COMPARISON OF SYSTEM MONITORING TOOLS NAGIOS, ZABBIX, PROMETHEUS, MS SCOM FOR DETECTING NETWORK ANOMALIES AND ISSUES

Abstract

Modern information systems and corporate networks require continuous and comprehensive monitoring to promptly detect anomalies, performance degradations, and failures that may affect operational stability, security, and service availability. This article presents a detailed comparative analysis of four widely used monitoring systems: Nagios, Zabbix, Prometheus, and Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (MS SCOM). The architectural features of each platform, mechanisms for metric collection and processing, approaches to anomaly detection, scalability, resource efficiency, and integration capabilities with modern IT solutions, including cloud infrastructures, containerized environments, and machine learning algorithms, are examined.A multi-criteria evaluation methodology was applied, taking into account response time, detection accuracy (Precision), completeness (Recall), resource consumption, and administrative usability. Normalized metrics and an integrated performance coefficient were used for objective comparison of the platforms. The results showed that Prometheus provides the fastest anomaly detection and the highest levels of precision and recall, making it highly effective for dynamic and high-load environments. Zabbix demonstrated stable and reliable performance with broad functionality suitable for medium and large networks. MS SCOM proved effective in Windows-based corporate infrastructures, offering extensive integration and management capabilities, but with higher resource consumption. Nagios was noted for its reliability and simplicity, though it showed lower flexibility and scalability in complex and dynamic environments.The findings indicate that the choice of a monitoring system should consider the specifics of the network infrastructure, network scale, operational requirements, and organizational needs. This study provides practical recommendations for administrators and system architects to optimize monitoring tool selection, improve incident response efficiency, and ensure the reliability and security of critical network services.