The fact that data centers have evolved a lot is undeniable. This has enabled storage evolution and the execution of online applications.
Now we often talk about hybrid clouds.
*Yes, we don’t even take the time to explain what digital clouds are anymore and we even assume that everyone has their own, small but they have them.But when it comes to doing things big, it’s unavoidable to mention the giant Google Cloud®!
Pandora FMS and the famous Google Cloud monitoring
Pandora FMS® (PFMS) during the year 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, walked slowly but without any pause, their team did not stop at all.
And there were great improvements in quality of use in 2020!
As it happens, that’s when we introduced Google Cloud monitoring.
Let’s look at everything in that term!
Google Cloud Platform
Known simply as Google Cloud, this platform encompasses more than one hundred components (digital products).
It is obvious that I will name only a few, since Pandora FMS does not monitor them all
… yet.
We will classify them in several main sections:
- Compute Engine: To run applications and virtual machines, Kubernetes, functions as services, among others.
- Storage & Databases: For file storage and execution of database engines, all this integrated with the previous point.
- Networking: For server load balancing (CDN, DNS, etc.).
- Big Data: Overly speaking, analysis of large, gigantic volumes of data that are then converted into usable information.
- Identity & Security: Everything related to online identification for own or third parties.
- IoT: For the Internet of Things.
- API Platform: Everything necessary for third party companies to communicate with all the paraphernalia of Google services and applications. *If you don’t know what an API is, here’s what you need to know.
- Cloud AI: The artificial intelligence cloud with lots of resources, limited only by your wallet.
*The latter is important, your wallet, not artificial intelligence. Because it is necessary to direct debit a bank account, or a good credit card, the payments of all these services.
**At the time of writing, I do not know if the new Google Pay (formerly called Google Wallet) is accepted as a means of payment (most likely, because it is from the same company).
In the case of Pandora FMS monitoring of Google Cloud it is only available for the Enterprise version.
But erase those sad faces because you can request a 30-day free trial by accessing this link!
Again the change
If there’s one thing that characterizes Google since I saw it born, it’s the constant change.
As well as the number of products and services they have is immense, no less small is the number of them that have been discontinued or withdrawn from the catalog.
While I still keep my Hotmail email account (not available to new users), Google at most has come to offer some product similar to the one they withdraw, accompanied by a package of instructions for us to do the data migrations.
When they say it’s over, it’s over.
Therefore, dear readers of the future, if this has happened again, please write it down in the comments below.
*We read them all.
Monitoring Google Cloud
Pandora FMS is able to monitor Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, so Google Cloud monitoring shares certain similarities.
Broadly speaking, the procedure is as follows:
- We activated the encryption of PFMS database.
- If the cloud component is not installed, you may download it from PFMS Enterprise library.
- Now you have to manage the credentials at Google level.
- Generate a service user in Google Cloud, and download a file in JSON format.
- With this JSON file you will create the authentication account in Pandora FMS.
- Once this is done, go back to Discovery Cloud and use the new credentials to access Google.
- Select the monitoring you need and click accept and wait for all connections to be made. This link contains the metrics available from Compute Engine.
- You will then have the main Google Cloud agent, one for each zone in which you have machines, and another agent for each virtual machine.
Resources
Programmer since 1993 at KS7000.net.ve (since 2014 free software solutions for commercial pharmacies in Venezuela). He writes regularly for Pandora FMS and offers advice on the forum . He is also an enthusiastic contributor to Wikipedia and Wikidata. He crushes iron in gyms and when he can, he also exercises cycling. Science fiction fan. Programmer since 1993 in KS7000.net.ve (since 2014 free software solutions for commercial pharmacies in Venezuela). He writes regularly for Pandora FMS and offers advice in the forum. Also an enthusiastic contributor to Wikipedia and Wikidata. He crusher of irons in gyms and when he can he exercises in cycling as well. Science fiction fan.
