There are many packet sniffers on the market and while some of them are very basic, others, like Capsa 6.9 are a comprehensive solution, which provides many features to make the life of a network administrator easier. Recently I had the chance to review the demo version of the application and my impressions are absolutely positive. I reviewed it briefly but I hope that even after vigorous testing, Capsa 6.9 won't disappoint. Here are my first impressions about Capsa 6.9 Professional Edition.

-Stylish, User-friendly Interface

The first thing one notices when he or she uses a new application is its interface. It is true that a good application doesn't have to be handsome; beauty comes second to functionality but it doesn't hurt when rich functionality is wrapped in a stylish Graphical User Interface (GUI). I can say that I certainly liked the GUI of Capsa 6.9. The GUI is beautiful ? it is obvious that it has been created by a professional designer.

In addition to being beautiful, the GUI is user-friendly, too. The information is arranged logically and even though there are tons of features, the interface is not cluttered and once you get familiar (i.e. remember what features are included) with the application, finding the feature you need is a matter of seconds. Capsa 6.9 has many features and it just takes time to memorize them.

Thanks to the user-friendly GUI, you will be able to concentrate on network administration, not on fighting with the software and its interface. Capsa 6.9. is a software for IT pros, not for end-users, who tend to struggle even with the simplest application, but this does not mean that network admins and the other IT pros, who will be using it, deserve to be punished with an interface, which is a usability nightmare from any point of view.

-Rich Feature Set

In addition to the stylish and user-friendly GUI, Capsa 6.9 has another major advantage; its rich feature set. Capsa 6.9 includes many features and it provides a lot of information, which is useful to network administrators when troubleshooting network traffic. If you want to know what really is happening on your network, get Capsa 6.9 and you won't be left in the dark anymore.

I am not going to list the features of Capsa 6.9 because you can go to the Colasoft site and read them there. Instead, I will concentrate on my impressions about them. Once you learn what's included in the package (and fortunately, there are tons of helpful manuals and demos to assist you in the process), you will be able to fully take advantage of it. Among the many outstanding features of Capsa 6.9 is the ability to filter precisely what packets to capture, the ability to detect backdoors and the fact that it supports more than 300 protocols (including BitTorrent, Instant Messengers protocols and the protocols of some other applications, which can be regarded as a security risk, if misused).

However, don't think that these are the major features of Capsa 6.9. As I mentioned, there are tons of features and if I were only to list them, this would require a couple of pages more. That's why I recommend to visit the site, http://www.colasoft.com/ to read about the features and download the trial and see for yourself if the application is what you need or not. But if you want to fully evaluate it, be prepared to devote a lot of time to it because there is really a lot to see!