Windows Server Technology Team Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Open-source, easy to install, and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a flexible solution."
  • "Outside of the normal standard monitoring, I would like to extend patching, importing patching, and supporting patching for Windows Servers."

What is our primary use case?

We are currently doing a POC. For now, it is our testing tool.

We use it mostly as a monitoring infrastructure for services and applications, and it also monitors the capacity.

What is most valuable?

As we are still in the test phase, we have not yet explored all of the features offered in this product.

It's a flexible solution.

What needs improvement?

My main intention is to support or use Zabbix to report patching for servers, or to somehow maintain the patching from Zabbix.

Outside of the normal standard monitoring, I would like to extend patching, importing patching, and supporting patching for Windows Servers.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zabbix for one year.

We are using the newest version.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Zabbix is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not yet tested the scalability of this solution. We tested it on a small group of devices, so it is difficult to say at this time.

We intentions to install more features on the device. During the testing, we don't have all of the resources to manage all installations.

We have approximately 40 users in our organization who are using Zabbix.

How are customer service and support?

We have contacted technical support from Zabbix, and have spoken with partners from Poland. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have more experience with the WhatsUp Gold Monitoring tool. I still have WhatsUp Gold but we are going to replace it.

We are testing other tools that are free.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. It was easy.

With the help of suppliers, it did not take much time to deploy. It was not complex.

What about the implementation team?

As we were using it for testing, we were using suppliers.

We will need a team of experts for this solution as well as some external support.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is no license but we need to pay for support.

Zabbix is an open-source solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it.

With my current experience, I would rate Zabbix an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
BalaVighnesh - PeerSpot reviewer
SRE at Zscaler
Real User
Top 20
Great user interface and network devices that are easy to configure
Pros and Cons
  • "The features I found most valuable are the user interface and a wide range of network devices that are easy to configure."
  • "I would like for this solution to be more cloud-friendly."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is server and network monitoring.

What is most valuable?

The features I found most valuable are the user interface and a wide range of network devices that are easy to configure.

What needs improvement?

I would like for this solution to be more cloud-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability of this solution a nine, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we used Splunk and we switched because the solution's pricing was too high.

How was the initial setup?

I would rate the initial setup process a seven, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best. Our model of deployment is on-premises.

What other advice do I have?

This solution was used by 200 people in our company.

I would rate this solution an eight, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Zabbix
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Zabbix. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Patrice Delavictoire - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Partner at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 10
We can fix issues with our network before they become serious problems
Pros and Cons
  • "I'm supervising all the IT departments, and Zabbix seems quite good for them. It provides graphics and information in real time. We get alerts about crashes on the system, enabling us to quickly repair issues. We can easily find devices with problems."
  • "Zabbix is powerful, but it is difficult to understand initially. There are many things that can be improved, but we might not be using Zabbix to its fullest extent. The software has more features than we need."

What is our primary use case?

We use Zabbix to monitor the configuration and usage of devices on the network, including switches and printers. 

How has it helped my organization?

Zabbix alerts us about problems on the system, including damage to the hardware or network connectivity issues.

What is most valuable?

I'm supervising all the IT departments, and Zabbix seems quite good for them. It provides graphics and information in real time. We get alerts about crashes on the system, enabling us to quickly repair issues. We can easily find devices with problems.

What needs improvement?

Zabbix is powerful, but it is difficult to understand initially. There are many things that can be improved, but we might not be using Zabbix to its fullest extent. The software has more features than we need.

For example, Zabbix can be used for a company monitoring solutions by many vendors. We have only one site and one company, so we can't improve all the possibilities of the software.

Zabbix could add some more cybersecurity features. It isn't the same thing because network monitoring isn't the same as security. Still, it could include something like a VPN or firewall with the solution. It's a free software tool traditionally used for monitoring. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zabbix for around one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Zabbix is highly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate six out of 10 for scalability.

How are customer service and support?

