<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Detailed System Requirements

This section lists different aspects of system requirements for PRTG. Please consider these requirements in order to avoid issues while network monitoring.

• Supported Operating Systems
• Hardware Requirements
• Sample Configurations
• Running PRTG on Virtual Machines
• Web Browser Requirements
• Screen Resolution
• Requirements for Monitored Devices
• Requirements for the Enterprise Console
• Requirements for Mobile Web GUI
• Requirements for Smartphones
• 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 7
• Microsoft Windows 8
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012**
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2**
• Microsoft Windows Vista*
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008*
   

* For performance reasons, we do not recommend using 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 add a limited number of WMI sensors! For detailed information, please see More section below. If you need to use Windows Server 2008 R1, we strongly recommend installing Service Pack 2 (SP2).

** Windows Server 2012 in Core mode and the Minimal Server Interface are not officially supported.

Note: The operating systems Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2000 are not officially supported. If you run PRTG on one of these operating systems, you have to accept limited monitoring functionality. We do not provide support for any issues that might be caused (directly or indirectly) by using these Windows versions.

The version (32-bit or 64-bit) of the PRTG Core Server depends on the version of your operating system. The 64-bit version of the PRTG Core Server will be installed if

• the operating system is a 64-bit Windows system, and
• the system provides 6GB RAM or more.

Otherwise the 32-bit version of the PRTG Core Server will be installed.

We recommend you to provide Microsoft .NET Framework versions 3.5 and 4.0 (with latest updates) on all systems running a PRTG probe. Note: Version 4.0 is imperatively needed for monitoring VMware and XenServer virtual environments.

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 (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).
• Stable network connection for remote probes
  Remote probes require a stable network connection between the PRTG core server and the remote probe. Unstable connections, for example via 3G, might work but it could be possible that you lose monitoring data if the connection is non-reliable.

There are also non-hardware dependent limitations for some sensor types, for example, 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:

Important notice: We recommend using a dedicated physical machine to run both the PRTG core server and PRTG remote probes. If you run PRTG on a virtual machine, we strongly recommend to stay below 2,000 sensors for performance reasons. Unfortunately, we cannot offer technical support regarding performance and stability problems for PRTG installations on virtual machines that run with more than 5,000 sensors. In this case, please migrate PRTG to one or more, preferably physical, machines.

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.

Please see also section More regarding running PRTG on VMware.

Web Browser Requirements

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

• Google Chrome 36 or later (recommended)
• Mozilla Firefox 31 or later
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 or 11

Note: Deprecated Internet Explorer versions as well as mobile browsers might not be able to 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.

Screen Resolution

A screen resolution of at least 1024x768 pixels is sufficient for most functions of PRTG. However, we recommend a screen resolution of 1200x800 or higher.

Requirements for Monitored Devices

• SNMP monitoring
  The monitored device(s) must be equipped with SNMP Version 1, 2c, or 3 (i.e., an 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.
• Windows/WMI monitoring
  In order to use WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) monitoring, you will need a Windows network. For client PCs monitored with WMI, only the operating systems as given above are officially supported. Windows Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003 are not officially supported. Windows XP is also not officially supported and might not work with sensors which use Remote Powershell. Please do not use Windows Vista or Windows 2008 R1 for WMI monitoring (they both have WMI performance issues).
• xFlow (IPFIX, NetFlow, sFlow) monitoring
  The device must be configured to send NetFlow data packets (NetFlow version 5 or 9; IPFIX is the successor protocol of NetFlow 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.

• Other sensor types
  Depending on the specific sensor type, you can find requirements (for example, modules, components, device configurations) which may have to be fulfilled in the corresponding manual section, as well as partly when adding the sensor to a device.

Requirements for the Enterprise Console

The optional PRTG Enterprise Console runs under all supported Windows versions. It has a built-in webkit browser engine and requires no specific browser installed on the system. See also section Enterprise Console—Requirements for Connections to PRTG Web Server(s).

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, and also deprecated Internet Explorer versions.

Requirements for Smartphones

The optional smartphone apps for iOS devices require iOS version 6 or later and PRTG v12 or later. For Android devices, the app "PRTG for Android" requires Android OS 4.0 or later (version 4.1 or later recommended), as well as PRTG Network Monitor 13.1 or later. For more information, please see Smartphone 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 Website: Paessler PRTG Site Planner Tool

• http://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/41373
   

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

• http://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/2733
   

Knowledge Base: My WMI sensors don't work. What can I do?

• http://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/1043
   

Knowledge Base: Frequent Questions about xFlow, Packet Sniffing, Traffic Monitoring and Cisco

• http://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/3733

 
Knowledge Base: My SNMP sensors don't work. What can I do?

• http://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/46863
   

Knowledge Base: Checklist for Running PRTG on VMware

• http://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/49193

 

Introduction Topics

• Welcome to PRTG Network Monitor
• About this Document
• Key Features
• New in This Version
• Available Licenses
• System Requirements
• Detailed System Requirements