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System Monitoring Overview

What is system monitoring ?

A system monitoring for computer system include a server and clients. This tool is used to perform repeated tasks to help system administrator to be proactive on monitoring system health status.

To name a few metrics that system administrators are interested, CPU load average, system log message, disk space usage, network traffics etc. Without the system monitor tool like big brother or hobbit, a system administration would have to login to each machines to collect these information repeatedly. This kind of repetitive tasks can be automated by system monitor tool.

Generic System Monitoring Features

See Generic Monitoring System Features

Examples of some commercial system monitoring tools

Monitor Software	Maintainer	Development status	Monitoring model	Main Programming Language	License	Platforms supported	Cost
A2Monitor ‌	A1 Tech, Inc. [1]	actively developed	Client-server	?	Proprietary	Windows	$79
Hobbit ‌	Henrik , Inc.[2]	actively developed	Client-server	C	GPL	Unix-like, Windows, Mac OS X	Unspecified
Big Brother ‌	Quest Software [3]	actively developed	Client-server	bash/C	Proprietary	Linux, Windows, iSeries	Unspecified
Big Sister ] ‌	Big Sister [4]	actively developed	Distributed^[1]	Merge	GPL	Unix-like, Windows, Mac OS X	Free
Nagio ‌	Nagio [5]	actively supported	Client-server	?	Proprietary	Server: Windows Server 2003; Clients: Windows and Web included; Java client (for Eclipse IDE, MacOS, Unix) available	Licenced through MSDN subscription or through direct buy [6]
GroundWork ‌	GroundWork [7]	actively developed	Client-server	?	Proprietary	Unix-like, Windows, Mac OS X	$621 per seat, with volume discounts [8]

Examples of some open-source system monitoring tools

Why use hobbit ?

The source code is open and in GPL license.
There is no seat license fee.
Hobbit Server is highly compatible with Big Brother client.
It has a user and developer community.

Who uses Hobbit ?

Please see the hobbit Users list

Hobbit System Monitoring Tool Wish lists

Delete a host from web page UI.
GUI administration tool.
Prepackaged binary for different OS with lots of add-on modules.
E-mail or SMS notification
Easily customizable.
Has commercial support.
Remote wake/die capabilities

Open Source System Monitoring Software Comparison

General comparsion

There many others system monitoring tools, please add them here if you got some free time. TBC. Pardon the wrong content below, I (TJ Yang) found following great template from other wikibook. Effort is needed to plug in system monitoring stuff.

Monitor Software	Maintainer	Development status	Monitoring model	Main Programming Language	License	Platforms supported	Cost
A2Monitor ‌	A1 Tech, Inc. [9]	actively developed	Client-server	?	Proprietary	Windows	$79
Hobbit ‌	Henrik , Inc.[10]	actively developed	Client-server	C	GPL	Unix-like, Windows, Mac OS X	Unspecified
Big Brother ‌	Quest Software [11]	actively developed	Client-server	bash/C	Proprietary	Linux, Windows, iSeries	Unspecified
Big Sister ] ‌	Big Sister [12]	actively developed	Distributed^[2]	Merge	GPL	Unix-like, Windows, Mac OS X	Free
Nagio ‌	Nagio [13]	actively supported	Client-server	?	Proprietary	Server: Windows Server 2003; Clients: Windows and Web included; Java client (for Eclipse IDE, MacOS, Unix) available	Licenced through MSDN subscription or through direct buy [14]
GroundWork ‌	GroundWork [15]	actively developed	Client-server	?	Proprietary	Unix-like, Windows, Mac OS X	$621 per seat, with volume discounts [16]

↑ Although Bazaar is a distributed version control system it can also be used in a centralized manner using lock step development and checkouts.
↑ Although Bazaar is a distributed version control system it can also be used in a centralized manner using lock step development and checkouts.

Repository model describes the relationship between various copies of the source code repository. In a client-server model, users access a master repository via a client; typically, their local machines hold only a working copy of a project tree. Changes in one working copy must be committed to the master repository before they are propagated to other users. In a distributed model, repositories act as peers, and users typically have a local repository with version history available, in addition to their working copies.
Concurrency model describes how changes to the working copy are managed to prevent simultaneous edits from causing nonsensical data in the repository. In a lock model, changes are disallowed until the user requests and receives an exclusive lock on the file from the master repository. In a merge model, users may freely edit files, but are informed of possible conflicts upon checking their changes into the repository, whereupon the version control system may merge changes on both sides, or let the user decide when conflicts arise. Note that distributed version control almost always implies a merge concurrency model.