We don't use technical support. We rely on the documentation. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Centreon, another open-source solution, about four years ago. I wasn't used to this kind of software, but now I can understand them a little bit better.

How was the initial setup?

I rate Zabbix five out of 10 for ease of setup. It takes about two weeks to deploy. We have many people working from home, which creates some difficulties. Sometimes, people left materials at home when they work at the office, and we didn't have the time to install all the components. That's why it took time.

What was our ROI?

We saved time one equipment intervention, preventing service outages. We had the information about network blackouts before they happened, so we could save our company by changing equipment before we experienced downtime. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Zabbix is an open-source solution, and there aren't any additional costs.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Zabbix eight out of 10. It's a good solution for everyone's needs. Maybe same users that we have, few users for the moment because we don't have a very big important network. I think that Centreon is better, but maybe easier than the subjects to use. This is maybe the best solution for small entities.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Software Specialist at NTT Thailand
Real User
Useful monitoring, beneficial dashboards, but performance could improve
Pros and Cons
  • "The overall functionality of Zabbix is very good. The monitoring of bank applications that Zabbix provides is great. The information is displayed on a dashboard that is easily viewed."
  • "There are some features of Zabbix that are not good for reporting. The DX Spectrum solution has better reporting."

What is our primary use case?

We develop applications in Python and we use Zabbix for the monitoring of the network for people connecting to the bank.

We have many proxy servers using this solution.

What is most valuable?

The overall functionality of Zabbix is very good. The monitoring of bank applications that Zabbix provides is great. The information is displayed on a dashboard that is easily viewed.

The customization of Zabbix is easier than with other solutions, such as DX Spectrum. We need to send requirements to the vendor for DX Spectrum to do the customization for us. In Zabbix, we can create a template by ourselves, and we do not need to send any information to the vendor This is a large advantage of using this solution.

What needs improvement?

There are some features of Zabbix that are not good for reporting. The DX Spectrum solution has better reporting.

In a future release, they should add a NetFlow feature, and improve the dashboard templates.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Zabbix for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We use a SQL database on the server and sometimes the performance of Zabbix is not the best. We have upgraded our servers to Oracle and the performance is okay. When we were using DX Spectrum we did not have any stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have an application for mobile banking and we have ten million accounts running, we are large in Thailand.

We have approximately 75 people using the solution at one time.

How are customer service and support?

My team has contacted support from Zabbix but they have very expensive. However, our management is still considering using the support.

The support from DX Spectrum we have not been happy with here in Thailand. They only have sales teams and not someone who can provide useful technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have used DX Spectrum previously and it was stable in operation in WAN and LAN networks.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Zabbix was complex and took us approximately one year to fully complete.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation ourselves for the production and distribution.

We have five people who do the maintenance and support of Zabbix.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Zabbix is a free solution but the support contact costs money.

The license for DX Spectrum is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Zabbix a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Tchidat Linda - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer of Telecommunication at Gold Telecom
Real User
Top 5
Improved design, easy to learn, and open-sourced
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution's design has recently changed and it is visually pleasing with more color, for example, there is blue, black, and white."
  • "When using this solution in enterprise monitoring, you are able to see that there are some issues with equipment that could be causing a problem. Sometimes you want to make a root command that you do not want to be executed automatically. What we have tried to do is open an SSH session directly from the solution's interface but it is not possible."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution for network monitoring. When I was in engineering school I used this solution and I found it really good. I wanted to bring the functionality of this solution to my community to show the engineers in my enterprise. There is not a lot of understanding of network monitoring and I am hoping to bring to them my knowledge. 

What is most valuable?

The solution's design has recently changed and it is visually pleasing with more color, for example, there is blue, black, and white. If you are a new user it is very simple, you do not need to be highly technical to use it. You can rapidly learn how to use this solution.

What needs improvement?

