Best way to track WAN data usage?

Phrozenpenguin · 8 Dec 2011 at 10:14

I am setting up a new internet connection and have some specific requirements. I need to decide on router/firewall etc, but thats pretty open. What I need is a way to account for traffic on the WAN interface - ideally down to a per user level.

I'm looking at various captive portals / RADIUS server ideas, but so far they seem to measure *all* traffic from a users network card. I don't care if a user sends data over the LAN, but I do want to measure it over the LAN.

This is for ~20 users, mix of wired and wireless, and the WAN connection is a 100Mbps connection. Open to all options at this stage, but economical, stable and quiet are preferences.

Anyone have any experience or pointers? Thanks in advance.

Phrozenpenguin · 11 Dec 2011 at 09:03

Thanks. I don't need to proxy the data. I don't really want a separate server with massive storage to capture stuff - I just need the transfer amounts to be logged. I have no need for replaying the data / checking packets.
I will have a look at flow rate data etc and see what else I work out.

Phrozenpenguin · 11 Dec 2011 at 20:22

Thanks for the names. I will be looking at some of those.

Phrozenpenguin · 13 Dec 2011 at 08:29

They all seem a bit overkill. I was hoping I could have the data usage logged in the device. I don't want to run a server specifically for processing netflow data. Any ideas on routers which can count data usage?

Phrozenpenguin · 13 Dec 2011 at 19:04

Yamahahahahaha - thanks, I had already looked at that option. The 'problem' is we don't have any in house servers, and are not planning on getting any. I'm exploring the possibility of SNMP logging 'in the cloud' which may be a good compromise.

Phrozenpenguin · 15 Dec 2011 at 01:09

Yamahahahahaha - we have no real need for office servers. Everything we do is based 'in the cloud' - heavy use of Google Apps, 37Signals products and some others. Everyone uses laptops (hooked to screens etc if required). There is a lot of hot desking, and we have moved buildings a lot recently. Not having to cart servers around helps..

tals - thanks - I had seen Gargoyle and similar DD-WRT/Tomato/Open WRT but wanted something with a bit more support - and support for higher end hardware. I'm pretty sure most of the consumer hardware these firmwares support would struggle to perform well with a 100Mbit/s WAN connection.

Phrozenpenguin · 15 Dec 2011 at 20:28

I'm looking into Mikrotik devices. Good value, full feature set, learning curve dependent on networking knowledge.
They will output Netflow, or SNMP, or lots of other options. Haven't finalised a solution yet though.