SYSTEM

REQUIREMENTS
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

System Requirements
for PRTG Network
Monitor

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 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

System Requirements for

PRTG Network Monitor
Paessler AG offers licenses for PRTG Network Monitor that range from 100 sensors to an un-
restriced number of sensors. The hardware required for the PRTG core server depends very
much on the number of sensors you are running, as well as on a few additional key values
such as the number of remote probes in use.

The summary below provides guidelines for the system requirements, as well as an indi-
cation of what we recommend and what we support. Due to technical limitations, the sen-
sor limit is lower when you are running the core server in a virtual machine or in a clus-
ter. For more details, please refer to Paessler’s System Requirements for PRTG online, at
www.paessler.com/prtg/requirements.

Recommended Setup for Most PRTG Users

There are many parameters that influence the user experience of PRTG, but for the majority
of PRTG users, the following sizing recommendations for the hardware of the PRTG core
server work fine.

We recommend that you run your PRTG core server installation

• directly on x64 server hardware or in a properly configured virtual environment (for more
information, see section Running PRTG in virtual environments).

• on Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, or Windows Server 2012 R2.

Note: .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later must be installed on the core server system. For new PRTG
core server installations, we recommend .NET Framework 4.8.

See also System Requirements for Remote Probes in the PRTG Manual.

Sensors per Concurrently active Number

CPU Disk Recommended
PRTG core server RAM administrator of remote Virtualization Cluster
cores space license
installation sessions probes

Up to 500 4 4 GB 100 GB < 30 < 30 PRTG 500

Up to 1,000 6 6 GB 500 GB < 30 < 30 PRTG 100

Up to 2,500 8 8 GB 750 GB < 20 < 30 PRTG 2500

Up to 5,000 8 12 GB 1,000 GB < 20 < 60 PRTG 5000

Up to 10,000 10-12** 16 GB 1,500 GB < 15 < 80 * PRTG XL1

We recommend that you set up additional PRTG core server installations or contact the PRTG
> 10,000
Paessler Presales team for more information on scaling. Enterprise

= OK = OK = not recommended = not officially supported: please contact your presales team.

* For more information, see Running PRTG

in virtual environments below. Note: Most PRTG users have 10 sensors per device on average. In most cases, a license for 1,000
** When you use more than 10 CPU cores, sensors is therefore enough to monitor about 100 devices, for example. If you exceed any of these
you might need to apply a CPU-splitting recommendations, please contact the Paessler Presales team.
configuration in the Windows registry

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 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Recommended setup for remote probes

We recommend that you run remote probes

• directly on compatible x86 hardware or in a properly configured virtual environment (for

more information, see section Running PRTG in virtual environments).

• on Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows
10.

Note: .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later must be installed on the probe system. For new installations,
we recommend .NET Framework 4.8.

Sensors per remote probe CPU cores RAM Disk space*

Up to 200 2 2 GB 40 GB

200 - 2,000 4 4 GB 40 GB

2,000 - 5,000 6 6 GB 40 GB

We recommend that you set up additional remote probes or contact the

> 5,000
Paessler Presales team for more information on scaling.

* A remote probe system does not have any special disk requirements (< 1 GB).
In general, we recommend at least 40 GB.

Running PRTG in virtual environments

PRTG is an all-in-one monitoring solution with lots of different components that all rely on
the performance and the stability of the system on which the PRTG core server runs. Here,
virtual environments add even more layers of complexity. This needs to be considered when
you want to set up your PRTG core server installation in a way that you can achieve the same
level of performance as on a physical server.

Most PRTG core server installations from 500 to 5,000 sensors do not need any specific
optimization regarding your virtual infrastructure.

If you run larger installations of PRTG with more than 5,000 sensors, please follow the in-
structions in our Best Practice Guide: Running large installations of PRTG in a virtual envi-
ronment.

If you run larger installations of PRTG with more than 5,000 sensors, please follow the in-
structions in our Best Practice Guide: Running large installations of PRTG in a virtual envi-
ronment.

