hostmonitor.biz

What It Is

Advanced Host Monitor is a network and server monitoring tool from Advanced Network Software. It is designed to continuously check server availability and performance, and to alert administrators when network errors occur, helping reduce the risk of incidents escalating. It is not a cloud-native APM platform; rather, it is more like a locally deployed enterprise IT operations monitoring suite, with an emphasis on test methods, alerts, network discovery, logs and reports, and remote administration.

Core Capabilities

According to the main content, HostMonitor offers 150+ test methods and 36 alert methods, covering a wide range of targets including Ping, HTTP, TCP/UDP, DNS, mail protocols, SNMP, WMI, ODBC, various databases, Windows services, processes, disks, certificates, domains, virtualization, UPS devices, Cisco/Juniper, QNAP/Synology, HP iLO, IPMI, Apache, NGINX, Tomcat, IIS, and more. Auxiliary components such as Telnet Service and Web Service can connect to HostMonitor via RCI, enabling operations such as viewing test status, starting/stopping monitoring, starting/stopping alerts, disabling/enabling tests, resetting statistics, forcing tests to run, and modifying parameters. User accounts and permissions are also supported.

Deployment, Interfaces, and Documentation

The product is clearly geared toward self-hosted deployments and Windows environments. Minimum system requirements include Windows XP/7/8/10/11 and Windows Server 2003 through 2022, and it can run as a Win32 service. Telnet Service and Web Service can be deployed on the same machine as HostMonitor or on a remote system reachable over TCP/IP. In terms of interfaces, no REST API or SDK is mentioned, but RCI and a complete Telnet command set are provided. The documentation appears to be solid, with the captured content covering quick start guidance, configuration options, command lists, system requirements, and security notes.

Pricing

Advanced Host Monitor offers a 30-day trial. Pricing is Starter $199, Professional $399, Advanced $799, Enterprise $1,499, LTS $2,899, and SPL service provider license $2,400. Enterprise includes Telnet/Web Service; Starter or Professional users who need to purchase Telnet Service + Web Service separately can do so for $199. Payment methods include credit card, PayPal, debit card, check/money order, and wire transfer.

Pros, Cons, and Who It’s For

Its strengths are a very broad range of monitoring types, clear perpetual licensing, self-hosted deployment, and granular remote-control capabilities. The downsides are that the product form is relatively traditional and mainly oriented toward Windows; the connection between a Telnet client and Telnet Service is not encrypted, so VPN, local deployment, or the HTTPS Web Service should be used instead. It also does not show the kind of team collaboration features and open APIs common in modern SaaS products. It is suitable for enterprise network administrators, system administrators, Windows-focused operations teams, and service providers. The main content does not state availability from China or payment accessibility there. If you need open-source or cloud-native alternatives, consider Zabbix, Nagios, Prometheus + Grafana, Checkmk, or PRTG.