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nflynn85

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Best software for monitoring purposes?

I have a handful of 2008 r2 servers that I'd like to start doing some monitoring on for performance, disk space, NSM, service status, maybe even forecasting, etc.

I've never really been a fan of the options available and native to Windows Server. Is there anything out there that's free or low cost (I have a total of 9 servers currently that need to be monitored).

What I'd really like is some sort of web interface or "master" that pulls all the data in from each server and allows me to see what's going on in a meaningful way and obviously alert me if anything goes down.

What have you used in the past? What are you using now? Do you feel like you're getting value from what you have used or are currently using?

Thanks in advance!
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rindi
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Most server manufacturer's include something for that with their servers. Compaq (HP) for example used to have something called CIM (if I remember correctly). You'd install the agents on the servers and then install the software on a separate PC which would collect any alerts and data from the server. Just look at what options your server manufacturer has.

Another option would be to use Spiceworks.
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nflynn85

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All of the servers i'm looking to monitor are virtual, so they don't have a manufacturing type :)

Already knew about spiceworks. Hoping some others will chime in with other ideas and experiences
Also virtual servers run on a hardware host, and that can be monitored using the server manufacturer's tools. For example if your host is an HP server, and you are running VMware ESXi as host OS, you would get the ESXi iso that adapted for that server, usually you download it directly from the manufacturer, not VMware. Those adapted iso's include the agents so you can monitor it.
I'm aware of that, but that's not really what I'm looking for. Something to install on the host machine that will monitor the host and the VMs - like a spiceworks or a solarwinds.
There would be nagios, or if it still exists, opennms. but neither of those are easy to setup or configure, In my opinion the manufacturer provided tools or spiceworks are much simpler to use.
You should post that they are virtual and the platform as part of the question - it would potentially get you faster responses with better answers.  For example, if you're virtualized using Hyper-V you can try the VTUtilities - https://vttechnology.com/Products
Hi There,

Use CACTI.Its free but you would need to understand how to install it.
Refer the below:
http://www.unixmen.com/monitor-vmware-esxi-host-using-cacti/
Sorry all.

The host machine is windows server 2012. I'm using the Hyper-V role for my virtualized servers.
You can still use cacti
So I installed spiceworks just to give it a shot and it was super easy to set up. However, it seems the pitfall to this product is that it doesn't have the ability to record a certain amount of history on your monitored devices. I would like to have that option. Can someone recommend something further based on what i've mentioned so far?
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Ian Arakel
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I found an all inclusive windows installer, so wouldn't require much ground work at all besides building a new VM

http://forums.cacti.net/viewtopic.php?t=14946
Great....go for it
Just wanted to report back and say that Cacti installer worked great and has been fairly easy to set up. Thanks for the recommendation. Cheers
Glad to know that..Kudos...