Features	Hobbit	Big Brother	Big Sister	OpenNMS	Nagios
HomePage	http://www.hswn.dk/hobbit/	http://www.bb4.org	http://www.bigsister.ch	http://www.opennms.com/site	http://www.nagios.org
Commercial Support	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Main Programming Language	C	Shell	Perl	Java	C
License type	Open source	Source code avaiable but only free for non commercial use	Open source	Open source	TBA
Install base	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Development	Active	Stalled	Active	Active	Active

Hobbit vs BB BTF

This is a detail comparison chart why a current BB site want to migrate to Hobbit. Opinions could be biased toward Hobbit.

Features	Hobbit 4.2.0 above	Big Brother BTF(Better Than Free, 1.9c version above)
Home Page	http://www.hswn.dk/hobbit/	http://www.bb4.org
Community contributed addon modules.	Hobbit: http://www.trantor.org/theshire/, BB:http://www.deadcat.net, bb modules can be reused without much rewrite efforts.	http://www.deadcat.net
Monitor Server on Windows	No. On Unix platform only so far.	Yes, only binary are available.
Monitor agent for Windows	Yes. Opensource and use WiX for MSI packaging. http://sourceforge.net/projects/bbwin	Yes, but only binary are available.
Software in package format	Yes. Will have complete package for different OS over time.	No. due to license issue.
Software Age	?	?
Commercial Support	Yes. Available from the main author, Henrik Storner or cookit.	Yes. Available from Quest Software.
Main Programming Language	C, use as much C as possible to improve performance.	Shell, use C only for bottleneck area of code.
License type	GPL Open source. No need to have accurate count how many clients you have deployed.	BB BTF(1.9c above) version require seat-license of every deployed bb client. Source code is available but it is not open source. Only free for non commercial use for version 1.9c and below.1.9c above version is per-seat license. Need to match the license purchased and number of bb client deployed.
Install base	Large. See HB users list.	Very Large.
Development	Active.	Stalled. Active only in BB profession edition and BB PE is closed-source.
Process alert differentiation	Yes. "oracle listener process died" alerts can be configured to send to oracle team only.	No.
Disk Partitions alert differentiation	Yes. "/oracle partition is 96% full" alerts can be sent to oracle team directly while "/ is 96% full" alert sent to unix team.	No.
Base features	Hobbit has larger basic features set. LARRD Trending is included by default.	BB has smaller features by default, need more customization works.
Centralized configuration	Modify hobbit/bb client configuration from one central configuration.	Need to login to each hobbit/bb client to perform the changes.
Client version update automation	Enhanced 1984 protocol to perform binary update automatically.	Need login into each clients to update binary.
Performance	Hobbit can handle the number of monitored clients in the thousands range.	BB by default without tweaking can only handle hundreds of machines and thousands of machines with tweaking.
Client report	Hobbit provide detail information about hosts monitored.	No.
Search	Hobbit provide search ability to help get to a machine quickly.	Yes, available on http://www.deadcat.net
Menu System	Hobbit provide better menu system for ease of browsing.	No.
LDAP authentication	Yes.	Yes.
RT Ticket system integration	Yes, via external module.	Yes, via external module.
Remedy Ticket system integration	Yes, via external module.	Yes, via external module.
BB messages compatibility	Hobbit server can accept BB messages from bb clients.	BB server can receive BB messages from hobbit clients.
Alerts on different alert color codes	hobbit can act different color codes.	bb server can only act on yellow or red.
subtests combination for SLA.	pingable + web process running + port 80 is answering request = web server is green.	Yes. Using bbgen (not under active development though).
SNMP Integration	Not by default. http://devmon.sourceforge.net/	Not by default. http://devmon.sourceforge.net/
Classification and actions on different priority levels of monitored hosts	default support.	No. may be via external moudles.

