StarTech.com CONYX ECS0016 - Manual (Page 79)

Instruction Manual
72
Nagios Integration
Nagios is a powerful, highly extensible open source tool for monitoring
network hosts and services. The core Nagios software package will typi-
cally be installed on a server or virtual server - the central Nagios server.
ECS0016 gateways operate in conjunction with a central/upstream
Nagios server, to provide distributed monitoring of attached network hosts
and serial devices. They embed the NSCA (Nagios Service Checks Ac-
ceptor) and NRPE (Nagios Remote Plugin Executor) addons – this allows
them to communicate with the central Nagios server, eliminating the need
for a dedicated slave Nagios server at remote sites.
The ECS0016 supports basic distributed monitoring. Even if distributed
monitoring is not required, the ECS0016 gateways can be deployed lo-
cally alongside the Nagios monitoring host server, to provide additional
diagnostics and points of access to managed devices.
StarTech.com’s MetaConnect for Nagios extends the capabilities of the
central Nagios server beyond monitoring, enabling it to be used for cen-
tral management tasks. It incorporates the MetaConnect client, enabling
point-and-click access and control of distributed networks of ECS0016
gateways as well as their attached network and serial hosts, from a
central location.
Please note: if you have an existing Nagios deployment, you may wish
to use the ECS0016 gateways in a distributed monitoring server capacity
only; if this is the case, skip to the section titled
Enable Nagios on the
ECS0016
Nagios overview
Nagios provides central monitoring of the hosts and services in your dis-
tributed network. Nagios is freely downloadable, open source software.
This section offers a quick background of Nagios and its capabilities. A
complete overview, FAQ and comprehensive documentation are available
at: http://www.nagios.org
Nagios does take some time to install, but once Nagios is up and running,