Adding a homebuilt warning light to your data center
STOP AND GO
A clever combination of Nagios and a doityourself traffic lights lets you know how your network is feeling.
If you need to manage a large number of computers and services, Nagios is an excellent option. Nagios monitors computers, network connections, and servers, displaying the current health state of a web interface with the colors green (okay), yellow (warning), and red (critical). It is a pity that the web interface is so unobtrusive. If everything is quiet on the network front, an administrator can easily close the browser window and overlook the Nagios warning messages in the general flood of email traffic. One day, I decided there must be a better way. Luckily, Nagios is very easy to adapt and extend. With a little scripting and some cheap electronic hardware, I built a simple traffic light that can sit on top of a switch, cabinet, or desk to show the current network status.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
News
-
Old Vulnerabilities Are Kept Alive Through Bad Configuration
HP's annual Cyber Risk report offers a bleak look at the state of IT.
-
Linus Torvalds Announces Linux 4.0
But what do the big numbers really mean?
-
Microsoft Frees CoreCLR
.NET Core execution engine is the basis for cross-platform .NET implementations.
-
New Trojan Attacks Linux Servers
The Xnote trojan hides itself on the target system and will launch a variety of attacks on command.
-
Cisco Releases Annual Security Report
Spammers go low-volume, and 90% of IE browsers are unpatched.
-
Zero Day Exploits Target Flash
Adobe scrambles to release patches for vulnerable Flash Player.
-
Intel Unveils Compute Stick
Four-inch-long computer on a stick lets you boot a full Linux system from any HDMI display device.
-
Obama Proposes Personal Data Notification Law
New statute would require companies to report break-ins to consumers.
-
TGXf Project Warns of File Transfer through Screen Pixels
Weird data transfer technique avoids all standard security measures.
-
Industry Giants Announce a Fix for the Password Mess
FIDO alliance declares the beginning of the end for old-style login authentication.