The Network Administrator

I am passing along this link, I am hoping to try this out soon! I have an older IBM Server that I might be able to use. Or I may be able to do something in a virtual instance. http://lifehacker.com/5672051/how-to-build-a-hackintosh-mac-and-install-os-x-in-eight-easy-steps

Check out this link, really nice set of tools! http://www.backtrack-linux.org/

I have been using Google docs docs.google.com  for a long time, but recently I have also been using Microsoft Office Online office.live.com. I am using an HTC HD7 running Windows Phone 7 and both cloud services have an app for the phone which works really well.

I have blogged about Opsview in the past, see the link below. http://www.thenetworkadministrator.net/index.php/2010/10/opsview-monitoring-platform/

However, I have always been frustrated with the lack and or quality of the plugins available for the Dell OpenManage software,  that is until now. I will write an article at some point fairly soon, but this link gives you a great start even though it was written primarily for Nagios.

http://exchange.nagios.org/directory/Plugins/Hardware/Server-Hardware/Dell/check_dell_openmanage/details

I have been using a free tool from Fluke networks called the Switch Port monitor. http://networking.flukenetworks.com/?elqPURLPage=607

You simply need to configure SNMP on your network device, I have provided an example for Cisco devices below.

snmp-server host inside 192.168.1.24
snmp-server host inside 192.168.1.24 trap
snmp-server host inside 192.168.1.24 poll
snmp-server enable traps

here 192.168.1.24 is the host that holds the Fluke switch port monitoring tool.
There are certain  vulnerabilities in regards to snmp , read about it on Cisco’s
website. Do not allow polling from outside.