The Power of Syslog

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If you have not yet started to utilize the power of syslog monitoring for your network, I hope this article and the information provided in the free eBook,”The Ultimate Syslog Monitor” available by signing up on eNetworkadmin.net, motivate you to start immediately.

Monitoring your network infrastructure using syslog is powerful for many reasons, but here are a few of the main reasons.

• Unstructured Data – Syslog give you the ability to monitor unpredictable data.
• Centralized location and Hardware – Syslog servers usually reside on one or a very few locations with a very few servers.
• Minimal Configuration – A syslog server needs a basic set that allows it to receive messages and then it does very little except listen to and store those messages.
• Simple yet Extensible Rule and Alert Logic – You need to have only the most basic understanding of what you are monitoring to create effective monitoring rules and alerts.

Let’s look at each one of these reasons in a little detail.

Unstructured Data

Network monitoring often involves asking for a specific type of data and receiving the exact type of data you asked for. If you do not know what to ask for you cannot use most tools. If you do not receive the exact data you asked for, your resulting data will be meaningless. In most cases, network monitoring takes the form of SNMP, Netflow, Layer 2 Span data, or application transaction data. Each of these types of monitoring require extensive commitment and often expense.

However, if you have the ability to make sense out of unstructured data, you can simply listen to everything and try to make sense out of it. This may sound difficult but is easier than you think. If you were in a noisy room with many people taking at once, you may not understand everything being said. But you probably would be able to hear things that matter to you, like if someone called out your name. Syslog monitors can do the same thing. They do not need to know what is being said. They just need to know what matter to you. For example if you are running the OSPF routing protocol in your network, you care about OSPF. Simply make “OSPF” a monitoring rule and alert trigger. As you progress, in your syslog monitor implementation, you can refine your rule set. You can also sign up on the enetworkadmin.net site to receive the eBook, “The Ultimate Syslog Monitor”,  with a proven rule set that works very well for Cisco networks.

Centralized Location and Hardware

Another challenge with monitoring solutions is the proliferations of hardware and software required to run them. You may need the following: collectors, managers, and data storage / processors among other components. Each component comes with it’s own skills, complexity, licensing cost and maintenance requirements. Vendors also likely recommend for redundancy for each component. As you can see, complexity and expense begin to increase rapidly.

With syslog monitoring, you need only one inexpensive Linux server. This sever can often handle an entire fortune 100 companies log messages. You also need only a tiny lightweight syslog monitor described in more detail in the “The Ultimate Syslog Monitor” article available on this site, Enetworkadmin.net with a detailed implementation eBook available free if you subscribe.

Minimal Configuration:

By now I think you are starting to understand the significant complexity and expense that come with most network monitoring solutions. To further increase the complexity of many solutions, each component requires vendor specific configuration that often require the help of their own professional services team. And you guessed it, this is not free. In addition, your team needs to know how to operate all of this nonsense once everything is installed. So now it’s training time.

With syslog monitoring, you only need to understand how to create a rule set that is nearly plain English and is a simple text file. It takes only a few minutes to learn. To obtain a copy of an effective rule set and comprehensive instructions on running your own syslog monitor, sign up for a free eBook on this site, eNetworkadmin.net.

Simple yet Extensible Rule and Alert Logic

In the previous sections we discussed the power of unstructured data as well as the simplicity of syslog rule sets. An earlier example illustrated the simple nature of syslog rule sets, based on key words. If you would like to be alerted when an admin makes a configuration change. Use the keyword config.

However, as you explore further you realize the syslog monitor described in “The Ultimate Syslog Monitor” eBook, available by signing up at eNetworkadmin.net, you will realize that that rules can be much more complex. You can create rules to trigger if two actions occur. You can create rules that apply in only certain context or conditions, you can create rules that alert once and then suppress all following triggers for a period of time etc, etc, etc….

The eBook attempts to get your installation up and running very quickly but also points you to more information that will enable you to expand the complexity of your rule set if desired.

Summary – What are you waiting for. SIGN UP! and receive your free eBook “The Ultimate Syslog Monitor”

Syslog monitoring is an incredibly lightweight and powerful way to monitor you network as well as augment your other network administrations tools. I urge you to read sign up on eNetworkadmin.net to receive your free guide. The guide “The Ultimate Syslog Monitor” provides you with everything you need to start monitoring your networks syslog messages immediately for free.

Ya’ll Come Back Now

Thanks for taking the time to read this article. We would love to hear from you at info@enetworkadmin.net and would love to have you visit us more at www.enetworkadmin.net.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS on how to utilize Ciscocmd and Syslog to monitor you entire network at a glance and keep your finger on the pulse of your global communications infrastructure.

SUBSCRIBE HERE for to receive useful updates and tips for Network Administration and Automation.