Network Monitoring

Learn and understand what parts of your network are working properly or whether they are being overused or underused. 

Inspect different kinds of network components

Monitor CPU load, memory and disk utilization
Collect Object Identifiers over SNMP
Use vendor-specific monitoring plugins
Keep an eye on bandwidth usage of network interfaces
Integrate with Logstash to handle SNMP Traps

Monitoring Networking Equipment

Most IT environments use network devices from multiple vendors. With Icinga you monitor many different network devices with one tool. You see at any time the current state and utilization of every component in one web interface. It detects errors and anomalies in the network and alerts you immediately. You also get insights into the utilization of every device so you can plan for future capacity requirements.

Generic SNMP Monitoring

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is the most common way of monitoring network interfaces and devices. The data is provided by Object Identifiers (OID), where each OID represents one specific metric. Icinga periodically collects multiple OIDs of your choice over SNMP. The information is used to determine the state of each interface, identify errors and keep an eye on bandwidth usage of every interface.

Common monitoring checks include:

  • Availability and state of network interfaces
  • Inbound and outbound traffic throughput
  • Errors of network interfaces
  • Discards of network interfaces
  • CPU load
  • Memory usage
  • Disk utilization
  • Hardware health

 

 

Vendor-Specific SNMP Monitoring

Some vendors of network hardware provide specific data over SNMP, in addition to the standard ones mentioned above. Using vendor specific plugins is a convenient way of monitoring network devices with Icinga. We collect and provide many different plugins for multiple vendors, so you don’t have to deal with custom OIDs.

Monitoring SNMP Traps with Logstash and Icinga

Network devices can send alert messages proactively to an SNMP Trap Receiver. For instance, a Trap might report a machine overheating. Depending on the hardware there are hundreds of different events that can occur.

Icinga integrates with Logstash to receive and handle SNMP Traps from one or more devices. Logstash’s massive capabilities, even for filtering, come in very handy especially when dealing with hundreds of different events.

 

 

The dedicated Icinga Output Plugin for Logstash dynamically updates the state of hosts and services of Icinga, depending on the alert messages received through SNMP Traps. Non-existing hosts and services may be created on demand.

 

Monitoring Network Interfaces

Icinga monitors the network interfaces of your physical and virtual servers to detect their availability and potential errors. It collects metrics of the bandwidth usage of every interface and stores the data in a time series database of your choice. Proper capacity planning and the identification of trends becomes an easy task with the correct data.

 

 

Get Started with Icinga

Get going with your full-stack enterprise-ready monitoring solution. Follow the installation course for a seamless setup with Icinga.

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