Socket Workbench

Socket Workbench is an advanced networking utility that provides with the necessary tools for reviewing and verifying sent and received data via sockets. It features log files and intuitive settings to tinker with.

The interface is clearly outdated but, luckily, it's pretty easy to work with. At startup you can select a predefined configuration for a web server or browser (with or without proxy), sending email, or keep-alive requests. Alternatively, you can create a custom configuration.

Socket Workbench enables you to choose the server and port number, as well as whether to only the input, only the output, both, or neither of them. The connection to the server is established with the click of a button, and you can pause the scan job at any time. Likewise, it is possible to listen to a server and analyze information.

Log details include the ID number, time and date, incoming or outgoing time, along with the message for each entry in the list. In order to send packets, all you have to do is write information and, optionally mention a description of the data. These details may be saved to an external file to import them later in future tests.

Apart from the fact that you can view and edit common protocols, you can view the history of events in a separate window, enable data logging to file and point out the saving directory separately for the input, output, socket events, state, client to server, server to client, and all app events. Data can also be recorded as hexadecimal code.

We have not encountered any type of stability issues in our tests, thanks to the fact that Socket Workbench did not hang, crash or pop up error messages. It executed commands swiftly and had minimal impact on computer performance, thanks to the fact that it needed a low quantity of CPU and RAM to function properly.

Although it's not much to look at, Socket Workbench provides powerful and easy-to-use tools for monitoring and testing socket communications.