Datacenter/network management suite

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blinkenflamingo

Weaksauce
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
116
Hi guys,

Before asking questions I'll draw the picture first:

We recently cleaned up the mess that is called our datacenter and it hsa been running clean now since August. It is mostly used for testing, playing around and some occasional local production servers. We have around 16 racks, some full some half empty. The only downside is that nothing is really documented. Apart from a website with alive and available IP's there is nothing to work with.

My manager just agreed to give me responsibility to manage this.

The big problem is that, after making the inventory, I will need some software to keep this all documented and under control. I'm looking for the following features:
- Visio like network view
- Asset management
- IP networking management
- Server monitoring (activity, services, ...)

I ran into both payed (Solarwinds) and free (Nagios, ...) software but I'd like some input and views of the [H]ard guys around here. Any tips on not only software but also best practices to take this hurdle? As a 24yr old youngster in the industry, I bow to greater experience ;).
 
I used Nagios and Cacti with the Weatermap plugin but it depends on the size of the setup though. Now that I am in the 1000's of servers and 100000's of services we use SolarWinds.
 
I have always been fond of solarwinds, I like Nagios but its just a pain to setup.
 
I didn't see where the OP said free was a requirement, but what about Spiceworks?
 
Free is not a requirement but it's a plus. I haven't checked the budget yet but it will probably be rather limited.

Love the input guys, I'll be running them in VM's as a test.
 
Solarwinds is the best recommended here. Unless you have an unlimited amount of time to spend on nagios.

I don't know what our server guys use, but I use CA Spectrum, Netqos and Cisco Prime Infrastructure.

PRTG is decent, i find it too cumbersome to be comfortable using it in a large deployment. Cactii is decent as well, neflow support is mediocre at best.
 
Cisco Prime Infrastructure is good. And if you currently have a WCS server for another month or two Cisco is running a pretty good trade up deal that allows you to use your existing WCS AP licenses as Prime Infrastructure device licenses. Hop on it while you can for some serious cost savings.

Solarwinds is by far the best but you have to pay to play.
 
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