<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Windows Network Card Sensor
The Windows Network Card sensor monitors the bandwidth usage and traffic of a network interface via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or Windows performance counters, as configured in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device.
Windows Network Card Sensor
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.
Sensor in Other Languages
Dutch: Windows Netwerkkaart
French: Windows carte réseau
German: Windows Netzwerkadapter
Japanese: Windows ネットワークカード
Portuguese: Adaptador de rede Windows
Russian: Сетевой адаптер Windows
Simplified Chinese: Windows 网卡
Spanish: Tarjeta de red Windows
Remarks
This sensor has a high performance impact. Use it with care. We recommend that you use no more than 200 sensors of this sensor type on each probe.
This sensor requires at least Windows Server 2008 R2 on the probe system to work with Windows performance counters.
This sensor requires that the Windows Remote Registry service runs on the target computer.
This sensor requires WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) for target systems that run Windows Server 2016.
This sensor requires at least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 to monitor 64-bit counters of the class Network Adapter (virtual network interfaces). On older target systems, the sensor can only monitor 32-bit counters of the class Network Interface (the physical interface) and shows fewer channels.
This sensor can use a hybrid approach with Windows performance counters and WMI as fallback to query data.
This sensor supports teamed network adapters ("network interface card (NIC) teaming") on Windows Server 2012.
This sensor supports the IPv6 protocol.
You cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.
Detailed Requirements
Requirement
Description
Windows credentials
This sensor requires credentials for Windows systems in the settings of the parent device. Preferably, use Windows domain credentials.
If you use local credentials, make sure that the same Windows user accounts (with the same user name and password) exist on both the probe system and the target computer. Otherwise, a connection via performance counters is not possible. However, WMI connections might still work.
Windows version
For this sensor to work with Windows performance counters, make sure that at least Windows Server 2008 R2 is installed on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe).
WoW64 must be installed on target systems that run Windows Server 2016. This allows 32-bit applications to be run on 64-bit systems. This is necessary because the PRTG probe service only runs with 32-bit support. Without it, WMI sensors do not work.
Remote Registry Windows service
For this sensor to work with Windows performance counters, make sure that the Remote Registry Windows service runs on the target computer. If this service does not run, a connection via performance counters is not possible. However, WMI connections might still work.
To enable the service, log in to the respective computer and open the services manager (for example, via services.msc). In the list, find the respective service and set its Start Type to Automatic.
Hybrid Approach: Performance Counters and WMI
By default, this sensor uses WMI to request monitoring data. You can change the default behavior to a hybrid approach in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device's settings on which you create this sensor: if you choose this option, the sensor first tries to query data via Windows performance counters and uses WMI as a fallback if performance counters are not available. When running in fallback mode, the sensor tries to connect via performance counters again after 24 hours.
Sensors that use the WMI protocol have a high impact on the system performance. Try to stay below 200 WMI sensors per probe. Above this number, consider using multiple remote probes for load balancing.
For a general introduction to the technology behind WMI, see section Monitoring via WMI.
Add Sensor
The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the settings that are required to create the sensor. You can change nearly all settings on the sensor's Settings tab after creation.
Sensor Specific
Setting
Description
Network Card
Select the network cards that you want to monitor. PRTG creates one sensor for each network card that you select.
Enable check boxes in front of the respective lines to select the items. Use the check box in the table header to select all items or to cancel the selection. In large tables, use the search function in the upper-right corner.
Basic Sensor Settings
Click the Settings tab of a sensor to change its settings.
If the name contains angle brackets (<>), PRTG replaces them with braces ({}) for security reasons. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What security features does PRTG include?
This setting is for your information only. You cannot change it.
Tags
Enter one or more tags. Confirm each tag with the Spacebar key, a comma, or the Enter key. You can use tags to group objects and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case-sensitive. Tags are automatically inherited.
It is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).
For performance reasons, it can take some minutes until you can filter for new tags that you added.
The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:
bandwidthsensor
wmibandwidthsensor
Priority
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines the position of the sensor in lists. The highest priority is at the top of a list. Choose from the lowest priority () to the highest priority ().
Sensor Specific
Sensor Specific
Setting
Description
Network Card
Shows the name of the network card that this sensor monitors.
PRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.
Debug Options
Debug Options
Setting
Description
Result Handling
Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:
Discard result: Do not store the sensor result.
Store result: Store the last sensor result in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file name is Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.
In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.
Sensor Display
Sensor Display
Setting
Description
Primary Channel
Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, the last value of the primary channel is always displayed below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.
You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.
Graph Type
Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:
Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel.
Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic. You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).
Show in and out traffic as positive and negative area graph: Show channels for incoming and outgoing traffic as positive and negative area graph. This visualizes your traffic in a clear way. You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings). Manual scaling is not possible if you choose this option. You cannot show a positive/negative graph for a channel if you choose to display its data in percent of maximum (available in the channel settings).
Stack Unit
This setting is only visible if you enable Stack channels on top of each other as Graph Type. Select a unit from the list. All channels with this unit are stacked on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.
Inherited Settings
By default, all of these settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy. We recommend that you change them centrally in the root group settings if necessary. To change a setting for this object only, click under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Scanning Interval.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
You cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects are always active. However, you can define additional schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window.
Access Rights
Access Rights
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.
Channel Unit Configuration
Which channel units are available depends on the sensor type and the available parameters. If no configurable channels are available, this field shows No configurable channels.
Channel Unit Configuration
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Channel Unit Configuration.
Channel List
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.
Channel
Description
Discards In
The number of incoming discards per second
Discards Out
The number of outgoing discards per second
Downtime
In the channel table on the Overview tab, this channel never shows any values. PRTG uses this channel in graphs and reports to show the amount of time in which the sensor was in the Down status
Errors In
The number of incoming errors per second
Errors Out
The number of outgoing errors per second
Non-Unicast In
The number of incoming non-unicast packets per second
Non-Unicast Out
The number of outgoing non-unicast packets per second