Linux Servers: Bandwidth monitoring with iptables

[mandy]

Linux has a number of useful bandwidth monitoring and management programs...However, if all you need is a basic overview of your total bandwidth usage, iptables is all you really need -- and it's already installed if you're using a Linux distribution based on the 2.4.x or 2.6.x kernels.

Most of the time we use iptables to set up a firewall on a machine, but iptables also provides packet and byte counters. Every time an iptables rule is matched by incoming or outgoing data streams, the software tracks the number of packets and the amount of data that passes through the rules.

It is easy to make use of this feature and create a number of "pass-through rules" in the firewall. These rules do not block or reroute any data, but rather keep track of the amount of data passing through the machine...

full article and guide to using iptables to monitor bandwidth: http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=05/12/15/177232

[rose]

I prefer iptraf for monitoring 

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=rose link=topic=1918.msg6733#msg6733 date=1135733796]
I prefer iptraf for monitoring 
[/quote]

:blinkie: :blinkie: :blinkie: The live IP traffic monitor screen on iptraf moves so fr_k'n fast I can't even read it...which might explain why it has that option to keep a log file.      The other screens are useful to see the current bandwidth usage.