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 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

More considerations
and requirements:
Minimum requirements for special use cases
If you run PRTG with a limited use case, for example, if you only use Ping sensors and SNMP
v1 or v2c sensors with long scanning intervals, your installation can work fine with lower
system requirements. We have seen PRTG installations that work well with the following
minimum requirements.

Minimum requirements for the PRTG core server

installation (only special, low-resource use cases)

Sensors per Concurrently active Number

CPU Disk Recommended
PRTG core server RAM administrator of remote Virtualization Cluster
cores space license
installation sessions probes

Up to 500 2 2 GB 60 GB < 10 < 10 PRTG 500

Up to 1,000 4 4 GB 250 GB < 10 < 10 PRTG 100

Up to 2,500 6 6 GB 500 GB < 10 < 10 PRTG 2500

Up to 5,000 6 8 GB 750 GB < 10 < 10 PRTG 5000

Up to 10,000 8 12 GB 1 TB < 10 < 10 * PRTG XL1

We recommend that you set up additional PRTG core server installations or contact the PRTG
> 10,000
Paessler Presales team for more information on scaling. Enterprise

= OK = OK = not recommended = not officially supported: please contact your presales team.

* For more information, see Running PRTG in virtual environments below.

Minimum requirements for remote probes (only special,

low-resource use cases)

Sensors per remote probe CPU cores RAM Disk space*

Up to 200 1 2 GB 40 GB

200 - 2,000 2 2 GB 40 GB

2,000 - 5,000 4 2 GB 40 GB

We recommend that you set up additional remote probes or contact the

> 5,000
Paessler Presales team for more information on scaling.

* A remote probe system does not have any special disk requirements (< 1 GB).
In general, we recommend at least 40 GB.

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 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Performance considerations
Please note the following aspects that can affect performance:

• As a rule of thumb, we can say that typical PRTG installations almost never run into
performance issues when they stay below 5,000 sensors, below 30 remote probes, and
below 30 user accounts.

• In a cluster, the monitoring load doubles with each cluster node. The performance is
accordingly divided in half with each additional cluster node. Therefore, in a single failover
cluster setup that consists of two PRTG core servers that each work as a cluster node,
please divide our recommended numbers from above in half.

• When you have more than 5,000 sensors, you should set 5-minute scanning
intervals or longer instead of using 1-minute scaning intervals.

• Some sensor types create much more load than others. For example, Ping and SNMP
sensors create much less load than complex sensors like xFlow (NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow,
IPFIX) sensors, VMware sensors, Sensor Factory sensors, WMI
sensors, or Syslog/Trap Receiver sensors, to name just a few examples.

• Try to use sensors with less than 50 channels. Note that sensors with more than 50
channels are not officially supported and can have a high impact on system performance.

• We recommend that you stay below 30 active user accounts for each PRTG core server.
You can have more users if these do not all use the PRTG web interface
at the same time (including public dashboards or ‘Maps’).

• Try to keep the usage of the following features down: many quickly refreshed dash-
boards (or ‘Maps’), frequently generated, huge sensor reports, heavy usage of packet
sniffing, Sensor Factory sensors and Toplists, frequent automatically scheduled auto-dis-
coveries for large network segments, and constant queries of monitoring data via the
application programming interface (API).

• Load balancing is possible using remote probes. To distribute load, you can set up multi-
ple remote probes on different computers. For more information, see the PRTG Manual:
Remote Probes and Multiple Probes and watch the video tutorial Distributed Monitoring
with PRTG.

Stability considerations
Please note the following aspects that can affect the stability of PRTG:

• Remote probes require a stable network connection between the PRTG core
server and the remote probe. Unstable connections, for example via 3G or via satellite,
might work. However, there have been situations where stable
monitoring was not possible.

• Our general recommendation is to stay below 30 remote probes on one PRTG core serv-
er. PRTG still scales well up to 60 remote probes as long as you have
less than 100 sensors per probe.

