[smokeping-users] Graph throughput distribution via SNMP

[Gregory Sloop]

DSJ> Dear list,

DSJ> I love Smokeping not only because it puts emphasis on (near)
DSJ> end-to-end performance, but also because it provides cues (and
DSJ> metrics) to its variance: this website has a median response time
DSJ> of 150ms but also a std deviation of 100ms. It is easy to show
DSJ> and compare the effect of caching and load balancing with this insight.

DSJ> But there is a more basic domain of networking where I see
DSJ> engineers oblivious to variability, link throughput. 

DSJ> More often than not, the references are 5min averages. We saw a
DSJ> large company accepted for budget reason to replace its 1Gbps MAN
DSJ> access by 100Mbps MPLS WAN connexions because of the average load
DSJ> was around 60-70 Mbps.  The users reactions were quick to come!

DSJ> That's why I was wondering if a Smokeping SNMP probe was (or
DSJ> could) be diverted to make several measures of throughput during
DSJ> one step. For example, 10 measures - 15s each apart - fit largely in the std step of 300s.

DSJ> In Smokeping source code, I see the use of SNMP-session module,
DSJ> but I am no Perl Expert. And I didn't find reference to something
DSJ> as I imagined in the doc or mail list archives. 

DSJ> Feasible? Already done? 

DSJ> As a recent user of Smokeping, I look forward your feedback. 

I happened to re-read this, as I just glanced at it the first time. [And I see I misunderstood your intent and question. !oops!]

I see you're wanting to query an SNMP OID to see what the level of throughput is at a specific moment in time. [Rather than attempting to determine actual connection capacity in real throughput.]

Is there a reason you're not using [or wanting to use] MRTG to do so?
One complication is that if you're using SMTP naked across the internet, that's probably a substantial security issue. You'll want to make sure your SNMP traffic is handled via SSH/VPN/Tunnel etc.

But, no, I'm not aware of any ability of smokeping to handle SNMP queries like what you're asking for, and I can't imagine anyone writing one when MRTG already does this, and it's even written by Tobi, and IIRC was around long before smokeping.

Nagios may be able to query SNMP, but it won't keep long-term stats like MRTG or Smokeping do.


-Greg
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