This text is authored by Matt Schmitz,
Technical Options Specialist,
Cisco’s International Digital Engineering (GVE) DevNet group.
Go to the GVE DevNet GitHub web page
Networks proceed to get extra advanced with so many new gadgets and companies to help – however there’s one fixed that by no means adjustments: the necessity for good monitoring instruments! It’s all about having the proper information factors on the proper time and offered in the proper manner.
With IoT sensors turning into extra frequent & many gadgets coming with embedded sensors, we have now extra data accessible than ever earlier than. Now the query turns into: “How will we use all of this data?” Whereas some sensors could provide their very own customized instruments or reporting software program, others may solely expose an API. In both case, the metrics received’t be useful if we are able to’t discover or use the info in a manner that works for us.
So how will we convey all of our sensor telemetry right into a single place and show it in a helpful manner? One methodology is to write down scripts to question all our sensors & gadgets, then push these information factors right into a time-series database, like InfluxDB. As soon as we have now all that information collected in a single place, we are able to use Grafana to create customized dashboards to maintain monitor of what we care about. This fashion we are able to pull all of our telemetry into one single reporting software, then construct customized graphs & dashboards to show the info precisely how we’d like it.
What may this seem like in observe? Nicely, let’s check out a couple of examples of the place our group helped Cisco prospects construct customized reporting instruments.
Whereas every instance under had distinctive gadgets and challenges, the overall objective was the identical: Acquire telemetry to make use of for customized dashboarding, reporting, and/or alerting. In every case we utilized a bit of little bit of customized code to gather metrics from gadgets & import them into an Inflow database. Then, we constructed dashboards in Grafana to show historic & real-time information in a manner that helped tackle the shopper’s distinctive challenges.
DOM Telemetry Monitoring
On this instance, we labored with a buyer who was on the lookout for a greater option to proactively monitor their giant fiber-based community. Utilizing the Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM) telemetry provided by the fiber transceivers, they might look ahead to efficiency traits & get alerted shortly when points occurred. Our group used a mix of Python & Ansible to periodically question community gadgets for the optical telemetry. The collected telemetry was used to construct a dashboard that confirmed real-time & trending well being statistics. Optionally, the shopper may allow Webex push notifications when transceivers exceeded predefined thresholds. This enabled the shopper to shortly reply to degrading connection well being & tackle points earlier than service-impacting outages occurred. Try pattern code & directions within the DOM Telemetry repo.
Meraki MT Dashboard
On this instance, we had a buyer who needed to maintain monitor of temperature deviations between scorching & chilly aisles of their information middle. The client had already bought Meraki MT temperature sensors and deployed them to every rack. Nonetheless, they needed a greater methodology of aggregating & visualizing the temperature and humidity information. To satisfy the shopper’s wants, we constructed a customized flask dashboard that displayed every row of racks & the present temperatures on every sensor. This helped create a simple visualization for buyer engineers to find temperature deviations in every row. This dashboard included mixture graphs to show historic & trending information for every scorching or chilly aisle. Try pattern code & directions within the Meraki MT repo.
PoE Measurement
For our last instance, we wanted to offer a customized system to watch power utilization inside a brand new industrial constructing. The constructing was outfitted with good lighting powered by Cisco’s Catalyst Digital Constructing (CDB) Switches. Since the entire lights within the constructing can be powered by Energy over Ethernet (PoE), we have been in a position to question the CDB switches to gather energy consumption on a per-port foundation. Offering this telemetry in a dashboard format allowed the shopper to maintain monitor of power utilization inside the constructing, which enabled them to satisfy their value & sustainability objectives. Try pattern code & directions within the PoE Measurement repo.
Get pattern code & directions
Nowadays there may be greater than sufficient information accessible to deal with our monitoring & reporting wants, however we simply want to determine one of the best ways to make the most of that data. With a bit of little bit of customized code & a couple of nice open-source instruments, it’s simpler than ever to construct easy monitoring and reporting dashboards.
For those who’re considering studying extra in regards to the examples, take a look at the hyperlinks under. Every repository accommodates the pattern code & directions for use it in your individual community:
About our GVE group
The International Digital Engineering (GVE) DevNet group works with Cisco prospects to assist convey their automation concepts to life. Along with Cisco Account Groups, we discover alternatives the place prospects want a bit of assist getting began with automation or integration tasks. We develop easy examples to showcase what is feasible with a bit of little bit of customized code. Many of those instance tasks are revealed on the GVE DevNet GitHub web page and shared with the neighborhood.
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