• The quality of your network also plays an important role. When monitoring via
the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), for example, a high packet loss rate can l
ead to frequent timeouts. Remote probes that connect via unstable WAN
connections can lead to delays as well.

Note: An internet connection is required for the license activation via HTTP or email.

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 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Supported Windows versions for the PRTG core

server and remote probes
The following Windows versions are officially supported for the PRTG core server
service and the PRTG probe service. We recommend 64-bit (x64) operating systems.

• Microsoft Windows Server 2019

• Microsoft Windows Server 2016

• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

• Microsoft Windows Server 2012

• Microsoft Windows 10

• Microsoft Windows 8.1

• Microsoft Windows 8

• Microsoft Windows 7*

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2*

Note: Windows Servers in Core mode or Minimal Server Interface are not
officially supported.

* On Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, you have to install the required .NET version
manually. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG
require?

System requirements for user interfaces of PRTG

PRTG Web interface
The following browsers (in order of performance and reliability) are officially supported for
the web browser based primary user interface of PRTG at a screen resolution of 1024x768
pixels (more is recommended):

• Google Chrome 72 or later (recommended)

• Mozilla Firefox 65 or later

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 11

Note: Other browsers and older browsers might not be able to access the
PRTG web interface at all.

PRTG Desktop
PRTG Desktop runs under all supported Windows and Mac versions. For detailed
system requirements, see All PRTG Desktop downloads.

PRTG apps for iOS and Android

We provide free apps for Android and iOS devices. For detailed system requirements, see
PRTG app download and the corresponding app pages.

System requirements for ITOps Board

Please see ITOps Board for detailed system requirements.

Note: ITOps Board is exclusively available for Paessler PRTG Enterprise Monitor.

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 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Requirements for monitored devices

• Monitoring via the Simple Network Protocol (SNMP): The monitored devices must be
equipped with SNMP v1, v2c, or v3, and an SNMP-compatible software must be installed
on the device. SNMP must be enabled on the device and the machine running PRTG must
be allowed to access the SNMP interface. For more information, see the PRTG Manual:
Monitoring via SNMP.

• Monitoring via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI): To use WMI monitoring,

you need a Windows network. Host computers and client computers with Windows
operating systems as specified above are officially supported. Do not use Windows Vista
or Windows Server 2008 on host computers for WMI monitoring because both have WMI
performance issues. For more information, see the PRTG Manual: Monitoring via WMI.

• Monitoring via xFlow (NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow, IPFIX): The device must be confi-
gured to send NetFlow (v5, v9, or IPFIX), sFlow (v5), or jFlow (v5) data packets
to the probe system. For more information, see the PRTG Manual: Monitoring
Bandwidth via xFlows.

• Monitoring via packet sniffing: Only data packets that pass the network card of
the local machine can be analyzed. Switches with so-called ‘monitoring ports’ are nec-
essary for network-wide monitoring in switched networks. For more information, see the
PRTG Manual: Monitoring Bandwidth via Packet Sniffing.

Need further assistance? Planning an installation with

thousands of sensors?
Our Presales team is happy to assist you! Please write to [email protected].
If possible, describe your monitoring requirements in detail so that we can find the best
person to help you. For larger installations, see Monitoring large IT infrastructures.

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 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

ABOUT PAESSLER
In 1997 Paessler revolutionized IT monitoring with
the introduction of PRTG Network Monitor. Today
over 300,000 IT administrators, in more than 170
countries, rely on PRTG to monitor their business-cri-
tical systems, devices and network infrastructures.
PRTG monitors the entire IT infrastructure 24/7 and
helps IT professionals to seamlessly solve problems
before they impact users. Our mission is to empower
technical teams to manage their infrastructure, ensu-
ring maximum productivity. We build lasting partners-
hips and integrative, holistic solutions to achieve this.
Thinking beyond IT networks, Paessler is actively de-
veloping solutions to support digital transformation
strategies and the Internet of Things.

Paessler AG // [email protected] // www.paessler.com 8 // 8

005811/EN/20201120