Open Source Applications for Network Infrastructure Monitoring

Open source apps are gaining traction for monitoring network infrastructure, as they offer a cost-effective and flexible alternative compared to proprietary options. In this blog post, we will take a look at some of the top open source applications for network infrastructure monitoring, including Zabbix, Checkmk, Prometheus + Grafana, Cacti, OpenNMS, Icinga, Netdata, M/Monit, and Graphite.

Zabbix is an open source monitoring software that provides comprehensive and feature-rich capabilities for tracking IT components, such as networks, servers, VMs, and cloud services. With this tool, users can monitor metrics such as network utilization, CPU load, and disk space consumption. Additionally, Zabbix offers advanced features, such as alerting, reporting, and visualization.

Checkmk is an open source, comprehensive monitoring solution for SysAdmins and DevOps teams to diagnose and resolve problems in their IT infrastructure—from basic to complex. Built-in Python and C++, it provides sophisticated features such as alerting, reporting, and visualization, and supports multiple protocols.

A combination of Prometheus and Grafana is a popular choice for monitoring network infrastructure. Prometheus is a metrics collection and storage system that stores data, while Grafana is a visualization tool to create and view dashboards from the data collected by Prometheus. Prometheus can be used to gather metrics from network devices, servers, and applications, and Grafana can build custom dashboards for better understanding the performance and availability of the network infrastructure.

Cacti is an open source network monitoring and graphing tool written in PHP/MySQL. Beyond monitoring, the framework of its operation provides the ability to extend and add to Cacti's functionality. Utilizing RRDTool, it stores data and produces graphics, while collecting information through Net-SNMP at regular intervals.

OpenNMS is a comprehensive network service monitoring platform, used by hundreds of enterprises daily, that is the world's first fully open source enterprise-grade solution. With its ability to visualize and monitor all elements of your local and distributed networks, OpenNMS can easily be scaled to monitor large and complex infrastructures. This platform offers complete fault, performance and traffic monitoring, with alarm generation capabilities.

Icinga offers flexibility and scalability to monitor a wide range of devices, databases, applications, cloud services, websites, and networks. It detects any issues with availability, notifies users of outages, and provides performance data for reporting. With its scalability and extensibility, Icinga is capable of monitoring complex environments across multiple locations.

Netdata is an open source and agent-based solution that allows companies to quickly detect, troubleshoot and resolve infrastructure performance problems. It runs on each monitored host and collects thousands of metrics from systems, hardware, containers, and applications with no configuration required.

M/Monit is a free, open-source, and uncomplicated monitoring tool for keeping track of the functioning and performance of network devices, servers, and applications. It is made to be user-friendly and effortless to install, with a web-based interface that can be accessed from any web browser. Along with monitoring services and protocols, email alerts can be set up to inform you when a problem arises. It can carry out automatic maintenance, repairs, and corrective actions in error scenarios.

Open source tool, Observium, provides real-time visibility into the health and performance of networks. It is capable of discovering devices and services, collecting performance metrics, and alerting when any problems arise. This platform supports a diverse range of protocols and devices, as well as providing alerting, reporting, and visualization tools.

Graphite is an open-source, time-series monitoring tool with capabilities for collecting, storing and displaying data from multiple sources. With its scalability and flexibility, it can handle large volumes of data and includes alerting, reporting and visualization features. It is ideal for monitoring metrics that change over time, such as network traffic, CPU usage and memory usage.

In conclusion, open source monitoring tools can be a cost-effective and flexible solution for monitoring network infrastructure. They offer a wide range of features, support multiple protocols, and can be easily customized to meet specific needs. While each tool has its own specific strengths, they all are great options for organizations that want to keep a close eye on their network infrastructure and ensure the smooth operation of their systems.