When using this solution in enterprise monitoring, you are able to see that there are some issues with equipment that could be causing a problem. Sometimes you want to make a root command that you do not want to be executed automatically. What we have tried to do is open an SSH session directly from the solution's interface but it is not possible. I have heard from others that there are scripts that can manage this task easily but I have not figured it out. In the area of the solution where you write the command, it is not very user-friendly and could be improved. We want the ability to write commands and execute them manually.

Additionally, I would like the ability to be able to have network mapping for this solution. I use network mapping to monitor networks and there are not very many tools that are able to do it or if there is a tool, it is not easy.

The color scheme of the interface could improve by allowing more variations or user customization.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have approximately 10 people using the solution in my company.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

In my community, we were previously using Nagios and Cacti.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is free. However, many open-sourced tools start out free but eventually start charging, I hope this solution stays free. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Zabbix an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Cesar Danecke - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Supervisor at HORSCH BRASIL
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Every new asset placed in the environment can be automatically detected
Pros and Cons
  • "Every new asset placed in the environment can be automatically detected, predicting human failures."
  • "Correlation of events would be a wonderful addition."

What is our primary use case?

  • Monitor network assets
  • Data links
  • Disk space
  • Physical servers
  • More than 1k virtual machines
  • Websites
  • Logins into automated systems

How has it helped my organization?

  • Assertive monitoring
  • Customized messages
  • Configurable screens
  • Division by teams
  • Customizable alerts
  • Automated call opening
  • Mobile connections
  • Iintegrations

What is most valuable?

The discovery functionality is most valuable. Every new asset placed in the environment can be automatically detected, predicting human failures.

What needs improvement?

The product is already great. Wanting something more could take the focus off the product. However, the correlation of events would be a wonderful addition.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for more than eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We had no issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are no scalability issues. The components scale.

How are customer service and support?

We have not had any events that the team has not resolved.

The system has good documentation and a community full of talent. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have already used Nagios and PRTG. After using Zabbix, I did not try new tools. I adapted and believe it would be difficult to convert all the rules to another system.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to deploy. The installation process is well-documented.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation was carried out by an internal team. We acquired knowledge by reading manuals.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is worth every cent to pay or even study to do your own installation.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I had very good references for Zabbix, but I did have a look at Pandora FMS and Nagios.

What other advice do I have?

I believe in the system's potential.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Co-Founder at Nobius IT
Reseller
Top 5
Fabulous flexibility - supporting a vast variety of data sources including IoT protocols. Very stable and well supported. Scalable to many thousands of values per second.
Pros and Cons
  • "The flexibility of this solution is amazing."
  • "Documentation terminology could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I'm currently dealing with three implementations - two are on cloud and one is on-premise. Our clients use the solution to monitor IT infrastructures, IT networks, applications, and cloud as well as containers.

I have a very exciting additional use case as well that we're working on, using Zabbix 5.x for internet of things (IOT) monitoring. It supports MQTT and ModBus, which allows us to monitor IOT devices.

The flexibility of taking monitoring data from such a wide variety of platforms - beyond traditional IT - makes Zabbix a highly flexible solution.

I'm a consultant of this solution as well as a user. I'm a Zabbix certified professional and director of a Zabbix authorized reseller (Nobius) in the UK. 

How has it helped my organization?

As our business has grown, we use Zabbix to monitor our Zabbix implementations - a 'manager of managers' setup. This has given us better resource utilisation and improved our service delivery.

What is most valuable?

The ability to take data from multiple sources. The Zabbix agent is probably the most lightweight monitoring agent available. The agent itself is extensible providing simple expansion capabilities to support new use cases. Alongside the built-in agentless monitoring via SNMP, SSH, WMI and others, this means we have a solution that has  no limits as to the data that can be ingested and alerted on.

What needs improvement?

