Zenoss
Zenoss is a company that develops hybrid IT monitoring analytics software for visibility in
Zenoss is agentless, and it uses a collector tool to gather system data and relay it to a central server via a portal for analysis. For example, a collector on a monitored server stores and sends data through the web portal to Zenoss for processing and analytics of server operating metrics, which are compared to normal ranges.
The number of collectors in use can range from just a few to several hundred, depending upon the user and their goals.Zenoss products can monitor upward of 8,000 systems, including diverse technology stack components, such as servers, storage, OSes, cloud, converged infrastructure, middleware, hypervisors, networks
ZenPacks are plug-ins that enable users to extend Zenoss' functionality. ZenPacks use standard API protocols, such as Simple Network Management Protocol, Secure Shell and Windows Remote Management (WinRM). With ZenPacks, a user can extend monitoring as Service Dynamics, ZaaS or Core collects configuration information and monitors specific elements, devices, systems
Zenoss Core and Service Dynamics are wholly containerized software, so the software is deployed in a Docker image. ZaaS is a hosted SaaS product, so it is not installed by the user.
Zenoss Core
Zenoss Core is an open source monitoring platform for IT infrastructures. Core monitors the availability of network devices, network services
Some Core users rely on it to test the Zenoss UI and capabilities before paying for Service Dynamics or a ZaaS subscription. With limitations in scalability, Core has a low number of possible collectors. Because Core has fewer features and less flexibility than Service Dynamics and ZaaS, it is less often used for full IT infrastructure monitoring. For example, Core is a suitable choice if a user needs to monitor the connections between network services
Zenoss Service Dynamics and Zenoss as a Service
Zenoss Service Dynamics and ZaaS have the same monitoring
Service Dynamics is Zenoss' on-premises commercial monitoring platform. Service Dynamics monitors most areas of IT infrastructure, including in dynamic environments. Service Dynamics also monitors Microsoft Azure and AWS public cloud services, and it provides analytics and root cause analysis for cloud and virtual and unified communications. ZenPacks create scalability in Service Dynamics to extend and customize monitoring capabilities.
The SaaS offering ZaaS is Zenoss' fastest-growing product. ZaaS offers the same monitoring abilities as Service Dynamics, but the user is not required to download and install updates or upgrades. Zenoss sells ZaaS on a subscription basis, and it does not require hardware to run the monitoring platform, such as an on-premises server or storage space. ZaaS and Service Dynamics share similar uptimes; however, because ZaaS is managed, it takes less effort to implement and maintain than Service Dynamics.
ZenPacks
Four types of ZenPacks are available: commercial, community, open source and subscription. Commercial ZenPacks are supported by ZaaS and Service Dynamics. Community ZenPacks are user-created and open source, and they tend to focus on specific technologies or functionality extensions for Core, Service Dynamics or ZaaS. Open source ZenPacks are Zenoss-created and support traditional IT technologies, such as
Hundreds of ZenPacks are available from Zenoss and the tool's users. Some users rely on Core to create ZenPacks to use in Service Dynamics or ZaaS.
Zenoss competitors
Zenoss competitors include Datadog and ScienceLogic, as well as Nagios and Zabbix.
Datadog is a monitoring software service for IT and DevOps teams that
ScienceLogic provides a cloud-focused monitoring system that also includes IT management capabilities. This software can manage private, public and multi-cloud, as well as networks, storage, hardware
Zabbix and Nagios are infrastructure monitoring tools that cover a similar range of IT components -- from networks and servers to the hypervisor and OS -- as Zenoss. IT organizations should consider agent-based and agentless options, extensibility and other factors in the monitoring tool selection process.