References

http://www.hswn.dk/hobbit/help/about.html

Hobbit System Monitoring at home

To monitor your computers at home,perhaps integration with X10 stuff.
This section is about Hobbit and your home system monitoring.
porting hobbit to linksys's nlsu2 or wrt54g.

Hobbit Support

Commercial Support

Cook IT Services: http://cookitservices.com/index.html
TWW offer Hobbit email support. The Server and clients are prepackaged for TWW supported OS via commercial subscription service. server and client package source are also available for download per GNU license. You can create your own package from the package source if you know TWW HPM system.

Free Community Support

Your questions will not necessary got answered.

Maillist Archive: http://www.hswn.dk/hobbiton/
Project page at http://sourceforge.net/projects/hobbitmon/

Hobbit Demo Site

Here are a few best hobbit implementation sites.


 Sat Apr 21 06:25:43 CDT 2007 up: 07:35, 1 users, 70 procs, load=0.01

System clock is 0 seconds off


   PID USERNAME  SIZE   RSS STATE  PRI NICE      TIME  CPU PROCESS/NLWP       
   407 root     1724K  976K sleep   59    0   0:01:16 0.1% vmware-guestd/1
   542 root       10M   11M sleep   59    0   0:00:55 0.1% Xorg/1
  8112 hobbitc  4440K 3948K cpu1     0    0   0:00:00 0.1% prstat/1
  8081 hobbitc  1052K  796K sleep    0    0   0:00:00 0.1% hobbitclient-su/1
   640 root     9572K 6868K sleep   59    0   0:00:18 0.0% dtgreet/1
  8077 hobbitc  1048K  796K sleep   51    0   0:00:00 0.0% hobbitclient.sh/1
     1 root     2004K 1080K sleep   59    0   0:00:01 0.0% init/1
   474 root     8248K 2868K sleep   59    0   0:00:05 0.0% httpd.prefork/1
    96 root     3424K 2324K sleep   59    0   0:00:03 0.0% nscd/24
  1148 hobbitc  1056K  756K sleep   59    0   0:00:01 0.0% hobbitlaunch/1
   459 hobbits  1080K  720K sleep   59    0   0:00:02 0.0% hobbitlaunch/1
   461 hobbits  4844K 1540K sleep   59    0   0:00:04 0.0% hobbitd/1
   256 root     1060K  632K sleep   59    0   0:00:00 0.0% utmpd/1
   234 daemon   2336K 1540K sleep   59    0   0:00:00 0.0% statd/1
    93 root     2132K 1268K sleep   59    0   0:00:00 0.0% syseventd/15
   159 root     2480K 1560K sleep   59    0   0:00:00 0.0% picld/4
   250 root     1884K 1092K sleep   59    0   0:00:00 0.0% ttymon/1
   195 root     2236K  884K sleep   59    0   0:00:00 0.0% cron/1
   373 root     2488K 1924K sleep   59    0   0:00:00 0.0% vold/6
   222 daemon   2412K 1140K sleep   59    0   0:00:00 0.0% rpcbind/1
 NPROC USERNAME  SIZE   RSS MEMORY      TIME  CPU                             
    36 root      134M   86M    15%   0:02:56 0.3%
     4 hobbitc  7596K 6296K   1.1%   0:00:01 0.2%
    23 hobbits   104M   42M   7.5%   0:00:12 0.0%
     4 daemon     10M 5996K   1.0%   0:00:00 0.0%
Total: 67 processes, 182 lwps, load averages: 0.01, 0.01, 0.0

Hobbit System Monitoring Foundation

http://sourceforge.net/project/project_donations.php?group_id=128058

List of Donors

URL for donation to this project is at http://www.hswn.dk/hobbit/, look for PayPal icon.

2006

T.J. Yang

2007

Hobbit Logo

No hurry but we need a good logo. Put your design here for voting later on.
The icon should/better be associated with Henrik's idea of Hobbit love green.
We may consider using GNUStep's approach to contract out the logo design.

[1] Although Bazaar is a distributed version control system it can also be used in a centralized manner using lock step development and checkouts.

