So, you have some network infrastructure that you need to ‘keep an eye’ on, and you don’t really want to obsess over a terminal window 24×7, at least not after the first 3 weeks.

Give nagios a try. It may not be the easiest or most straightforward install on the planet, but the dividends on this particular investment are amazingly high.

I am now watching servers in 3 states and time zones, and not having to lift a finger, except when the phone wakes me up from a sound sleep with a page alert notifying me of an outage. Much better than your users letting you know via IM or email (those were the days, weren’t they, Geof?).

If there is one package that you install to increase your watchful eye over your hardware, nagios is the one I can now recommend, based on initial experience. Time will tell how that holds up.

Popularity: 26%