May 3, 2024

Windows Monitoring On A Budget

Posted January 20, 2010 at 5:29am by iClarified · 3013 views
Independent developer Steve Jarman has released Weave 1.1, an iPhone-centric monitoring and alerting solution for Windows-based hosts. This agent-based system allows server administrators and engineers to receive notifications of potential problems within their IT infrastructure, as well as providing the ability to perform numerous management tasks remotely via their iPhone or iPod Touch device, from any location, all via a standard internet connection.

The ability to monitor IT infrastructure has become increasingly important as organisations have become more reliant on their technology. Some organisations do not see the value in, or simply cannot afford, large-scale monitoring solutions and leave themselves somewhat at risk. Weave is one solution to this problem, offering an easily configured, inexpensive solution to monitoring and diagnosing Windows-based systems within small to medium organisations.

A Weave implementation involves the installation of a small Windows service (called the Weave System Agent) on each system that is being monitored. The agent submits information regarding the system's performance to a central database via a standard internet connection, as well as periodically checking for requests being made by engineers via their devices. Additionally, performance data is compared against configured thresholds to determine whether or not a performance alert should be raised. System outages can be detected via a peer-availability system in which each monitored host periodically checks the response of its fellow systems.

The Weave System Agent utilizes WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) and therefore does not require the additional configuration of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) systems.

The Weave iPhone app serves as a viewer for the information submitted by the agent, and as such, requires only a standard internet connection for full functionality. Users are not required to connect to their organisation's network via any form of VPN (Virtual Private Network). Users can also perform tasks such as process terminations, service restarts, and even system restarts via their device from any remote location. Alerts are delivered to users via the push notification service and email.

Teams of engineers can view the same organisational data using individually purchased copies of the Weave app on their devices. The Weave agent can be freely downloaded and installed on any number of Windows systems. Weave has been designed from conception to be a serious solution in the Windows monitoring space, providing genuine value to its users, and genuine benefit to their organization.

Pricing and Availability:
Weave 1.1 is $9.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Business category.


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