[afnog] helpdesk and network management system

[nishal goburdhan]

> hello,
> 
> i want your advice on helpdesk and network management system using
> open source unix/linux software (single or combination of software).
> your advice/leads on this is most appreciated,
> 
> thanks and have a great weekend ahead.
> 
> Hi, what kind of network managment? Up/down and generic ticketing or
> statistics, or actualy snmp puts? I'd go slow  working towards
> equipment control with nms so here's some generic advice.
> 
> The most obvious, and widely supported, IMO, would be:
> 
> NAGIOS: up/down and statistics with heads up displays and things that
> give you "NOC" views of your network.
> 
> MRTG: An snmp based performance management system i.e. collects
> statistics via SNMP and keeps history. Highly customizable and will
> take any OID with 2 input values.
> 
> RRD Tool: A database to add in multiple flow  correlation and other
> highly customizable functions to MRTG.
> 
> Ticketing: Im not up to speed on the latest free ticketing systems,
> but I've used "req" in the past and I know of some large networks
> that still do use it so you may want to look there.
> 
> If you are looking for the simplest up/down manager in the world, I
> personally like a tool called "NOCOL", the ncurses version. This is
> supported by linux. It's simple, straightforward and basically says
> "Up" "Down" with no frills, but highly reliable.  If I told you the
> name of two large telecom companies that started their networks using
> this tool, you'd be surprised. :)
> 
> Best,
> Martin


hi.

to add to what martin's already given you:

- rt (http://www.bestpractical.com/rt/) for ticketing
- sysmon (http://www.sysmon.org/) for monitoring
- munin (http://www.linpro.no/projects/munin/) host monitoring
- netdisco (http://www.netdisco.org/) for managing data centres.

there are lots of very simple (sysmon) to fairly comprehensive (opennms) 
options - you're spoilt for choice, really :)

--n.