Apple Mac OS X Server (Version 10.6 Snow Leopard) - Manual (Page 175)

Chapter 8 Monitoring Your System 175
If you detect an unusual number of requests coming from the same source, use
Firewall service to block traffic from that source.
For more information about
tcpdump, see the corresponding man page.
Consider using Ruby, Perl, shell scripts, or AppleScript to automate the monitoring Â
process. For example, using tcpdump to monitor traffic can be time consuming, so
automation is necessary.
Consider using Ethereal, an X11 open source packet sniffing tool that you can run in
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the X11 environment on Mac OS X Server. Unlike tcpdump, this tool has a graphical
user interface and a set of powerful network analysis tools.
For more information about Ethereal, see www.ethereal.com/.
You can use other third-party tools that automatically analyze network traffic and
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alert you to problems.
Using Server Status Notification in Server Admin
Server Admin has an easy to use notification system that can keep you informed of
your server’s hard disk status, software status, and certificate status. Server Admin will
send a mail to any address (local or not) when:
There is less than a specified percentage of free space left on any system hard disk. Â
Software Update packages are available from Apple for the server. Â
A certificate has expired or will soon expire. Â
To use the email functionality, the server starts SMTP. Make sure the firewall allows
SMTP traffic from the server.
To set a notification:
1 Open Server Admin.
2 Select a server, click the Settings button in the toolbar, and then click the Notifications
tab.
3 Below the “Addresses to notify” field, click the Add (+) button and add an address.
4 Repeat as needed, then click Save.
Monitoring Server Status Overviews Using Server Admin
Server Admin has several ways to see a status overview, from detailed information for
a single server to a simplified overview for many servers.
To see a status overview for one server:
Select a server in the Server list.
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