Network Monitoring Tool. Basically, I would like some sort of agent package which could be installed on critical servers/appliances at multiple sites, and assocciated with an organization, which can then be used to monitor them. Once a threashold is set for variables such as temperature, exchange transport service status, CPU utilization etc..if one of the conditions are met, it would automatically generate a ticket for that organization, with the appropiate ticket title. ex. Cirtical: Exchange Server has stopped. It shouldnt be an an overly complicated monitoring solution, just something to ensure critical system tasks/processes are running and are functioning in the specified baseline. This would defanitely be one of the most usefull tools that could be implemented.
I think you should be looking towards to RMM tool like Kaseya or Naverisk, although you say simple these are a very complex set of tasks and best left up to a tool set designed for the task. But that's my opinion
Hi there, Just wanted to post here that you could achieve that with existing windows tools and 3rd party tools If you download "blat" ( its an smtp command line tool ) Then create a batch file something like this: ( example I am using is monitoring the exchange transport service ) Code: @echo off cls SC QUERY "MSExchangeIS" | FIND "STOPPED" > nul IF errorlevel 1 goto NotRunning Echo Service is Running >c:\Status.log goto:End :NotRunning echo ......................................................... >c:\Status.log echo .. COMPANY NAME or SERVER .. >>c:\Status.log echo .. Microsoft Exchange Information Store Is Not Running .. >>c:\Status.log echo .. %TIME% .. >>c:\Status.log echo ......................................................... >>c:\Status.log echo . >>c:\Status.log net start "Microsoft Exchange Transport" >>c:\Status.log blat c:\Status.log -to helpdesk@mydomain.com goto:End :End Then schedule that batch file to run every xx minutes and it will email your helpdesk if the service goes down Gary
Sorry, when I stated overly complicated, I was referring to functionality. The actualy development and integration into Kayako will be quite complex, but I am certain Kayako has the team and skill set to accomplish this. To start, let's say they start by monitoring if a particular server is off. We start by creating an Agent which is installed on the server we want to monitor, the agent communicates with the Kayako helpdesk. During the install of the Agent, we specify our support desk URL/Monitoring credentials, and are then presented with a list of organizations (Companies) within our helpdesk, we select the organization the server belongs to, and specify a name for the server. The agent should also collect and store the Computer Name, IP Address, specs, make/model etc.. From there, they could continue to develop additional monitoring 'plug-ins' for exchange, service state etc.. It's not going to be easy, but I am certain it is a feature alot of users would love to see.
I would hope Kayako concentrates on its core product and sees these types of areas as areas better left to experts in the fields, if you are looking for a "cheap" solution have a look at spiceworks it is an open source RMM style tool, also Naverisk is a small RMM tool developed in New Zealand and the gave just opened offices in England well priced and work well with their partners to deliver functionality.
A good tool for monitoring exchange and other email servers is mxalerts.com.It uses round-trip email monitoring which is very easy to setup and pretty useful. I'm still on the free plan right now but will be upgrading soon.
