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SNMP Software
- Thread starter benzito
- Start date
Hi Benzito,
in our university we are trying a software from Computer Associates called NetworkIT. It has a very friendly interface, but we have had some problems during its installation.
If you have some question, don't doubt and e-mail me.
See you!
in our university we are trying a software from Computer Associates called NetworkIT. It has a very friendly interface, but we have had some problems during its installation.
If you have some question, don't doubt and e-mail me.
See you!
MaheshRathi
Technical User
Hi,
there are some more good snmp manager applications ... But, from user question, it seems you are more interested in getting statistics .. like utilization of router, utilization of router cpu, buffer misses, dropped packets etc .. all these are basically performance metrics and if you are looking for the same and some more then better go for some performance management solutions like Concord's Network Health or Lucent's Vitalnet ... These are some of the best products presently available in market.
If you are looking for something more, reply back to forum .. ASAP.
regards,
mahesh
there are some more good snmp manager applications ... But, from user question, it seems you are more interested in getting statistics .. like utilization of router, utilization of router cpu, buffer misses, dropped packets etc .. all these are basically performance metrics and if you are looking for the same and some more then better go for some performance management solutions like Concord's Network Health or Lucent's Vitalnet ... These are some of the best products presently available in market.
If you are looking for something more, reply back to forum .. ASAP.
regards,
mahesh
PAGEME1000
Technical User
Hi
If you're looking for a free app...MRTG will take most vendor mibs and use them to quiz the device for information. It will then graph the output to an html page so you can easily access and view the results. This works very well in the cisco case. Have a play with mrtg it's a lil tricky the first time you use it. You will have to pick the specific mibs you would like to see graphed. I have seen it work very well in mixed vendor networks.
Page
I have used a couple different applications. SNMPc by Castlerock is a very nice full SNMP NMS system that is easy to use and is relatively cheap, and seems to scale really well. I have also used HPOV that is very robust, but very complex and not cheap. Cisco Works is a really good product if you are a "Cisco Shop". Also, What's Up Gold is another inexpensive tool that does a lot as well. If all you are trying to do is monitor preformance of CPU's and interfaces on Routers or Switches then I agree that MRTG may be your best bet. It is free and there is quite a bit of support and FAQs out there to help with it's install and use. Your last option requires Perl, CGI, HTML knowledge. A lot of tools available (Cisco Works and MRTG specifically) use Perl to gather data and push that to Web pages for display. If you have the skills this might be an option as well.
HTH Are YOU Sancho?....No you are not. Is Scott Baio Sancho?....NO, he is not!....Only.."I"....am Sancho!
HTH Are YOU Sancho?....No you are not. Is Scott Baio Sancho?....NO, he is not!....Only.."I"....am Sancho!
Hi Benzito,
If do you like to make a very best of graphical statistics with the posibility to consult statistics graphics via Web browser you can use InfoVista software, but with this option you need a good budget. You can get more information about this software at
Bye.
If do you like to make a very best of graphical statistics with the posibility to consult statistics graphics via Web browser you can use InfoVista software, but with this option you need a good budget. You can get more information about this software at
Bye.
experimenter
ISP
benzito,
You can give a go to SolarWinds network managment tool. Also they have got an evaluation version.
I hope this give you a clue;
Experimenter
You can give a go to SolarWinds network managment tool. Also they have got an evaluation version.
I hope this give you a clue;
Experimenter
As most of these message threads suggest, there are many ways to accomplish what you are attempting to do. However, there are several factors to consider.
- Budget
- Knowledge
- Staff Time
- Reporting Capabilities
- Ease of use
- Support
With the previous considerations in mind lets take a look at the more popular products.
1. Multi Router Graphing Tool (MRTG)
What makes this tool attractive is the price (FREE!!!), and its flexibility. However, MRTG does require that you know the PERL language and SNMP in order to gather everything you need, and do advanced functions (SNMP TRAPS, Notifications, etc). Once the installation is complete, the presentation is quite intuitive on that MRTG presents the real time, short term and long term history in one view. MRTG is great for small to medium (100 routers or less) network environmet that do not change often, and the router interfaces are all physical. Managing of MRTG becomes an can be overwhelming in large network enviroments that contain routers with many software configured interfaces (WAN/LAN subinterfaces, VLANS, etc). The most common of the problems occur when there many chages on the routers and they get rebooted. What happens here is that SNMP re-indexes and MRTG starts reading information from the wrong interfaces. At this point, the MRTG information becomes inaccurate, and the administration required to fix the problem is very time consuming and can cause MRTG to loose all of its history. The upside is that suppport for the tool is as good as any of the other Open Source Software (world wide and FREE!!!).
