Server "Heartbeat" Software?

[Dexter]

Does anyone know any good remote server monitoring software? What I need is software that resides on the remote servers and report in to a central web/ftp server. It cannot be a ping out from a central server to the remotes, because each remote has a router which is going to ping back. I need to know the actual server status, and not have a ping stop at the router and reply there.

(Yes, I know you can route the ping from the router to the server to let it make the actual reply, but I am trying to avoid doing that for various reasons.)

Paid software is fine, price is not a major concern so long as it not totally unreasonable (ie, a couple hundred bucks is not unreasonable.)

Dexter...

[deicist]

If I remember correctly coolmon can monitor remote servers, as well as a 'heartbeat' you can set it to monitor the system temps etc... for multiple systems.

Just had a look at the coolmon site (http://www.coolmon.org/home/features.php), and I was right!

"Client/Server mode: CoolMon can be configured as a server and a client so that remote machines can be monitored. Simultaneous local and remote monitoring is possible, as multiple instances of the application can be started. CoolMon can also act as a web server, making it's data accessible though web services like SOAP/WDSL, as well as auto-save XML files in both formatted and unformatted structure."

[primesuspect]

If this is a bit of a bigger setup, and you have managed NICs and switches, have you given thought to something like HP OpenManage or 3Com Transcend?

[tcith]

We use big Brother here http://www.bb4.org/

[topherice]

How many sites/devices are you monitoring? I've worked in shops that use BMC Patrol/Patrol Explorer and Tivoli. Both products work fabulously but I'm pretty sure licensing is pretty steep. BMC Patrol has agents for feeding the information from lots of different sources into a centralized viewpoint. You can have different networks from different business units using different monitoring products (Tivoli, OpenView, COMPAQ Insight Mgr, Mercury/TOPAZ,What'sUp Gold, simple SNMP traps, etc.) and see them all at a glance with BMC Patrol/Patrol Explorer.

[Shorty]

http://manageengine.adventnet.com/products/opmanager/index.html

FREE monitoring for upto ten nodes and very easy to setup/configure. Licensed version costs a touch over $795 USD. Hardly a bank breaker ;)

prime.. been meaning to send this link. It will detect and monitor switches, routers (that support SNMP traps), Exchange, MySQL, Apache, MSSQL, LDAP, WMI and SNMP .. others too :)

[primesuspect]

Nice!

3Com Transcend is free too, but you need a managed 3com switch

[drasnor]

You can set your cron daemon on the remote servers to upload the logs or a server stats digest to a central server using SCP or FTP on scheduled intervals. Your central server could have a shell script that sends you an e-mail whenever a server doesn't report in.

-drasnor :fold: