Statistics collection in Big Brother is good, and we felt like we didn't even scratch the surface of all the available scripts. We could monitor availability and utilization of CPUs, memory, disks, logs, systems processes, services and, of course, SNMP MIB variables. SNMP integration can leverage MRTG (Multiroute Traffic Grapher).
Configuration files control which processes the server runs, what devices are monitored and e-mail notification for alerts. We created static groups of network and system devices. Server processes include polling, displaying status and notification of alerts.
The product's HTML interface is snappy about loading current device and IP service status. The well-organized display uses the typical red for bad, green for good, yellow for banana or warning, so understanding what's going on didn't take much gray matter.
Creating reports is simple and quick, with two views showing all the devices and services or a condensed view of just the aggregate status. Help files are also brief and to the point, and there are plenty of active user forums.
Big Brother 1.9e (Unix), 2.30 (Windows Server), 1.08d (Windows Client), free. Quest Software, (949) 754-8000. www.quest.com
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