2. Lucent VitalSuite (VitaNet)
This product does require modertate capital investment all depending on the size of your network, and if you either purchase the software: of get the service. VitalNet is 100% Web configurable so the no need to know special languages, and is SQL database driven. The initial setup is quite simple and the product is quite stable once it is up. There is a quite good selection of reports out of the box, but there is a limitation on tending, customization, and scheduling. VitalNet does scale well in large network environmets and does adjust itself well after router reindexing. SNMP trap support is included but can be overwhelming to your management station since there is lack of intellengent threshhold algorythems to supress TRAP generation. Support on VitalNet is good as long as you pay for it.
3. InfoVista
This product is more expensive report builder/scheduler development kit that can be configured to gather SNMP data in a similar fashion as VitalNet (SNMP walker on steroids). Like any other development kit, it requires quite extensive training just to get started. In many cases professional consulting is required to get the product up and running. It has fairly great report scheduling capabilities and the canned reports are usually catered to more business high level personnel. Lower level engineering reports can be created and scheduled from what ever SNMP can gather (MRTG???). The key limitation in InfoVista is that it will not poll a device unless it is binded to an existing report, therefore lacking ad-hoc reports and trending. This is a product utilized more to present information to the CIO's of the world for SLA business accomplishments. Not much user intervention required once the product is set up since there is a level of re-adjusting itself when network changes occur. The only time you need to touch the product is when a new report type is required. InfoVista is fairly new in the market and is more of a tool that will establish work for the consulting community. There there is not much known of the support, which is usually resold by the consultant that set up the product in the first place. So for all you consultants, if you want to make more money and satisfy CEO's (which is the money), encompass this products in your strategy.
4. Concord eHealth.
This is the monster of monsters. eHealth does require a large capital investment, all depending on the size of your network and what you want to gather and report on. This is one of those "You get what you pay for!!!", in that is modular and has the capabilities of doing almost anything. Out of the box, basic eHealth is quite simple to install and will provide exactly what you are looking for. However, eHealth is still not 100% web administerable so there is some need to interact with the server directly either through the server's console: or some X server desktop client. Some trainig might be required. Once you are able to get around those minor obstacles, the discovey of network resources is quite flexible and simple. The reporting interface is 100% web based in that all the output can be produced an posted. This is one of the only products that can immediately produce ouput after just a few polls, and has a greal library of out of the box reports that will suit almost anyones needs (including the CIO). However, it is recommended that you let the product gather a fairly decent amount of data in order to test eHealth's real strenght, PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT for all. In addition, eHealth's grouping capabilities are superior to all, allowing it to be the fit all product. There is some additional training also requires if you want to learn all the reports (but it is worth it), and Concord does offer a development kit and training (Consultant $$$), for those interested. Although , eHealth is a monster, it is a gentle monster. The more you know of it, the easier it is to control and get what you want out of it. Support on this product is good as long as you pay for it, and Concords professional services are available for those elaborate set ups.
5. CiscoWorks 2000 Suite of applications.
Cisco offer products that will suit your needs, if you are just looking for real time performance statistics that will be utilized for engineering purposes. The pricinng is quite fair in comparison to the some of the larger performance management suites. In addition, you get the added benefit of configuration control. There is some training needed. CiscoWorks 2000 is 100% web administrable so there is minimal interaction with the server. Support can be added in you Smartnet contract, meaning similar interaction with TAC.
Overall, this is just my personal opinion based on my 10 years experience with network management. Some of the companies mentioned above might totally diasagree with me (especially marketing and sales), but for the most part the information is accurate. In addition, there are probably more companies out there that I did not mention (some mentioned in previous threads) that can provide inexpensive alternatives.
What it really boils down to is taking the time to evaluate the products and making your own conclusions based on your enviroment since not all system are perfect for all.
Plese feel free to make comments on this.
Regards,
Efren05
- Budget
- Knowledge
- Staff Time
- Reporting Capabilities
- Ease of use
- Support
With the previous considerations in mind lets take a look at the more popular products.
