 LANHound
What separates this puppy from the pack is that it is a super
affordable tool that helps you troubleshoot NT/2000/2003 LAN, WAN
or Internet segments. LANHound has practically all the features
of products twice as expensive, and it supports switched networks!
Use LANHound to hunt down broadcast storms, analyze protocols, monitor
and secure your network.
Get the Hound.
LAN's best friend. LANHound supports all popular protocols with
an easy but powerful graphical interface. Built for Windows networks
from the ground up, for pros like you that need to sniff out network
problems, hunt down non-compliant users, dig up performance issues
like bandwidth hogs, and shut down the culprits before they can
result in major downtime for your users.
Product Features
Users are calling in hot and heavy... things are slowing down.
Why? It's mid morning, everybody is already logged in but they complain
loudly about response times. Quickly checking the server shows nothing
wrong, CPU is humming at 20%, memory usage is only 50%. What the
heck is going on?
You may have a Broadcast
Storm on the network, or something else sucks up your bandwidth!
So how do you find out about that? You need a Network Protocol
analyzer. These tools capture and decode the traffic between two
or more systems or devices. Decoding allows you to view the conversation
in English, as opposed to "binary" language. Packet Capture and
Packet Decode help you to isolate problems. Viewing specific packet
details shows exactly what is happening.
Protocol analyzers provide you information about the traffic flow
on your network. LANHound also includes network monitoring – that
is statistics and trend information on your network traffic.
LANHound has two major components:
- Network Monitoring
- Protocol Analysis
Let's start with Network Monitoring, in what situations
would you use LANHound?
- Network monitors provide statistics that help you to justify
new hardware.
- If the network response times are slow, network monitors can
display the traffic congestion.
- Network monitoring displays the percentage of your LAN bandwidth
that a particular protocol is using. This helps determine efficient
segmentation, and allows for problem isolation based on application
or server type.
- Find the hogs! The LANHound 'Traffic Matrix' and 'Host Table'
options show the traffic generation by each station and server.
This information shows who is using bandwidth. For example, if
a station is generating a significant portion of the network traffic,
this could indicate a hardware problem (e.g. defective network
adapter) or an individual/application generating more network
traffic than expected.
So now, what would you use Protocol Analysis for?
- If a network session "hangs", protocol analyzers can show who
sent the last packet, and which system failed to respond.
- Problems with network printing – Packet Capture shows you if
the station actually sent the job to the printer.
- Users complain they can't log in - Packet Capture shows you
login negotiations, retransmits and response times to determine
where the problem is, and where to focus your attention.
What are the major features of LANHound?
- Protocol analyzer & network monitor with Internet traffic analysis
- Native Win32 application program for Windows 98/NT4.0/2000/XP
- Uses existing Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Token Ring or WAN NIC
- Intercepts packets in and out of the workstation or server
- Captures all packets from the network segment (promiscuous mode)
- Decodes 802.3, 802.5, VLAN, AppleTalk, IPX/SPX, NetBEUI, TCP/IP
protocols
- Displays accumulated and historical network statistics in graphical
formats
- Shows historical statistics with threshold and alarm
- Tells who was connecting to what Internet site
- Automatically records host names, IPs, MAC Address
- Shows host name or MAC/IP address in all application windows
- Queries DNS to translate remote IP address into Internet site
name
- Supports Token Ring networks
- Distributed LANHound Agents for remote monitoring; remote agent
are sold separately
Why LANHound instead of another protocol
analyzer?
If you are looking for a tool like this, there are 5 elements to
consider: Platform, Price, Functionality, Support, and Ease of Use
(though not necessarily in that order).
- Platform – LANHound is a "software only" solution for Windows
98/NT/2000/XP. There is no special hardware to purchase or to
learn.
- Price – LANHound is just downright dirt cheap compared to other
analyzers that may cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.
- Features / Functionality – LANHound includes several unique
features – e.g. the ability to view Internet traffic, a solid
network monitor, an easy interface, etc. LANHound decodes the
most popular protocols (i.e. AppleTalk, IPX/SPX, NetBEUI, TCP/IP)
– making it functional and still affordable.
- Ease of use – this includes the installation, user interface,
as well as the need to "learn" proprietary hardware and software.
Installation is easy – with minimal to no configuring. Since total
disk space required is less than 10MB, many customers use LANHound
as a convenient "portable" solution for analyzing networks in
the field (using their notebook PCs).
