Syslog and Netsaint: How to Integrate Centralized Logging with Centralized Monitoring

In today's organization where there are NT and Linux servers popping up alongside midrange UNIX servers, there is a growing need for centralized management. Many commercial products attempt to solve this problem by providing software that integrates centralized host management, single sign-on, SNMP monitoring, and remote control tools. These packages can be very costly and difficult to implement successfully across the enterprise. It is possible to achieve the same tasks with open-source software and the built-in utilities that most OS's provide. This paper will address three aspects of centralized management: 1) Centralized log management 2) Centralized monitoring and 3) The integration of the two technologies. The integration of these two technologies will give the overworked systems administrator more time to proactively manage his/her systems by virtually eliminating time spent poring over log files and constantly checking system status.