* Dr. Internet columnist Steve Blass recommends an open source network monitoring app * Help Desk columnist Ron Nutter has advice on how to resolve an issue with a user who can’t access a company’s Web site
* Is there a good open source network monitoring application?
By Steve Blass
Q: Can you recommend any open source network-monitoring programs?
A: Try Nagios, an open source network-monitoring application that runs on Linux and other Unix-based systems, and which has a large user base and active online community. Nagios is included with the operating system in several Linux distributions, as well as with OpenBSD, so you may already have a copy.
To read Steve’s response in its entirety, please click here.
* When a user can’t access your Web site
By Ron Nutter
Q: I have been forwarded a complaint from an international user who can’t access my company’s Web site. Even though this is just one user, management wants this dealt with. The complaint in the e-mail, as best I can understand it due to the language difference between the international user and myself, is that they are getting a page cannot be displayed. No one else has reported this problem. How would you suggest resolving this problem?
A: I would ask the user a few questions: What is his IP address when on the Internet, the IP address of the DNS servers he is using and the browser being used for starters. If he isn’t sure of what his address is or is behind a firewall, you can have him go to www.ipaddressworld.com and that will get that for him easily. Once you get the IP address, I would do a quick lookup on www.arin.net. This should tell you what ISP and country the connection is coming from. This is dependent on the ISP properly registering the information with the coordinating registrar for their country. If you aren’t able to find any cause for the problem at your end, you may need to do some checking with the originating ISP to see if they may have an issue at their end.
To read Ron’s response in its entirety, please click here.
