Andrisoft Wansight vs FlowViewer

Andrisoft Wansight monitors, analyzes, and accounts for network traffic for NOC and IT operations teams. It does not provide DDoS detection or mitigation. Flow Sensors process flow data such as NetFlow, sFlow, jFlow, NetStream, and IPFIX, while Packet Sensors inspect traffic from mirror ports, TAPs, and in-line links. Analytics include graphs by IP, subnet, and IP group, decoder reports, top lists, and 95th-percentile accounting.

The Flow Collector can search, filter, and export flows, and Packet Tracer displays packet captures in a Wireshark-like view. Reports can cover periods from five seconds to ten years and be emailed on a schedule as PDF or Excel. Linux packages run on customer servers, with a web Console for centralized management, scoped customer and department views, role-based profiles, and white-label branding. The Console also supports SAML 2.0, LDAP, Active Directory, RADIUS, REST API, CLI, and scripts. The one-year Sensor license costs $345 a year for one Packet Sensor or one Flow Sensor, monitoring only. A reviewed request can qualify for a free 30-day evaluation license.

FlowViewer is free software for analyzing NetFlow data exported by an organization’s network devices. Its interface works with Carnegie Mellon’s SiLK software and also supports the older flow-tools collector. The toolset combines FlowViewer for text reports, FlowGrapher for charts, and FlowMonitor for longer-term traffic monitoring. It supports NetFlow versions 5 and 9, including IPv6, and offers filtering by address, port, interface, autonomous system, TOS, TCP flags, protocol, and next hop. More than 30 reports are available, and reports and filters can be saved. FlowGrapher charts bits, flows, and packets per second over a selected period; FlowMonitor provides RRD graphs for filtered traffic, with views from 24 hours to 3 years. Dashboards can give groups such as Security and Operations separate live views. FlowViewer is listed for Linux and web use and can be installed on a dedicated Unix server or virtual appliance; the software requires a Unix server. The free plan is free. Paid options include hourly support at a price agreed with the maker, router configuration at $500, paid once, training at $500, paid once, and installation at $750, paid once.