How monitoring works in practice: polling and checks, graphs and dashboards, logs, and what to watch on routers, switches and servers.
The green dot says the AP is on. It does not say why the back bedroom drops calls at nine. A checklist from the cable up to the client.
Continue reading Monitoring Wi-Fi access points: what the controller page does not tell you ›
Count the powered ports, budget by class at the switch port, insist on SNMP if you graph things and keep it fanless. A home lab PoE switch, worked through.
Continue reading Choosing a PoE switch for a home lab: ports, power budget and SNMP ›
SNMP & Protocols, Network Monitoring
SNMP says the link is full. Flow data says who filled it. NetFlow, IPFIX and sFlow compared, plus the sampling math that keeps you honest.
Continue reading NetFlow, sFlow and IPFIX: finding out who is using the bandwidth ›
Network Monitoring, Uptime & Alerting
A green ping check only proves a kernel answered. What ICMP, TCP, HTTP and synthetic checks each catch, and a layered plan for one web service.
Continue reading Ping is not monitoring: ICMP, TCP and synthetic checks compared ›
Network Monitoring, SNMP & Protocols
One rsyslog server, one folder per device, logs you can grep at 2 a.m. Formats, severities, device settings, rotation and clocks for a small network.
Continue reading Syslog for small networks: collect, rotate and actually read your logs ›
SNMP & Protocols, Network Monitoring
What ifHCInOctets, ifInErrors and ifOutDiscards really count, how a rate is computed, and the worked math behind a graph that lies after a wrap.
Continue reading Interface counters explained: octets, errors, discards and the 32-bit wrap ›
Five minutes is a habit from the MRTG years. How to pick intervals per metric, with counter wrap math, burst examples and storage costs.
Continue reading How often should you poll? Choosing a polling interval ›
