OpenNMS is a Network Monitoring System. Basically that means OpenNMS can be installed on a server so that you can monitor all the devices on your network. OpenNMS can also aggregate SNMP data from all your devices so you can create cool reports and graphs of your Network Health. Oh yeah, did I mention it was free?

Of course it’s free! I don’t think I write about any software that’s not free. I can’t help it, I’m a cheap skate. Oh well, back to OpenNMS…

constantlythinking.com

So “Why would I need this Network Monitoring System?”, you say. Easy, so you will know when one of your network services is down. “Why would I need to know that?”, you say. If you asked that question, you may not need a Network Monitoring System. If you said “Yes, I definitely need one of those!”, then I can definitely help you.

I’ll admit it, OpenNMS is a bear to install. I’m not going to post a walkthrough here. There are tons of walkthroughs on the Internet for you to choose from. What I will post about here is what OpenNMS can do for you.

SNMP aggregation allows you to discover all kinds of information on SNMP-enabled devices and also view graphs on device traffic, CPU load, memory usage, etc. You can also get SNMP startup notifications and that kind of thing. Very cool indeed.

Service Discovery is also cool. This is what differentiates OpenNMS from other systems such as Nagios. All you have to do to discover the services on a network device is to input the IP address via the web interface. OpenNMS will determine if it’s a web server, e-mail server, etc. OpenNMS will then automatically start monitoring these devices and if notifications are set up it will send you an e-mail, a text message, or even a numeric page.

Asset management lets you fill out detailed information about the specifics of a device. You can enter the CPU info, asset info, etc. Also, if it is a SNMP-enabled device some of this information will be filled out automatically. This alleviates any other asset system you may have implemented.

I touched on this a little already, but since this is, in my opinion, the most important feature of a Network Monitoring System, I will touch on it again. Notifications are a key element in a Network Monitoring System. If your NMS is monitoring but not sending some kind of notification to you when a service goes down then it is useless. With, OpenNMS, you have many options for implementing notification. You can e-mail notifications, you can send SMS messages, and you can even set up OpenNMS to work with a numeric pager via attached dial-up modem. With all these options, there is certainly a way for OpenNMS to get a hold of you the next time your network goes haywire. For this, I think OpenNMS is definitely worth the time required to implent, and it is definitely worth the money (which is nada)!

Related Posts

• Animated T-Shirt
THIS is a one of a kind cool gadget I should say that impressed me a little bit more than usual.Havi...
• Cool New Beryl Feature: Ring Window Switcher
The latest svn release of Beryl sports a cool new ring window switcher. You can find it under Beryl ...
• Nokia N99 a cool looking Concept Phone
Just have to make this phone as phone of the day because is has so much to offer and when we do ...
• Gizmo A free phone for your computer. The Skype Killer
Gizmo Project is a program that uses advanced VoIP technology to allow you to talk with your fr...
• A Young Paris Hilton Photo Cool Girl
A Young Paris Hilton Photo Cool Girl ...
• Troobrick T-Shirts by T-Troop
The tees we have here are pretty harmonizing and global (in a literal sense). They come with fig...
• Cool tab menu in web 2.0 style
I found a similar tutorial about how to create a tab menu in Photoshop, but there’s almost no tuto...
• Comeeko - Comic Strips for MySpace
The team behind Buttonator and Pikipimp has launched a cool new tool aimed straight at MySpace u...
• High Tech Specs
When it comes to high tech specs, Darpa’s wetware-enhanced Luke Skywalker binoculars make up...
• 16 Top Tips For Your iPod
Love them or hate them, they’re here to stay. Apple’s iPod is the top mp3 player on the market b...