[2] Although Bazaar is a distributed version control system it can also be used in a centralized manner using lock step development and checkouts.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 * [http://h20229.www2.hp.com/ HP Openview]
 * [http://www.bmc.com/products/products_services_detail/0,,0_0_0_2001,00.html BMC Performance Manager]
+{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%; text-align: center; width: 100%;"
+|-
+! Monitor Software
+! Maintainer
+! Development status
+! Monitoring  model
+! Main Programming Language
+! [[Software license|License]]
+! Platforms supported
+! Cost
+|-
+! A2Monitor [http://www.a1monitor.com/ &zwnj;]
+| A1 Tech, Inc. [http://www.a1tech.com/]
+| actively developed
+| [[Client-server]]
+| ?
+| Proprietary
+| [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]
+| $79
+|-
+!  Hobbit [http://www.accurev.com/ &zwnj;]
+| Henrik  , Inc.[http://www.accurev.com/]
+| actively developed
+| [[Client-server]]
+| C
+| GPL
+| [[Unix-like]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Mac OS X]]
+| Unspecified
+|-
+!  Big Brother [http://bb4.com/ &zwnj;]
+| Quest Software [http://www.quest.com/]
+| actively developed
+| [[Client-server]]
+| bash/C
+| Proprietary
+| [[Linux]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[iSeries]]
+| Unspecified
+|-
+!  Big Sister ] [http://www.bazaar-vcs.org/ &zwnj;]
+| Big Sister [http://www.canonical.com/]
+| actively developed
+| Distributed<ref>Although Bazaar is a distributed version control system it can also be used in a [http://bazaar-vcs.org/Tutorials/CentralizedWorkflow centralized manner] using [http://bazaar-vcs.org/LockStepDevelopment lock step development] and [http://bazaar-vcs.org/CheckoutTutorial checkouts].</ref>
+| Merge
+| [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]
+| [[Unix-like]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Mac OS X]]
+| Free
+|-
+!  Nagio  [http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/teamsystem/ &zwnj;]
+| Nagio [http://www.microsoft.com]
+| actively supported
+| [[Client-server]]
+| ?
+| Proprietary
+| Server: [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] Server 2003; Clients: [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] and Web included; Java client (for Eclipse IDE, MacOS, Unix) available
+| Licenced through MSDN subscription or through direct buy [http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/howtobuy/]
+|-
+!  GroundWork  [http://www.codicesoftware.com &zwnj;]
+| GroundWork [http://www.codicesoftware.com]
+| actively developed
+| [[Client-server]]
+| ?
+| Proprietary
+| [[Unix-like]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Mac OS X]]
+| $621 per seat, with volume discounts [http://www.codicesoftware.com/opproducts/oplicensing.aspx]
+|}
 === Examples of some open-source system monitoring tools ===
@@ Line 44: / Line 110: @@
 There many others system monitoring tools, please add them here if you got some free time.
 TBC. Pardon the wrong content below, I (TJ Yang) found following great template from other wikibook. Effort is needed to plug in system monitoring stuff.
 {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%; text-align: center; width: 100%;"
 |-

System Monitoring with Xymon/User Guide: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:19, 15 May 2008

Contents

System Monitoring Overview

What is system monitoring ?

Generic System Monitoring Features

Examples of some commercial system monitoring tools

Examples of some open-source system monitoring tools

Why use hobbit ?

Who uses Hobbit ?

Hobbit System Monitoring Tool Wish lists

Open Source System Monitoring Software Comparison

General comparsion

Hobbit vs BB BTF

References

Hobbit System Monitoring at home

Hobbit Support

Commercial Support

Free Community Support

Hobbit Demo Site

Hobbit System Monitoring Foundation

List of Donors

2006

2007

Hobbit Logo

Navigation menu

System Monitoring with Xymon/User Guide: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:19, 15 May 2008

System Monitoring Overview

What is system monitoring ?

Generic System Monitoring Features

Examples of some commercial system monitoring tools

Examples of some open-source system monitoring tools

Why use hobbit ?

Who uses Hobbit ?

Hobbit System Monitoring Tool Wish lists

Open Source System Monitoring Software Comparison

General comparsion

Hobbit vs BB BTF

References

Hobbit System Monitoring at home

Hobbit Support

Commercial Support

Free Community Support

Hobbit Demo Site

Hobbit System Monitoring Foundation

List of Donors

2006

2007

Hobbit Logo

Navigation menu

Search