1. Multi Router Graphing Tool (MRTG)
What makes this tool attractive is the price (FREE!!!), and its flexibility. However, MRTG does require that you know the PERL language and SNMP in order to gather everything you need, and do advanced functions (SNMP TRAPS, Notifications, etc). Once the installation is complete, the presentation is quite intuitive on that MRTG presents the real time, short term and long term history in one view. MRTG is great for small to medium (100 routers or less) network environmet that do not change often, and the router interfaces are all physical. Managing of MRTG becomes an can be overwhelming in large network enviroments that contain routers with many software configured interfaces (WAN/LAN subinterfaces, VLANS, etc). The most common of the problems occur when there many chages on the routers and they get rebooted. What happens here is that SNMP re-indexes and MRTG starts reading information from the wrong interfaces. At this point, the MRTG information becomes inaccurate, and the administration required to fix the problem is very time consuming and can cause MRTG to loose all of its history. The upside is that suppport for the tool is as good as any of the other Open Source Software (world wide and FREE!!!).
2. Lucent VitalSuite (VitaNet)
This product does require modertate capital investment all depending on the size of your network, and if you either purchase the software: of get the service. VitalNet is 100% Web configurable so the no need to know special languages, and is SQL database driven. The initial setup is quite simple and the product is quite stable once it is up. There is a quite good selection of reports out of the box, but there is a limitation on tending, customization, and scheduling. VitalNet does scale well in large network environmets and does adjust itself well after router reindexing. SNMP trap support is included but can be overwhelming to your management station since there is lack of intellengent threshhold algorythems to supress TRAP generation. Support on VitalNet is good as long as you pay for it.
3. InfoVista
This product is more expensive report builder/scheduler development kit that can be configured to gather SNMP data in a similar fashion as VitalNet (SNMP walker on steroids). Like any other development kit, it requires quite extensive training just to get started. In many cases professional consulting is required to get the product up and running. It has fairly great report scheduling capabilities and the canned reports are usually catered to more business high level personnel. Lower level engineering reports can be created and scheduled from what ever SNMP can gather (MRTG???). The key limitation in InfoVista is that it will not poll a device unless it is binded to an existing report, therefore lacking ad-hoc reports and trending. This is a product utilized more to present information to the CIO's of the world for SLA business accomplishments. Not much user intervention required once the product is set up since there is a level of re-adjusting itself when network changes occur. The only time you need to touch the product is when a new report type is required. InfoVista is fairly new in the market and is more of a tool that will establish work for the consulting community. There there is not much known of the support, which is usually resold by the consultant that set up the product in the first place. So for all you consultants, if you want to make more money and satisfy CEO's (which is the money), encompass this products in your strategy.
4. Concord eHealth.
This is the monster of monsters. eHealth does require a large capital investment, all depending on the size of your network and what you want to gather and report on. This is one of those "You get what you pay for!!!", in that is modular and has the capabilities of doing almost anything. Out of the box, basic eHealth is quite simple to install and will provide exactly what you are looking for. However, eHealth is still not 100% web administerable so there is some need to interact with the server directly either through the server's console: or some X server desktop client. Some trainig might be required. Once you are able to get around those minor obstacles, the discovey of network resources is quite flexible and simple. The reporting interface is 100% web based in that all the output can be produced an posted. This is one of the only products that can immediately produce ouput after just a few polls, and has a greal library of out of the box reports that will suit almost anyones needs (including the CIO). However, it is recommended that you let the product gather a fairly decent amount of data in order to test eHealth's real strenght, PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT for all. In addition, eHealth's grouping capabilities are superior to all, allowing it to be the fit all product. There is some additional training also requires if you want to learn all the reports (but it is worth it), and Concord does offer a development kit and training (Consultant $$$), for those interested. Although , eHealth is a monster, it is a gentle monster. The more you know of it, the easier it is to control and get what you want out of it. Support on this product is good as long as you pay for it, and Concords professional services are available for those elaborate set ups.
5. CiscoWorks 2000 Suite of applications.
Cisco offer products that will suit your needs, if you are just looking for real time performance statistics that will be utilized for engineering purposes. The pricinng is quite fair in comparison to the some of the larger performance management suites. In addition, you get the added benefit of configuration control. There is some training needed. CiscoWorks 2000 is 100% web administrable so there is minimal interaction with the server. Support can be added in you Smartnet contract, meaning similar interaction with TAC.
Overall, this is just my personal opinion based on my 10 years experience with network management. Some of the companies mentioned above might totally diasagree with me (especially marketing and sales), but for the most part the information is accurate. In addition, there are probably more companies out there that I did not mention (some mentioned in previous threads) that can provide inexpensive alternatives.
What it really boils down to is taking the time to evaluate the products and making your own conclusions based on your enviroment since not all system are perfect for all.
Plese feel free to make comments on this.
Regards,
Efren05
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