitoring service, and take over if it fails
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.
Configuration Security Password protect the [PA Monitoring Product] Console, and alert on changes that could affect monitoring.
Database Options Easily point [PA Monitoring Product] at the embedded SQLite database or use an external Microsoft SQL Server.
Easy Deploy Paste a list of servers or IP address from the local network into a list and let [PA Monitoring Product] silently deploy the Satellite Monitoring Service to those machines for you.
Easy to Use and Configure "...hands down the most straight-forward, uncluttered and effective monitoring tool I have used" - A satisfied customer
Embedded HTTP Server Control the HTTP port that [PA Monitoring Product] uses, and optionally enable HTTPS (SSL)
Error Auditing Keep track of which errors have been reviewed and acknowledged. Also a great way for administrators to have an overview of any errors within their area of responsibility.
Event Escalation Many monitors are capable of sending escalating events. For example, low disk space alerts could first go to a first-tier Ops team. If the aren't handled in a specified time frame, they could be forwarded to a second-tier Ops team.
External API Send basic configuration requests to the product via an HTTPS URL.
Inventory Collect and report on hardware and system inventory of the monitored servers and devices.
Mobile: iPhone [PA Monitoring Product] for iPhone lets you stay up to date even if you're away
Mobile: Android [PA Monitoring Product] for Android lets you stay up to date even if you're away
Mobile: Windows [PA Monitoring Product] for Windows lets you stay up to date even if you're away
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.
Server Grouping Group servers together in visual groups to help keep track of them. Group-based status reports are also available.
Simple Branding Easily brand [PA Monitoring Product] to have your name and graphics by simply dropping a couple of files into the installation directory. See Branding
Simple Installation Takes less than 3 minutes to install and get a default installation customized for your system.
Smart Configuration 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.
VMWare ESX Monitor aspects of a VMWare ESX host server.