Name: Cacti
Rating: 8 (1 reviews)
Author: The Cacti Group

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### Network Monitoring
Users generally appreciate Cacti's robust network monitoring capabilities. The tool is commended for its ease of configuration and the ability to provide a comprehensive network overview on a single page. Users find it beneficial for monitoring network graphs, supporting various devices, and enabling the creation of custom templates based on device MiBs. Additionally, the tool's email notification feature is praised for its effectiveness in alerting users about network issues and link downtimes. The Map plugin is highlighted for its powerful visualization of network devices and real-time traffic flow.

### Device Management
Users generally praise Cacti's device monitoring capabilities. The tool is commended for its ability to connect to various network devices, including switches, firewalls, routers, and devices supporting SNMP and syslog. While some users find the user interface slightly challenging, especially when managing a large number of devices or reviewing past events, the overall consensus is positive. Users appreciate the ease of monitoring graphs, the support for diverse devices, and the option to create custom templates based on device MiBs. Additionally, features like email notifications for alerts and the powerful map plugin for visualizing real-time traffic contribute to the tool's effectiveness in device management.

### Traffic Analysis
Users consistently highlight Cacti's traffic analysis as a key strength, emphasizing its ability to provide real-time insights into network performance and bandwidth utilization. The platform's customizable graphs, low maintenance requirements, and support for various devices are frequently commended. Additionally, the email notification feature and the powerful map visualization plugin are lauded for enhancing network monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities. Users particularly appreciate how Cacti's traffic analysis empowers them to make informed decisions regarding network upgrades and optimizations.

### Open Source Solutions
While users appreciate Cacti's open-source nature for its adaptability and ease of use across various Linux distributions, there are concerns about the longevity of scripts and plugins. The consensus leans towards the view that leveraging open source solutions with Cacti requires a certain level of technical proficiency and occasional script customization. Despite this, the general sentiment remains positive towards the flexibility and cost-effectiveness that open source solutions bring to Cacti's monitoring capabilities.

### Installation and Configuration
Users widely appreciate Cacti for its straightforward installation and configuration process. The general consensus among reviewers is that Cacti's installation is user-friendly and can be easily set up on various Linux-based systems without much hassle. While some users find the need to download multiple applications for maximum benefits a drawback, others appreciate the flexibility it offers for monitoring devices and hosts. However, a common concern highlighted by users is the requirement for a fast internet connection during installation, emphasizing the importance of a robust network setup for a smooth deployment experience.

### Customization and Templates
Users appreciate Cacti's customization capabilities, particularly in creating custom MiBs for monitoring various devices, such as Huawei products. The ability to build custom templates tailored to specific manufacturer devices is highlighted as a significant advantage. Additionally, the ease of monitoring graphs, low server performance impact, and efficient email notification system for alerts and customer communication are well-received features. The Map plugin is also commended for its powerful visualization of network traffic. Users find Cacti to be a versatile tool for creating personalized monitoring solutions.

Cacti is positioned as a robust and extensible operational monitoring and fault management framework that offers a complete network graphing solution. According to the vendor, it is suitable for network administrators, system administrators, IT operations managers, data center managers, and telecommunications companies. Cacti is designed to cater to LAN-sized installations up to complex networks with tens of thousands of devices, making it potentially applicable to businesses of various sizes.

## Key Features

**Device Templates**: Cacti supports SNMP, ICMP, TCP, and UDP availability checking and includes built-in support for meta attributes such as Site, Location, and External ID for asset tracking. It provides automation and discovery features for automatic graph and data source creation control. Additionally, Cacti supports extensible attributes through various plugins.

**Graph Templates**: Cacti offers a range of graph items, including LINE[x], AREA, STACK, HRULE, VRULE, GPRINT, and COMMENT. Graph item data sources can be modified using RRDtool CDEF's or VDEF's. Graphs and graph templates include both left and right axis support, and consolidation functions like AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, and LAST are available for graph items.

**Data Sources**: Cacti defines RRDtools Round Robin Database File structure and allows each data source to contain multiple RRDfile data sources. Data collection frequencies are independent and controlled by a data source profile. RRDfile size and retention settings can be managed through data source profiles.

**Data Collection / Polling**: Data collection in Cacti can be done via SNMP OIDs or scripts. It also supports distributed data collection across multiple sites using remote data collectors for enhanced resiliency. Built-in SNMP support is available, and data collection can be extended to other protocols through plugins.

**Templating and Packaging**: Cacti includes multiple template types such as device, graph, data source, aggregate, and color. Device templates allow consolidation of supportable graph templates and data queries. Graph templates facilitate the reproduction of graphs for various devices, while data source templates simplify the storage of desired Round Robin Database file structures.

**Discovery and Automation**: Cacti provides automation scheduling of network scans to discover SNMP-enabled devices and add them automatically. Users can selectively add graphs based on predefined rules and create custom graph trees and branches. The framework is extensible with plugins like THold for fault management alerts.

