What is Cacti?
Cacti is a complete network graphing solution designed to harness the power of RRDTool's data storage and graphing functionality. Cacti provides a fast poller, advanced graph templating, multiple data acquisition methods, and user management features out of the box. All of this is wrapped in an intuitive, easy to use interface that makes sense for LAN-sized installations up to complex networks with hundreds of devices.
Some key features of Cacti include:
- Automatic discovery of network devices and servers using protocols like SNMP, ICMP, and WMI.
- Data collection and RRD database storage for creating historical graphs and analyzing trends.
- Customizable graph and data visualization using templates and tree hierarchy for organizing devices.
- Flexible user access control and configuration workflow using user roles and permissions.
- Extendable and adaptable architecture supports custom scripts, data inputs, plugins.
With easy installation on common web servers like Apache and fast setup with template-based configuration, Cacti can quickly start monitoring your entire network and become an invaluable network management tool with little effort. An active community also provides add-ons and support to expand Cacti's capabilities for more advanced use cases.