5 Free Tools That Every Networtk Administrator Should Have by Mike Walton
Every network administrator has their own set of tools that they like to use on a daily basis to help them do their job. Here is my list and why each one of these free programs are in my toolbox.

PuTTY - PuTTY is a very versatile telnet application for use when you spend a lot of your day working on Cisco equipment. PuTTY allows a number of different ways to connect to a piece of equipment including Raw, Telnet, Rlogin, SSH, and with the newest version of PuTTY Serial connection. The newest Serial option becomes very handy for network administrators since HyperTerm is no longer available with Windows Vista and you still need a serial connection for new routers and switches. PuTTY is also very customizable and can be run from a USB drive without installing anything onto the computer.

Sniffer - There are actually to sniffer applications that I keep in my toolbox, WireShark and Smsniff. ... Read more »