It can be used to monitor bandwidth usage of routers and switches on a port-by-port basis, as well as device readings like memory, CPU load, etc.

When this technology is used PRTG queries the devices (e.g. routers, switches, and servers) for the traffic counters of each port with quite small data packets. These packets are triggering reply packets from the device. This option creates the least CPU load and network load of the three methods.
PRTG Traffic Grapher is an easy to use Windows software for monitoring and classifying bandwidth usage. It provides system administrators with live readings and long-term usage trends for their network devices. The most common usage is bandwidth usage monitoring, but you can also monitor many other aspects of your network like memory and CPU utilizations.