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A presentation I gave at NagiosKonferenz in Nuremberg in October, 2007. Here I discussed using Nagios as a framework for hardware-based monitoring and the necessary community interactions between proprietary hardware vendors and the open source Nagios community.
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Kevin MenardServprise International, [email protected]
+1 508.892.3823 x308
Nagios: A Framework for Hardware-based Monitoring
October 11, 2007
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Nagios Out-of-the-box
• Only monitors part of network– Software-based services– Hardware via SNMP
Structure of Modern Networks
Need for Hardware Plugins
• Necessary for total network coverage
• Monitor non-network services
• Take corrective action with hardware
SNMP isn’t Enough
• Difficult for complex operations
• MIB management can be a hassle
• Security– Non-existent security until SNMPv3– May require holes in firewall
• Need hardware-specific plugins
Nagios as Mediator
• Register event handlers with checks
• Execute event handlers due to checks
• Schedule checks based on event handlers
• Simple checks, simple event handlers
Hardware-based Plugins
• Handle complex interactions
• Provide semantic meaning
• Provide hardware-specific error messages
Web Service-enabled Hardware
• Standards-defined interface (W3C)
• Supports most modern programming languages
• Lower cost of client support
• Lower cost for client development
Web Service Security
• Use SSL channel (HTTPS)
• Use HTTP authentication methods
• No special firewall rules needed
Vendor Value Proposition
• Push complex monitoring to 3rd party
• Support widely deployed monitoring app
• Potential for community contributions
Nagios Value Proposition
• Total network coverage
• Push development off to vendor
• Competitive advantage against other monitoring applications
What Can Nagios Do?
• Can’t develop plugins for everything
• Register support with vendors
• Perhaps ship packaged up plugins– Simpler for end users
• Develop an ontology of actions
Example Ontology of Actions
Ontology Benefits
• Common set of checks
• Common set of corrective actions
• Materialized by command definitions
• Vendor interoperability
• Minimized configuration
Ontology Representation
• Use W3C’s OWL standard
• XSL transformation to command definitions
• Vendors “plug-in” command, keep command name the same
What Can Vendors Do?
• Embrace open source
• Use open interface– Can still shield proprietary internals
• Produce open source plugins using interface
Working with Nagios Community
• Users– Know what they want to use– Can offer great suggestions
• Developers– Know Nagios internals– Can offer technical support
• Neither are obligated– Quid pro quo
Plugin Licensing
• Nagios is GPL
• Plugins are not necessarily derived works
• Plugins that do not use GPL code do not need to be GPL
• Non-open source unlikely to succeed, but doable
Conclusion
• Lot of value for Nagios, vendors
• Symbiotic relationship between them
• Nagios can technically support vendors, needs to support them at higher level
• Vendors need to work with Nagios community
• End users win
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Acknowledgements
• Nagios community
• Netways
• Servprise staff
• Special thanks to:– Melanie Bolduc– Ethan Galstad
