collectd

collectd is a handy little tool that acts like a daemon, gathering system performance stats regularly. It also gives you options to store these values in different formats, like RRD-files. Pretty cool, right?

Why Use collectd?

This software collects all sorts of info about the system it’s running on and keeps track of it. This data can be super useful for predicting future system loads—think capacity planning. Plus, it helps identify current performance issues so you can address them quickly.

Perfect for Visualization

If you're just looking to get some nice-looking graphs from your private server and are tired of DIY solutions, you’ve come to the right spot! collectd has got your back.

What collectd Can’t Do

Now, while collectd can do plenty for your admin needs, there are a few things it doesn’t handle:

• No Graph Generation: It can write to RRD-files but won’t create graphs from them. There's a tiny sample script included in contrib/ if you're curious, or check out drraw for a more general graphing solution.


• No Monitoring: While it collects and stores data, it doesn’t interpret or act on it. But don’t worry; there's a plugin for Nagios that lets you utilize the data collected by collectd!

The Stats It Covers

Here’s a quick list of what collectd can monitor:

• Apache


• Batteries


• CPU & CPUFreq


• Disk Usage (df)


• Email Notifications (manpage)


• Error Logs (SysLog)


• Memory Usage


• Pinging Network Devices (Ping)


• Sensors (like temperature)


• User Activity (Users)


• X Multimedia System (XMMS)