Zabbix server on RaspPI

[MindziusLT]

Hi folks,

I've red some comments about Zabbix running on Raspberry Pi, though it was mostly Zabbix-Proxy. Did somebody tried building a normal server on it?
It would be unbeatable solution for remote application monitoring (for example, substations).

I know that Raspberry is very much limited on memory and CPU performance, thus I would suggest outsourcing unified database for all remotes somewhere else. This could partly save some performance.

I would honestly appreciate any commnts, suggestions and thoughts about it

Thank you!

[ingus.vilnis]

Hello and welcome!

I have no practical experience with Raspberry Pi but I can share some thoughts. (Did not read the book, but have opinion).

First of all you should take a look if your device meets the Zabbix hardware requirements which can be found here (https://www.zabbix.com/documentation...n/requirements).

However it is not really clear to me why would you like to set up such distributed monitoring by having a Zabbix server at each location which would share a database then?

If I understood correctly you want to monitor physically remote (electrical?) substations, right? I'd suggest you to use Zabbix Proxy concept. It would be more reasonable for you to have one powerful centralized Zabbix server with DB and then a Raspberry at each of your remote locations gathering data and sending it to centralized server. In such way you could monitor all your locations at once.

Best Regards,
Ingus

[MindziusLT]

Hello and welcome!

I have no practical experience with Raspberry Pi but I can share some thoughts. (Did not read the book, but have opinion).

First of all you should take a look if your device meets the Zabbix hardware requirements which can be found here (https://www.zabbix.com/documentation...n/requirements).

However it is not really clear to me why would you like to set up such distributed monitoring by having a Zabbix server at each location which would share a database then?

If I understood correctly you want to monitor physically remote (electrical?) substations, right? I'd suggest you to use Zabbix Proxy concept. It would be more reasonable for you to have one powerful centralized Zabbix server with DB and then a Raspberry at each of your remote locations gathering data and sending it to centralized server. In such way you could monitor all your locations at once.

Best Regards,
Ingus

Dear Ingus,

thank you for sharing your insights!
The idea behind using RaspPI's is it's scalable size and functionality(ETH and DI/DO).

Most substations are controlled via Radio networks which are extremely overloaded (only one packet is allowed to be in the radio channel at once, thus the more substations you have- the higher the load). Therefore reducing the traffic to minimum is the primary goal towards reliable network. That's why I'm really interested in appliance of Raspberry Pi for Zabbix. This could super cost-efficient monitoring solution for far-remotes monitoring.

However, outsourcing SQL is no longer an option since it overloads the radio network even more. Unless it's broadband- like microwave or 3G.

I've created you principal network scheme. Waiting for further insights.

[Zaniwoop]

I did test both the server and proxy.

It did work, but as a server, it is a but under-powered and only suitable for very small setups.

It is ideal for a proxy for a small data-centre or office, depending on what you want it for.

I think the Raspberry Pi is a solution looking for a problem.

[ingus.vilnis]

Hello!

Really nice picture and description there! Great work.

Here are my humble comments on your situation.

Therefore reducing the traffic to minimum is the primary goal towards reliable network. That's why I'm really interested in appliance of Raspberry Pi for Zabbix.

Raspberry Pi as a device has absolutely nothing to do with network traffic your Zabbix setup will generate. The same amount of traffic can be achieved also with 32CPU 128GB RAM 20TB RAID10 high end server as well.

Another issue you will have then is that you will want to monitor your remote Zabbix server anyways by using web frontend. And that will use up your precious radio channels even more.

So what to do? In your situation I would do like this - get a powerful server that meets the requirements I posted you before and put it in your central office/data center/wherever your servers are. That would be in the middle of your picture.

Then in retransmitter locations don't use anything OR use Rapsberry PI as a Zabbix proxy. You can also use a proxy in each of the remote substations if that is needed but you can also setup the substations to communicate to central server directly.

If you need the network load to be as low as possible, there are many ways how to do it. The main thing is to set the item update interval as long as possible. It therefore it will use your network much less than having a server and monitoring it via web.

Another solution would be to use a proxy at each substation and then route the traffic limitless via 3G.

I hope this helped to put you on the right idea. Please feel free to ask if you have any additional questions regarding your setup.

Best Regards,
Ingus