PRTG Manual: Detailed System Requirements

This section lists different aspects of system requirements for PRTG:

• Supported Operating Systems

• Hardware Requirements
• Sample Configurations
• Running PRTG on Virtual Machines
• Web Browser Requirements
• Requirements for Monitored Devices
• Requirements for the Windows GUI
• Requirements for Mobile Web GUI
• Requirements for Smart Phones
• More

 

Supported Operating Systems

The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the following operating systems are officially supported for PRTG Core Service and Probe Service (Intel x86/x64 architectures only):

• Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later
• Microsoft Windows Vista*
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008*
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
• Microsoft Windows 7
• Microsoft Windows 8
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012
   

* For performance reasons, we recommend to not use Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 R1, especially when monitoring via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Using these operating systems you will only be able to use a limited number of WMI sensors! For detailed information please see More section below. If you must use Windows Server 2008 R1 we strongly recommend installing Service Pack 2 (SP2).

We recommend you provide Microsoft .NET Framework versions 3.5 and 4.0 (with latest updates) on all systems running a PRTG probe.

More details: Some sensor types need the Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed on the computer running the PRTG probe: This is either on the local system (on every node, if on a cluster probe), or on the system running a remote probe. Depending on the sensor type, the required versions are 2.0, 3.0, or 4.0. Note: According to the Microsoft website, .NET version 3.5 contains versions 2.0 SP1 and 3.0 SP1. Version 4.0 is not downward compatible, but must be installed side-by-side to older version(s), if required.

For best performance of hybrid sensors using Windows Performance Counters and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), we recommend Windows 2008 R2 or higher on the computer running the PRTG probe: This is either on the local system (on every node, if on a cluster probe), or on the system running a remote probe.

Hardware Requirements

Hardware requirements for PRTG Core Service and Probe Service mainly depend on the sensor types and intervals used. The following values are provided as reference for common usage scenarios of PRTG 8 (based on a default sensor interval of 60 seconds).

• CPU
  An average PC built in 2007 can easily monitor 1,000 sensors (see sensor type specific notes below). PRTG supports native x86 architectures.
• RAM memory
  Minimum requirement: 1024 MB RAM. You will need about 150 KB of RAM per sensor.
• Hard Disk Drive
  You will need about 200 KB of disk space per sensor per day (for sensors with 60 second interval).
• Internet connection
  An internet connection is required for license activation (via HTTP or email).

There are also non-hardware dependent limitations for some sensor types, e.g. WMI and SNMP V3 sensors. These limitations can be overcome by distributing the sensors across multiple remote probes. If you plan installations with more than 500 to 1,000 sensors, or more than 10 Packet Sniffer or xFlow (NetFlow, sFlow) sensors, please consult the site planner tool linked in the More section below.

Sample Configurations

The sample configurations in the table below will give you an overview of the hardware requirements for PRTG, based on your configuration.

* CPU load is higher while users are accessing the web interface.

Running PRTG on Virtual Machines

PRTG core server as well as PRTG probe can be run on virtualized platforms. The following platforms were tested successfully:

Note: When monitoring more than 1,000 sensors we recommend to use dedicated real hardware instead of a virtual machine. In our experience, this improves performance a lot.

Note: When running PRTG on a virtual machine, do not use dynamic resource allocation, but please make sure that full resources are available to the virtual machine at any time. In our experience, dynamic resource allocation is not working efficiently for a monitoring software and can therefore lead to massive performance issues.

Web Browser Requirements

The following browsers are officially supported by the PRTG web interface (in order of performance and reliability):

• Google Chrome 21 or later (recommended)
• Mozilla Firefox 4 or later
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 or 10

Note: Internet Explorer 8 or earlier as well as mobile browsers cannot display the full featured Ajax web interface. Using these browsers, you can access the feature-limited Mobile Web GUI, which does not require CSS or Javascript capability.

PRTG's web interface makes heavy use of Javascript and AJAX. We found that for some functions Chrome is up to 10 times faster than Internet Explorer, and 3 to 5 times faster than Firefox.

Requirements for Monitored Devices

• SNMP monitoring
  The monitored device(s) must be equipped with SNMP Version 1, 2c or 3 (i.e. a SNMP-compatible software must be installed on the device). SNMP must be enabled on the device and the machine running PRTG must be granted access to the SNMP interface.
• WMI monitoring
  In order to use WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) monitoring you will need a Windows network. For client PCs monitored with WMI only Windows XP and later are officially supported (XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, etc.). Windows 2000 is not officially supported. Please do not use Windows Vista or Windows 2008 R1 for WMI monitoring (they both have WMI performance issues).
• xFlow (NetFlow, sFlow) monitoring
  The device must be configured to send NetFlow data packets (NetFlow version 5 or 9) or sFlow packets (version 5) to the machine running the PRTG probe.
• Packet Sniffer monitoring
  Only data packets passing the local machine's network card can be analyzed. Switches with so-called 'monitoring ports' are necessary for network-wide monitoring in switched networks.

Requirements for the Enterprise Console

The optional PRTG Enterprise Console runs under all Windows versions XP or later. It has a built-in webkit browser engine and requires no specific browser installed on the system.

Requirements for Mobile Web GUI

The feature-limited mobile web interface is optimized for low bandwidth and mobile access. It has been designed for and tested with iOS (iPhone, iPad), Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Opera Mini, and even Internet Explorer 8 or earlier.

Requirements for Smart Phones

The optional smart phone apps for iOS require firmware 3.0 (or later). For Android devices, OS 2.1 through 3.0 are recommended. For more information, please see Smart Phone Apps. The 'Mobile Web GUI' interface can be used on most phones with a browser. We successfully tested it on Symbian, Blackberry, Windows, Android, and iOS devices.

More

• Update From Previous Versions
   

Paessler Blog: Don't Use Windows Vista And Windows 2008 R1 for Network Monitoring via WMI!

• http://www.paessler.com/blog/2010/09/22/
   

Paessler Website: Paessler PRTG Site Planner Tool

• http://media.paessler.com/publicimages/prtgsiteplanner.htm
   

Knowledge Base: How can I speed up PRTG—especially for large installations?

• http://www.paessler.com/knowledgebase/en/topic/2733
   

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