How does the Cacti system monitor network devices and servers?

Cacti is a network graph monitoring tool based on RRDTool that is used to monitor the performance and operational status of network devices and servers. The following are steps for using Cacti to monitor network devices and servers.

1. To install a Cacti server, you first need to install the Cacti software on a server and set up a web server (such as Apache) and a database (such as MySQL).
2. Configuring Data Sources: In Cacti, data sources are used to gather performance data from network devices and servers. Data sources can be accessed through protocols such as SNMP, SSH, or Telnet.
3. Create graphic templates: In Cacti, graphic templates define how monitoring data is displayed. You can create custom graphic templates as needed, or use predefined graphic templates.
4. Creating devices: In Cacti, a device refers to a network device or server that needs to be monitored. You must add the device in Cacti and configure its data sources and graph templates.
5. Setting up data collection: In Cacti, data collection refers to specifying the frequency at which monitoring data is periodically retrieved. You can set the time interval for data collection and the period for storing the data.
6. View monitoring data: Once the devices and data sources have been configured, monitoring data can be viewed in Cacti. Users can view graphs, reports, and logs of various performance indicators.

By following the steps above, you can use Cacti to monitor the performance and operational status of network devices and servers, promptly identifying and resolving issues to ensure the stable operation of the network and servers.