Server Monitoring: Agent-based vs. Agentless

A comparison of Site24x7's agent-based monitoring and agentless monitoring approaches.

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Overview

Is it better to install an agent on every server to monitor its performance, or should you go for an agentless monitoring approach? Agentless versus agent-based monitoring—therein lies the dilemma. To help you decide the best method to handle your infrastructure problems, we've listed the metrics you receive with the agent-based and agentless monitoring approaches. With this information, you can select the best approach to fit your environment. But before going over the specifications, let's first look at when you should select agent-based server monitoring and when to go for agentless server monitoring.

When to use agent-based monitoring


When to use agentless monitoring

If you do not want any third-party programs installed on your servers, it is advisable to go for an agentless approach. Additionally, an agentless server also allows for you to monitor any OS flavor, as well as custom servers that don't allow for the installation of server agents. If any of these limitations are relevant to your network environment, then using an agentless monitor is the way to go.

Agent-based vs. Agentless monitoring

Attribute Site24x7 Agent-based Monitoring Site24x7 Agentless Monitoring
Methodology Install Site24x7's server monitoring agent on every server. Install Site24x7's On-Premise Poller on the server's network.
How it works The agent collects data by executing commands and scripts directly in each server's operating system. The On-Premise Poller connects to servers and collects data using SNMP or WMI.
Note: Every server must enable SNMP or WMI protocol to communicate with the On-Premise Poller.
Installation methods 1. Install a Site24x7 server agent individually on every server.
2. Bulk installation methods for Windows and Linux are available.
Install the On-Premise Poller on your server network and add an individual server IP address/hostname or by specifying the IP range.
Connectivity to the internet Access to the internet is not mandatory for all servers. Agents in the intranet servers can send the data to Site24x7 through a proxy server connected to the internet. Outbound access to the internet for the On-Premise Poller is sufficient to collect server metrics.
Data transfer to Site24x7 A one-way HTTPS connection that sends data to Site24x7 using the secure SSL protocol. The On-Premise Poller uses an HTTPS connection to send data to Site24x7.
Credentials Does not require credentials. Requires SNMP or WMI credentials.
Supported versions: SNMPv1/v2 and SNMP v3.
Dedicated server Does not require a dedicated server for Site24x7. Requires one dedicated server machine for running the On-Premise Poller. We support a maximum of 500 servers per Poller.
Log management For log management, use the AppLogs agent to access the logs in the local server. Cannot access the application logs without an agent.
Status checks and real-time alerting Performs one-minute status checks to provide near real-time notifications. Performs one-minute status checks and has a poll frequency of five minutes to collect the performance metrics.
Supported OS types Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD. Any server that supports SNMP or WMI protocol can add the agentless server.
Metrics
CPU metrics
CPU utilization greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
CPU utilization by core greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Idle time, wait time, hardware, and software interrupts time greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Memory metrics
Memory utilization greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Swap memory utilization greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Memory pages (in/out/faults) greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Disk metrics
Disk utilization greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Individual disk utilization greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Disk I/O speed greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Disk idle and busy percentage greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Process monitoring
Process CPU usage greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Process memory usage (percentage) greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Process memory usage (bytes) greyclose circled greycheckmark circled
Process instance count greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Process thread and handle count greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Services monitoring
CPU usage (percentage) greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Memory usage (percentage) greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Instance count greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Thread count and handle count greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Response time greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Performance counters
Custom performance metrics Yes. Through custom plugins that collect data through Shell scripts. Yes. Supports custom SNMP counters (tabular and scalar).
Interfaces
I/O traffic greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Packets received and transmitted greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Errors count greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Errors percentage greyclose circled greycheckmark circled
Discard count greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Discard percentage greyclose circled greycheckmark circled
Admin/Operational state  greyclose circled greycheckmark circled
Plugins
Integrates with plugins greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Resource checks
File, directory, syslog, and event log checks greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Microsoft Applications
IIS, SQL, Exchange, BizTalk, SharePoint, Office 365, Active Directory, Failover Cluster, Hyper-V, and Windows Backup greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
IT automation
Incident remediation through the configuration of scripts that get executed automatically on downtime. greycheckmark circled greyclose circled
Alerting and reporting
SMS, email and voice call greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Performance reports greycheckmark circled greycheckmark circled
Pricing
Licensing model Each server monitoring agent is considered as two basic monitors. Each server monitor is considered two basic monitors.

This Comparison was updated on 09 August, 2022. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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