What is the main function of Cacti in Linux?
Cacti is an open-source network visualization analysis tool used primarily to monitor and graphically display performance data of network devices. Its main features include:
- Data collection: Cacti supports various methods for collecting data, such as SNMP, WMI, SSH, and can regularly retrieve performance data from network devices, such as bandwidth usage, CPU utilization, memory usage, etc.
- Cacti utilizes RRDtool (Round-Robin Database) as a tool for data storage and graphic rendering to create various types of charts, such as line charts, pie charts, and area charts. This allows for a visual representation of the performance trends of devices based on the collected data.
- Alerts and notifications: Cacti supports setting thresholds, so when a device’s performance data reaches or exceeds the set threshold, it can trigger alert notifications, such as sending emails, text messages, etc., to remind administrators to address the issue promptly.
- Data retrieval and analysis: Cacti offers flexible data retrieval and analysis capabilities, allowing historical data to be queried based on conditions such as time range and device type. Additionally, data comparison, statistics, and analysis can be performed to better understand the performance status of devices.
- Multi-user management: Cacti supports managing multiple users, allowing for setting different permissions and roles for each user to ensure secure management and access control of the monitoring system.
In conclusion, Cacti is a powerful network monitoring tool that can assist administrators in real-time performance monitoring of network devices, providing intuitive graphical displays and alert notifications for timely issue detection and resolution.