Kassem wroteHey guys,
I am looking for a software which allows me to monitor who's connected to my LAN. I also want it to perform those actions:
* Allow/Ban a computer/device from accessing the network
* Transfer files between network members
* Access other computers on the network from the server/network-admin
* others (not sure what else I can do because am ignorant when it comes to networking)
The software is preferably Linux based but windows based is okey too...
There are a bunch of specialised software for sysadmins, some used by big corporations. I am not up to date on that matter though.
Anyway, I have some remarks:
* Allow/Ban a computer/device from accessing the network
You have to ban the device at some level. Like for example at the wireless access point, at the switch, or at the gateway, etc. So what you need depends on where you want to ban it, and the available platform/hardware.
* Transfer files between network members
SMB / Windows Sharing is the most obvious thought. Seriously do you need to ask this?? You can also set up an FTP server or File-sharing website on one machine and use that. Or also set up an IM server with a capacity to transfer files.
* Access other computers on the network from the server/network-admin
Windows usually comes with "remote desktop connection" (also known as "teminal services") pre-installed. If you install a microsoft windows domain (instead of setting up your computers as a workgroup), the domain administrator will be able to login as administrator on all machines (on the domain) using his domain admin login, and also access the files and registry remotely as an admin, and install/remove software remotely and open a remote desktop session. If you need something cross platform, take a look at VNC (free). There are also commercial solutions such as TeamViewer or NetOp.
* others (not sure what else I can do because am ignorant when it comes to networking)
Well if you're an admin, you can basically do whatever you want.
Another task you'd want to do, is log, monitor and control internet access at the gateway, or also set up an internal email server.
Anyway I'm sorry I got carried away and forgot to answer your original question:
I am looking for a software which allows me to monitor who's connected to my LAN.
If you want to do a quick ping scan on your network (and get a list of all computers who responded) you can try ipscan ("angry IP scanner"). Also, do you want to set up something at your gateway or access point? Again, it depends on what hardware, infrastructure and platforms you have.