rts and routers. LAN monitoring software includes visual information on servers with web interfaces. Charts indicate the status of various devices SO that IT staff can clear the problems by having information on web-like browser interfaces indicating where the outages are that affect each LAN segment. IT staff receive email, text, and audible alerts to notify them that there are outages. LAN monitoring software can be installed on servers at customer sites or in the cloud. Cloud based and on-site monitoring packages are sold and maintained by the software developer, resellers, and managed service providers. Developers of monitoring software include: Cisco, Hewlett Packard, ipswitch, NetBrain, PagerDuty, PRTC-Paessler, and NagiosCore. Setting Up the System-Time Consuming, Complex The most challenging, time-consuming part of implementing a network monitoring system is inventorying all the equipment on site. This takes about a day to accomplish. The following is a list of some of the equipment that needs to be monitored: Personal computers Printers Security monitors Switches Routers Storage devices Security monitors Servers Wi-Fi gear While LAN monitoring software can be used for Wi-Fi gear, specialized Wi-Fi monitoring software from Wi-Fi www.TechnicalPDF.com manufacturers can monitor these networks in more detail. If Wi-Fi gear is included in non-specialized monitoring software, then components of Wi-Fi networks need to be inventoried. In addition to inventorying each piece of LAN hardware, monitoring software needs to be aware of which devices are connected to each other. For example: To which switch and/or alternate router is each router wired? To which printer is each computer connected? Other information in databases includes: What are all the switches to which each port is connected? To which backbone switch is each wiring closet connected? What is the IP address of each device on the network? Organizations assign a private IP (Internet Protocol) address to each piece of gear connected to their network. IP ad