Caligare Flow Inspector vs NetVizura NetFlow Analyzer

Caligare Flow Inspector analyzes NetFlow exports from existing routers, without requiring deployed probes. Its web-based management interface configures collectors, network devices, application groups and anomaly detection. The software provides real-time network analysis, user data tracking, and statistics for hosts, protocols, applications and conversations. Caligare says this visibility can help identify suspicious activity, denial-of-service attacks, worm-infected stations, bottlenecks and routing trouble. The free edition supports NetFlow versions 1, 5, 6, 7 and 9, along with low-level traffic search, interface utilization, maps, filtering and forwarding. It also offers local, LDAP or external authentication and user and group management. The free license is for non-commercial use and is limited to two devices, 24-hour history and 250 flows per second. Professional and Enterprise editions add longer-term trends, network anomaly detection, unrestricted NetFlow parsing and commercial use. Linux packages are listed; the latest version requires MySQL 5.1 or newer. A 30-day trial key can be requested by email.

NetVizura NetFlow Analyzer is a self-hosted tool for visualizing network traffic and helping administrators investigate and report on it. It accepts NetFlow v5 and v9, NSEL, IPFIX, and sFlow exports; the vendor names Cisco, Juniper, and HP among supported vendors and says devices exporting supported protocols can be used. Traffic analysis spans devices, interfaces, hosts, conversations, services, protocols, QoS markers, and autonomous systems. Administrators can define Traffic Patterns using attributes such as routers, interfaces, service ports, QoS, protocol, and next hop. Charts, tables, drill-down views, and a raw data archive support investigation of older anomalies. Throughput or volume thresholds can trigger alarms, with email notifications and a central overview. Reports can be exported and scheduled for email delivery. Linux and Windows downloads are listed, including Linux packages, a Linux ISO/VMware image, and a Windows installer. The free trial lasts 30 days from installation and is limited to 500 flows per second and five exporters. Paid perpetual and subscription licences are based on flow rate, with prices available on request.