Tell me more ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.

I'm looking for a piece of software akin to Cacti, one that is preferably much easier to set up, and has a high-quality frontend to it.

I had a headless Linux desktop that I used to poll my Time Machine and graph network statistics off of, but that computer is currently undergoing repairs, so I'm left with the remaining computers I have in the house, which are all Mac.

I have no specific requirements that I consider as a sticking point. My baseline of features would be something with the granularity that Cacti/RRDTool provide. Graphs with scalable units of time/history (configurable is a plus!), quick/easy to get started with little installation is preferable, something that perhaps just runs as a daemon/program and doesn't require a web server and detailed tailored configuration (read: discovery) would be just fine, and possibly even preferred.

share|improve this question

2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any serious competition to Cacti, but have you considered using a Cacti virtual appliance? There are several pre-configured VMs available with everything pre-installed and ready to go.
Cacti 0.8.7g
rPath Cacti Appliance
You might also want to take a look here: A Half-Dozen or So Essential Open Source Network Administraton Tools and in particular at: Graph Network Performance with NRG - Part 1
He also has a page on how to install Cacti on OS X.
Now I can't say that this meets your desire for something as simple as a typical OS X application install but it certainly meets the free requirement.
I can't say I've played with any of these tools on OS X bar Mac Ports which I consider an essential on any OS X system.

Another really simplistic app (OS X widget actually) is iEyeNet, it definitely meets the free and simple criteria but isn't anywhere as configurable as Cacti. I tried it with my Airport Extreme and it "just worked".

Another option is documented here, it uses a combination of MRTG/Lingon/Geektool to generate and display the network graphs. Reasonably easy to setup...

share|improve this answer
The concept of pre-built VMs scare me, to be perfectly honest. I guess getting them from VMware legitimately should be considered relatively safe. – Jason Salaz Jan 1 '11 at 6:30
I really like JumpBox's dedication to this process, but I have to pay $50/mo. to use them? Oof... That's an expense I can't justify right now. – Jason Salaz Jan 3 '11 at 6:46
As I understand it, it's $50 to get access to their download library and for continuing support, you could just pay for one month and the VM will still work (as long as you have it running locally). It is certainly more than I'd be willing to pay for personal use but for a small or medium business it might be worth it. – Ausmith1 Jan 3 '11 at 19:32
That rate ($50) is just plain too high right now. I'm sure I could game it and pay once, download, yay, the cancel then billing, repeat for any updates I want... I just... yuck. I pay less than that for TV stations in a country I don't live in! I do appreciate the suggestion, but I'd still love something competitive in native Mac land. And yes, I will evaluate using work's stance on this :). – Jason Salaz Jan 4 '11 at 0:25
Ausmith1, something to note in the future. I was 100% unaware that you had made changes to this question, and your additions are GREAT! Thank you! Next time you make significant edits (not just typos/punctuation, but whole new chunks of content), add a comment too with the change you made, that way I get actively notified (read: e-mail) and can come back to this question. – Jason Salaz Jan 21 '11 at 21:34
show 1 more comment

I'm using SNMP software from Oidview. I am not sure if they have it for your linux machine but at least you can test it and see if thats what you want.

share|improve this answer
Hi! Could you please explain a bit more what the software does? – myhd Oct 15 '12 at 19:00

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.