If you are a network or systems administrator, your primary goal is making sure those systems are up and running 24/7. To do this efficiently you need monitoring tools. If you are looking for a cost effective, flexible tool that also happens to be open source, then you might want to take a good look at one of the standard bearers for network monitoring in the open source community - Nagios.
Requirements
- Product: Nagios XI network monitoring tool
- Operating system: Linux (or UNIX variant)
- C compiler
- TCP/IP configured for the network
- License: GNU General Public License Version 2
- Initial cost: Free download
- Support: Support plans for the enterprise start at $2,495.
- Additional vendor information
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Who’s it for?
Nagios is relevant for any sized network. From SMB to Enterprise, Nagios can handle just about anything you have. But you will need a bit of patience, because, although Nagios is simple to install, making it really work for you can take some time and tweaking. There are configuration files to edit, plugins to add, and more.
What problem does it solve?
Nagios enables the network administrator to keep a very close watch on all systems on the network. But it doesn’t just randomly watch anything and everything - Nagios only watches what you set it up to watch. And when something goes wrong, Nagios will alert you.
Standout features
- Incredible flexibility
- Easy installation
- Scalable
- Easy to navigate web-interface
- Plenty of plugins
- Alert system
- Event handlers help with problem remediation
- Capacity planning and trending
- Reporting system
What’s wrong?
The only issue Nagios has is that it does not auto-discover devices. You will have to configure each device you want to monitor by creating a configuration file for that device.
Competitive products
Bottom line for business
If you are ready and will to do a little work, Nagios will be an outstanding network monitoring tool. Not only will it do a remarkable job once up and running, you will find it very tweak-able to best suit your needs. Nagios is the perfect solution for any business looking for amazing features at zero cost.
User rating
Have you encountered or used Nagios? If so, what do you think? Rate your experience and compare the results to what other TechRepublic members think. Give your own personal review in the TechRepublic Community Forums or let us know if you think we left anything out in our review.
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