I was looking for a network management solution to monitor all our network devices, router, switches, servers, etc. and I came across this application OpManager
I formatted a server -hate this task- and downloaded the application. The specification of my server: Pentium III, 1.4 GHz, 1 GB RAM with win2003 installed. That I discovered after the 3 hour formatting process, I couldn’t find the CDs, found them but broken, endless issues, anyway so WTH is this machine still doing here!!!
I love bundled applications, I mean it is a web based application, I didn’t have to install IIS, it utilizes free Apache and MySQL. You have two options when installing, which is straight forward, either the free version and you can monitor upto 10 devices or the professional edition with which you can monitor unlimited devices for 30 days, I choose the later
Once installed run it access through any browser from within your network and assign devices. There is a discover devices options or you can add the devices manually. Also, to monitor more than what the ping can offer enable SNMP on all devices. On Windows OS, Go to the Services console -> SNMP Services -> right click -> properties -> Security tab and assign them the same community name, ex. “Public” and either accept packets from any host or add the network monitor server to the list. If SNMP is not installed, Go to Add/remove programs -> Add/Remove windows component -> Management and Monitoring tools -> details -> SNMP
On Cisco devices, you should see something like this: snmp-server community public RO
What I love is for every feature there is a test button. If you configure email alerts, you can test. Monitor features and thresholds. I like the fact that you can choose that your session never expires, so you don’t have to sign in again after sometime
I discovered and manually entered the devices. I categorized them in server, router, switch, etc. I set notification profiles and set email alarms. I am looking into monitoring the event logs
Still I am in the exploration phase, I got 27 days till the license expires. Whenever I am free I configure and customize it more
We tried one other application which was Netsmart which wasn’t a successful experience. No matter how good the application is, if it doesn’t have an easy to use interface and it is manageable then it’s a hard sell
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