- LANHound comes from an Inc. 500 Company. Sunbelt Software provides
you with best of breed tools with mainframe quality tech support.
Product Benefits
Let's go into a bit more detail: How does
the LANHound 'Packet Capture' work?
Screenshots: [Packet
Capture] [Packet
Capture in progress]
- Packet Capture uses the NIC's promiscuous mode to collect packets
from the local network segment
- The Packet Capture window shows destination station, source
station, protocol summary, packet size and arrival timestamp
- Choose station display in the format of MAC address, MAC address
with vendor name, IP address, Windows host name discovered from
the network segment or Intranet and Internet site name queried
from DNS
- Start a new Packet Capture while analyzing previous Packet Capture
windows
- Viewing a packet is as simple as double-clicking it in the Packet
Capture window
What is the LANHound Protocol Decode?
Screenshot: [Protocol
Decode]
- The Protocol Decode window shows detailed network protocols
of a packet
- Decode protocols include VLAN, AppleTalk, IPX/SPX, NetBEUI,
and TCP/IP
- Display protocol layers in a decoded, easy-to-read, tree-structured
format, and compare it to the raw data in both hexadecimal and
ASCII
- Open multiple Protocol Decode windows for packet-to-packet comparison
What is the LANHound System Filter?
- Setting Capture Filter enables LanHound to drop packets or collect
qualified packets
- Layer2 filter options: broadcast, multicast, unicast, 802.1Q
and Cisco's ISL
- Layer3 filter options: Ethernet II, LLC, LLC SNAP, IPX Raw,
Ethernet Types and LLC SAPs
- Layer3+ filter options: IP Protocols and TCP/UDP Ports Address
filter options: IP or MAC, one-way or two-way, inclusive or exclusive
- Drag and drop workstation addresses from the Address Book to
the address filter list
What is the Traffic Matrix, and what's in
it for me?
Screenshots: [Traffic
Matrix Chart] [Traffic
Matrix Table]
- The Traffic Matrix window shows station-to-station traffic statistics
- User can choose IP Traffic Matrix or MAC Traffic Matrix
- IP station display can be PC host name, Internet site name or
IP address
- Broadcast and multicast traffic can be excluded
- The Traffic Matrix right pane shows a graphical chart of the
top sessions
- Sorting is available in the Traffic Matrix grid pane
What is the Host Table?
Screenshots: [Host
Chart] [Host
Table]
- The Host Table window shows individual station traffic statistics
- The Host Table right pane shows a graphical chart of the top
5 users
- Sorting is available in the Host Table grid pane
Run a switched network? Here's the solution.
LANHound comes with Remote Traffic Agents for network segments you
can't normally see with LANHound.
Remote Agents - The primary purpose of the Remote Agents
is to allow network monitoring from an offsite or remote location,
or for switched networks. Uses include:
- Monitoring switched network segments
- Monitoring network segments over a WAN - e.g. offsite networks
- Monitoring specific machines/servers over a network
Remote Agent is a probe running on Windows 98, NT, 2000 or XP that
the client application can control just like any local adapter.
The client app uses TCP/UDP over IP to communicate with the Remote
Agents.
The client and agent supports network connections and dial up access
(PPP). Feasibility for dial up access will depend on the modem speed
and the volume of data being transferred. Direct dial up (PC to
PC) is not supported. Network connections are recommended (where
the client and remote machines are sending/receiving over network
adapter cards).
The Remote Agents can be used for gathering summary data - including
for the Traffic Matrix, Host Table, and general network statistics.
See
sample screenshots of LANHound in action
We offer competitive upgrades to LANHound for owners of (way too)
expensive packet sniffers. If you own products like the following
and you get hit with their yearly maintenance costs, instead of
paying this expensive maintenance, you can get 50% off your purchase
of LANHound(!), after providing proof of purchase of any competing
product such as: Digital Lan, Monitor, Ecoscope, Ethereal, Etherpeek,
Fluke OptiView, Iris, Lanalyzer, LanExplorer, Network Instruments
Observer, NetXray, Novell LanView, QoSWorks, Sniffer, sniffer/ecoscope,
SolarWinds, NetBoy and others.
PS: If you purchase second and third year LANHound maintenance,
you'll get 10% discount on second and 20% discount on your third
year. In short, we really are making this a no-brainer deal for
you.
More Information
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