If anything could be improved, it would be some of the terminology that is used in the documentation. The documentation is good, but it's been translated into English and occasionally suffers from terminology issues. There are additional features that the commercial software has that Zabbix doesn't. Full AIOps isn't cheap, things like machine learning and artificial intelligence attract a massive price premium and are rarely implemented properly. But they are major, major features.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Zabbix for over four years following 25yrs as an IT Monitoring specialist within user organisations, consultancies and major global software vendors.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is unparalleled. Processes are all well-behaved and logging is clear and succinct. Support for separating the front end, server and database allow resources to be load-balanced and clustered.

Zabbix runs equally well in cloud- and on-premise configurations.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can take hundreds and thousands of values per second, so scalability is excellent. The ability to add proxy servers to distribute the data handling load is impressive and they are very straightforward to set up. This also adds to reliability in distributed environments.

How are customer service and support?

If you consider that Zabbix is open source, their technical support is fantastic because the people, the developers of the application, are the guys who do the technical support as well. You don't have to wait to get through different levels of technical support. You get a very, very knowledgeable person on the phone straight away which is a big plus.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes, previously used and consulted on HPE SiteScope, HPE Operations Manager, Micro Focus Operations Bridge and others.

Sitescope is useful, but doesn't have the muli-tenancy or proxy facilities and is agentless only making it unjustifiable in an MSP environment.

Operations Manager was too complex to maintain and became obsolete.

Operations Bridge is resource hungry, complex to install and configure and extremely expensive.

How was the initial setup?

I've deployed so many times that the initial setup is straightforward, but I would say that for someone who is totally inexperienced in Linux, it can be a little time consuming. If you understand a little about Linux, then it's no problem. A full system can easily be configured in two hours but it took two days the first time I did it. If you're not a technical person you can still install it but it will likely take some time.

As an example, configuring SNMP trapping into Zabbix needs configuration outside of Zabbix itself. This is not complex, but can slow down the process for inexperienced installers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The software itself is open source, it can be easily downloaded,  and use it with no limitations.

Be very careful about using the "appliance" configuration in a production environment. It is only suitable for evaluation or very small environments.

Invest in support, training and consultancy from Zabbix or from third parties. Architecting a robust, resilient and secure monitoring platform from day 1 will save time and money at a later stage.

Zabbix and 3rd parties offer far more than a traditional support contract. No other organisation in my experience includes pro-active and on-site support as a core part of their offerings. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Nagios - too much development effort to maintain and configure.

What other advice do I have?

I believe it's crucial to plan the implementation. Just because the software is free, you shouldn't just install it and let it run. Plan your implementation carefully and you'll get more out of it than you ever thought possible

I would rate this solution a nine out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: UK Based Certified Partner. Author is Zabbix Accredited Certified Professional
PeerSpot user
Regional Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Open source, with great technical support and good scalability
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is very stable."
  • "There's a small module of APM, however, it is not an enhanced version. People usually ask for a full-fledged APM solution."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is a network monitoring tool. If you have any type of IT infrastructure, it can help you monitor that IT infrastructure and get the logs collected. You can control and manage your IT, et cetera.

What is most valuable?

The product is very stable.

It is a scalable tool. 

The solution is open source also. There's no cost for the license.

Technical support is very good.

What needs improvement?

They need to improve the APM solution, the Application Management solution. There's a small module of APM, however, it is not an enhanced version. People usually ask for a full-fledged APM solution. 

The initial setup could be a bit simpler. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It's reliable. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

If a company needs to expand the product, it can do so with Zabbix. It's scalable. 

We have 21 to 22 clients using this solution currently.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very good. They are helpful and responsive and we are happy with their level of support. 

How was the initial setup?

I'd rate the solution's initial setup as a seven out of ten. 

The installation will take time according to the IT infrastructure involved. It depends on if there are multi-locations versus one location and whether it is on the cloud or whether it is on-premises. Even so, deployment will take at least two to three weeks at a minimum.

We have eight to ten people on our team that can handle deployment and maintenance. They are admins and engineers. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is completely open-source and free to use. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm a Zabbix partner.

The solution is excellent. I would rate it at a ten out of ten. 

I would recommend the solution to other users and other organizations. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Zabbix Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Zabbix Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.