I have my own code for deciding which interfaces to monitor with mrtg. I keep the information about devices and interfaces in a mysql database and build my mrtg configs and rrd files from the mysql database. Besides traffic, I also monitor errors, discards, ucast, and nucast counters for devices/interfaces that have them. <br>
<br>I've been making decisions on what to monitor based on the type of network device ( cisco switch, IOS, CATos, Juniper swicth, Juniper router, Luminious device, DWDM.........) and the description of the interface (ge, T1, vlan, unrouted vlan...yada yada...). I have to take into account which version of the OS is running on some network devices because some versions have certain counters and some don't. <br>
<br>As with most projects that grow organically....over time, as we've added new devices, the decision code getting rather unmanageable.<br><br>-Time for a new approach -<br><br>I'm going to move to a new scheme where I snmp query every interface (ifindex) on the network device to see if it has 32 or 64 traffic counters, if it has errors, discards, ucast, nucast. That way I can do away with worrying about the type of device and which version of the os it's running. If an snmp query says it has the counter, monitor it. If not, then don't. Sounds simple enough. (.... maybe to simple?....)<br>
<br>Does anyone see any problems with this approach? Is it going to come back and bite me down the road (like my current approach has)?<br><br>p.s. I have code that runs every night to compare the mysql data
against the actual network devices to let me know if anything has changed. Our
router jockeys like to work in the middle of the night and change stuff
and not tell me. <br><br>Any advice or experience appreciated.<br><br>Regards,<br>Gene<br><br><br>-- <br>Gene Titus<br>Sr Operating System Specialist<br>The Office of Telecommunication Services<br>The University of Texas at Austin<br>