Network monitoring conventionally entails tracking a network’s bandwidth usage in order to determine bottlenecks or to analyze hardware or software issues. Nagios and MRTG are powerful, no-cost monitoring utilities that operate under Linux and can be used to monitor multi-platform environments where UNIX and Windows both operate. Progent's network support experts can help you use each of these products to tune and troubleshoot your network.

Nagios Monitoring Application
Nagios screenThe Nagios network monitoring system is a host/service monitor that runs under Linux or a UNIX variant. The monitoring daemon executes periodic inspections of hosts and services you specify by means of external plug-ins which return status data to Nagios. When issues are encountered, the Nagios can send alerts to administrative contacts in a number of ways such as e-mail, instant messaging, or Short Message Service. Current status data, historical logs, and analysis reports can be accessed using a standard web browser.

Major features of Nagios are:

  • Tracking of system services such as SMTP, HTTP, SSH, and PING
  • Tracking of host machines: processor load, disk and memory usage, running processes, etc.
  • Ability to specify network host ranking, allowing differentiation between machines that are not running as opposed to hosts that are unreachable
  • Contact alerts by e-mail, beeper, or other user-specified method in case service or host issues occur or are resolved
  • Option to specify event handlers to be executed during service or host events for proactive problem resolution
  • Accommodation for implementing redundant and dispersed network monitoring computers
  • Outboard command option that enables ad hoc edits to be defined for the tracking and alerting behavior via the utilization of event handlers, the web interface, and third-party applications
  • Preservation of host and service status after program restarts
  • Planned downtime for suppressing host and service notifications when there are intentional service breaks
  • Web applet for examining existing network state, notification and anomaly archive, event logs, etc.
  • Authorization scheme that enables you to restrict what customers can view and modify via the browser applet

Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG)
MRTG consulting helpMulti Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) is an Open Source tool to track the traffic load on a network. Powered by Microsoft Windows or Linux, MRTG reads the traffic counters of routers and creates web pages which offer an up-to-date visual representation of this traffic.

MRTG allows you to graph the bandwidth through any SNMP network device. This can represent servers, routers, and switches. You can utilize the displayed data to identify network bottlenecks.

Type of information you are able to depict using MRTG include:

  • Throughput in and out in bits or bytes/sec
  • Connection rate in connections per second
  • Traffic in an out of a specific VIP server or real server
  • Number of simultaneous sessions

Ask Progent for Network Monitoring Consulting
Progent’s network monitoring specialists are experienced in operating a number of tools that can assist you to repair or tune your network infrastructure. To get network monitoring help, call Progent at 800-993-9400 or see Contact Progent.

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Progent's Microsoft and Cisco certified professionals offer customers in the , , and in cities nationwide a broad range of knowledge covering the basic IT requirements common to typical small and mid-size business environments. Progent's primary services include system integration, Microsoft Exchange consulting, IT security support and Help Desk consulting and staffing. Progent's Application Experts Team offers in-depth knowledge of key application topics. By providing a single source for information technology generalists and experts, Progent is able to deliver quick, cost-effective and thorough IT solutions that fit the exact needs of your business.

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