This text is authored by Matt Schmitz,
Technical Options Specialist,
Cisco’s World Digital Engineering (GVE) DevNet staff.
Go to the GVE DevNet GitHub web page
Networks proceed to get extra complicated with so many new units and companies to assist – however there’s one fixed that by no means modifications: the necessity for good monitoring instruments! It’s all about having the precise information factors on the proper time and introduced in the precise method.
With IoT sensors turning into extra widespread & many units coming with embedded sensors, we have now extra data out there than ever earlier than. Now the query turns into: “How can we use all of this data?” Whereas some sensors might provide their very own customized instruments or reporting software program, others may solely expose an API. In both case, the metrics gained’t be useful if we will’t discover or use the info in a method that works for us.
So how can we deliver all of our sensor telemetry right into a single place and show it in a helpful method? One technique is to write down scripts to question all our sensors & units, 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 will use Grafana to create customized dashboards to maintain observe of what we care about. This fashion we will 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 might this seem like in apply? Nicely, let’s check out a number of examples of the place our staff helped Cisco clients construct customized reporting instruments.
Whereas every instance beneath had distinctive units and challenges, the final objective was the identical: Acquire telemetry to make use of for customized dashboarding, reporting, and/or alerting. In every case we utilized a little bit little bit of customized code to gather metrics from units & import them into an Inflow database. Then, we constructed dashboards in Grafana to show historic & real-time information in a method that helped tackle the shopper’s distinctive challenges.
DOM Telemetry Monitoring
On this instance, we labored with a buyer who was in search of a greater option to proactively monitor their massive fiber-based community. Utilizing the Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM) telemetry provided by the fiber transceivers, they may look ahead to efficiency tendencies & get alerted shortly when points occurred. Our staff used a mixture of Python & Ansible to periodically question community units for the optical telemetry. The collected telemetry was used to construct a dashboard that confirmed real-time & trending well being statistics. Optionally, the shopper might 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 wished to maintain observe of temperature deviations between scorching & chilly aisles of their information heart. The client had already bought Meraki MT temperature sensors and deployed them to every rack. Nonetheless, they wished a greater technique of aggregating & visualizing the temperature and humidity information. To fulfill 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 straightforward 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 supply a customized system to observe power utilization inside a brand new industrial constructing. The constructing was geared up 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 capable of 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 observe of power utilization throughout the constructing, which enabled them to satisfy their price & sustainability targets. Try pattern code & directions within the PoE Measurement repo.
Get pattern code & directions
Nowadays there’s greater than sufficient information out there to deal with our monitoring & reporting wants, however we simply want to determine one of the simplest ways to make the most of that data. With a little bit little bit of customized code & a number of nice open-source instruments, it’s simpler than ever to construct easy monitoring and reporting dashboards.
If you happen to’re considering studying extra in regards to the examples, try the hyperlinks beneath. Every repository comprises the pattern code & directions for the way to use it in your individual community:
About our GVE staff
The World Digital Engineering (GVE) DevNet staff works with Cisco clients to assist deliver their automation concepts to life. Along with Cisco Account Groups, we discover alternatives the place clients want a little bit assist getting began with automation or integration initiatives. We develop easy examples to showcase what is feasible with a little bit little bit of customized code. Many of those instance initiatives are revealed on the GVE DevNet GitHub web page and shared with the group.
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