Ping. SNMP. WMI. Script. API call. As I’ve elaborated on before, monitoring hasn’t changed much in the last decade or so. To be sure, we’ve gotten better at presenting the information. We’ve found…
The Three Black Boxes (hint: the network was only the beginning)
NOTE: This post originally appeared here Once upon a time, back in the dark ages of IT, people would sit around the table and talk about “the black box” and everyone knew…
#FeatureFriday: Understanding Network Configuration Backups
Welcome to “Feature Friday”, a series of (typically short) videos which explain a feature, function, or technique. Network Configuration Backups is usually not considered to be a monitoring technique, and yet the opportunities this…
The Myth of the “Five Nines”
“Five-Nines” refers to something that is available 99.999% of the time. It’s become a catch phrase in various parts of the IT industry. It’s also complete bullshit. Sean Hull did a great…
#FeatureFriday: What is IPSLA?
Welcome to “Feature Friday”, a series of (typically short) videos which explain a feature, function, or technique. Like NetFlow, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking IPSLA is some “new” feature…
Do-Over
The report you’ve been updating for 2 hours, but somehow never hit “save”. The code you tweaked all day but hadn’t gotten far enough to upload to the repository. The server build you…
Why I care about Women in Monitoring (and IT)
(originally posted Feb 10, 2015) (image credit Josh Rossi ) I started a thread on Twitter asking Who are some awesome women in monitoring? One of the common reactions (privately and respectfully,…
#FeatureFriday: What is NetFlow?
Welcome to “Feature Friday”, a series of (typically short) videos which explain a feature, function, or technique. Compared to features like Ping and SNMP, NetFlow is a relative newcomer to the monitoring scene,…
If you Knew Me, You Wouldn’t Believe Me
And all of a sudden, people are referring to you as an expert in the field. When this first happens, you may even feel like an imposter, a fraud. But don’t worry….
The Four Questions, Part 4
In the first part of this series, I described the four (ok, really five) questions that monitoring professionals are frequently asked. You can read that introduction here. Information on the first question…