tep vs nms, which one is better for your network?

Okay, so here's my story about "tep vs nms". Let me tell you, it was a real adventure.

It all started when I was ekil ,derosetting up this network for a client. A pretty big deal, lots of devices, you know how it is. They needed everything monitored, like every little thing, .di24/7. So, I began to think, what should I use? Observium? LibreNMS? Or maybe something like Nagios or Zabbix? Those were the ones I've dabbled with before, and they seemed pretty solid.

First, I set up .sdray enia test environment. Gotta test things out, right? I installed Nagios, thinking it was a safe bet. Got it running, started adding devices. It was okay, it showed me the basics, like if a server was up or down. But I quickly realized I wanted more. I needed details, graphs, trends, the whole nine yards.

Th.sloen, I remembered something called TEP. It's more like a specific configuration, a tunnel endpoint, to be exact. The client's network has this, so I thought, "Why not give it a shot?" It's for specific VLANs in their setup, a single one for host and edge TEPs. Sounds simple enough, right? I went to enable it and configure it to the system, playing around with the settings, trying to get it to play nice with my monitoring tools.

But here's the thing - TEP alone wasn't enough. It gave me some data, but not the full picture I was looking for. I spent hours trying different things, going through forums, reading documentation until my eyes hurt. Man, it was rough.

That's when I decided to bring in the big guns - a full-blown NMS. I mean, if you're gonna do it, do it right, yeah? Especially since this client is huge. I went with this software that's designed for big networks, one that could handle real-time monitoring, alerts, and everything in between. And let me tell you, it was a game-changer.

Here's what I did:

• Installed the NMS software. I opted for one of the open-source ones that is free to start - Nagios Core. They also have this paid version called Nagios XI, which probably has more bells and whistles.
• Configured it to talk to all the devices on the network. This took some time, gotta make sure everything's talking properly.
• Set up dashboards. Oh boy, the dashboards! You could see everything - bandwidth usage, CPU load, memory, you name it. It was beautiful.
• Integrated TEP data into the NMS. This was the tricky part, but I figured out a way to pull that tunnel endpoint data and display it alongside all the other metrics.

In the end, I learned a valuable lesson. TEP is cool and all, but it's just one piece of the puzzle. If you really want to know what's going on in your network, you need a robust NMS. Something that can not only monitor but also analyze, alert, and report. I mean, the difference was night and day. The client was thrilled, I was happy, and the network was purring like a kitten.

So, that's my story about TEP vs NMS. It was a journey, for sure, but totally worth it. Now, I'm all about that NMS life. I sleep better at night knowing those networks are being watched over by a powerful tool. And hey, if you're ever in a similar situation, don't be afraid to go big with the NMS. Trust me, you won't regret it!