**Graph Viewing Options**: Cacti allows users to group graphs into custom graph trees or site-level trees. The graph list view enables users to construct a list of graphs to view in a single pane and bookmark that graph page. The graph preview mode displays all graphs on a single page, facilitating search using regular expressions. Users can save their own graph settings for personalized viewing preferences.

**Plugins**: Cacti supports almost two dozen plugins for various operational aspects within an operations management organization. These plugins cover functionalities like fault management, log management, device tracking, router configuration backup, network mapping, NetFlow data collection, and display.

**Users and User Groups**: Cacti enables user-based management, allowing administrators to create users and assign different levels of permissions. Permissions can be specified per-graph for each user, making it suitable for co-location situations. Each user can also maintain their own graph settings.

**Theming and Internationalization**: Cacti provides six built-in themes, including the 'Classic' Cacti theme, which can be customized to create a personalized user interface. Theming is fully open, allowing users to create their own themes using jQueryUI. Cacti also offers partial translation into several languages, with the opportunity for users to contribute to further language support.

- Easy Setup and Use: Many users have found Cacti to be easy to set up and use, with a straightforward setup process mentioned by several reviewers. 

- Versatility in Monitoring: Several users have praised the versatility of Cacti in monitoring various devices. The ability to graph any information using MIB or SNMP OID has been highlighted as a valuable feature, making it a flexible monitoring tool.

- Extensive Community Support: The extensive community support for Cacti has been highly regarded by many reviewers. With its active development since 2004, users appreciate the helpfulness of the community on tech forums in providing assistance and guidance.

Tricky User Interface: Some users have found the user interface of Cacti to be challenging, particularly when managing a large number of devices and trying to focus on past events. 

Inefficient Search Criteria: Users have reported that the search criteria in Cacti is not efficient and can be difficult to use.

Complex Installation Process: The installation process of Cacti can be complex, requiring good technical knowledge of Linux OS. This may make it less beginner-friendly for some users.

Cacti has proven to be a valuable tool for medium-sized companies looking for solid monitoring software. With its Network Traffic Monitoring feature, users are able to effortlessly keep track of their bandwidth usage and troubleshoot issues as they arise. The software's compatibility with switches, firewalls, routers, and devices that support SNMP and syslog makes it versatile and capable of handling various networking issues within the system. Users have praised Cacti for its ability to monitor mixed devices from different manufacturers, such as Huawei products, by building custom templates and importing them into the system. Additionally, Cacti's real-time monitoring feature allows users to have a firm grip on network availability, making it easier to manage bandwidth and ensure network stability. The granular permissions feature in Cacti enables users to set specific access levels, providing read-only access to specific graphs for customers if desired. With its user-friendly interface and clear visual representation of trends, Cacti stands out from more complex monitoring solutions by providing clear and detailed monitoring of services, applications, and devices. Overall, Cacti offers a powerful solution for network monitoring with customizable charting options and efficient management tools.

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Cacti

Diagramming Software support the creation of flowcharts, maps, and diagrams for org charts, seating arrangement for events or office planning, network diagrams, or conceptual diagrams (e.g. Venn diagrams, cause-and-effect, testable models, mind maps etc). 

Some diagramming software includes collaboration tools to share or allow groups to edit work, more advanced or complete templates, and extensive libraries of objects and support for custom object creation. Some are industry and purpose-built (e.g. wireframing) and contain quite advanced or specific objects particular to their 

Diagramming and flow chart software are relatively low cost and some (limited) options are free, or they might be ancillary software supporting some larger creative or productivity suite. While very simple charting software is available free online other more advanced packages may present an annual cost of up to $8 per user monthly with annual billing, more or less depending on feature breadth.

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Features that enhance visual data and diagrams.

Flowchart Creation

Allows users to create flowcharts to represent processes, workflows, and decision trees visually.

Drag-and-Drop Functionality

Enables users to easily drag elements like shapes, text boxes, and connectors onto the canvas to build diagrams.

Templates Library

Provides a collection of pre-designed templates for various types of diagrams, saving time and effort in creating new diagrams from scratch.

Diagram Collaboration Tools

Supports real-time collaboration among multiple users, allowing them to work on the same diagram simultaneously and see changes instantly.

Custom Styling

Offers options to customize the appearance of elements in the diagram, such as colors, fonts, line styles, and background, to enhance visual aesthetics.

Diagram Export and Sharing Options

Allows users to export diagrams in different formats (e.g., PDF, PNG, JPEG) and share them with others via email, cloud storage, or social media platforms.

Auto-layout Feature

Automatically arranges and aligns diagram elements to create a neat and organized layout, saving users time in manual positioning.

Revision History

Keeps track of changes made to the diagram over time, allowing users to revert to previous versions or review the evolution of the diagram.

Cross-Platform Access

Provides compatibility with various devices and operating systems, allowing users to access and edit diagrams on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

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What is Cacti?