IT Administrator at a aerospace/defense firm with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Easy to use and manage but delivers too many false positives
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable."
  • "The user interface could be better."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is primarily used for monitoring servers, printers, and network switches.

What is most valuable?

It's very easy to use and manage.

The solution is stable.

You can scale the product well.

There is a free open-source version of the solution.

What needs improvement?

I don't like to use the solution for the most part.

I get too many false positives. I get a problem one minute and then it's okay the next. That happens a lot. I hate that.

The user interface could be better.

The performance needs improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for six years or so. I've used the solution for a while at this point.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I don't have any issues with the stability. The performance isn't great, however. That said, it doesn't crash or freeze. There aren't really any bugs. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good. A company can easily expand it.

We have about five users who monitor it constantly. I no longer manage it myself. 

How are customer service and support?

I've never contacted technical support. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they are. 

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

I need to be able to monitor stuff and I can't monitor these things now, so I am using other products for it.

How was the initial setup?

The installation happened a long time ago. I can't recall what the implementation was like in terms of if it was complete or straightforward. 

You only need one person to handle the maintenance. 

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

I'm using a free version. I do not pay any licensing fees.

What other advice do I have?

I'm a customer and an end-user.

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.

I'm not sure if I would recommend the solution. I really don't like it as it generates a lot of false information. That said, it is a good monitoring solution, for what it's worth.

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
PeerSpot user
Application Monitoring Technical Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Good pricing and scales well but needs better dashboards
Pros and Cons
  • "The pricing of the product is reasonable."
  • "The stability could be better."

What is most valuable?

The solution is open-source. 

The infrastructure monitoring is great. Then, Zabbix being open-source, and with the whole platform, we have good network monitoring there. You have these ping monitors, synthetic monitors, that are really helpful.

The solution can scale well.

Technical support is great.

The pricing of the product is reasonable.

For internal monitoring and network monitoring the solution is really good.

What needs improvement?

It's open-source software, and due to that, they really don't have legacy service monitorings like APM, or build-on capabilities, and the pure part of the transaction-related data. It is good for internal network monitoring, however, it's not for the service we are monitoring, microservices.

The stability could be better.

Basically, they need to provide automated monitoring, synthetic monitoring, and then APM monitoring as well as more on microservices or technology space, maybe like Java, .NET, Datadog, et cetera - these kinds of add-on instrumentations. They need to work somewhat on the dashboard and alerting side. Dashboards are not that good. They can improve on them.

For how long have I used the solution?

With Zabbix, I just started as an open-source strategy moving from the enterprise version. It has been six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's not extremely stable. 

n terms of infrastructure, you have to tune based on your requirements. You're monitoring 1,000 or 10,000 systems, so it depends on what you're monitoring, and you have to tune it. They don't have a tuning table or sizing recommendations. However, they have the beta version of it. Certainly, on the console side, they need to improve a lot in terms of stability and performance, and bottlenecks of the product. Whatever data we process with Zabbix goes to Postgre or MySQL. Right now, we are trying to use Postgre. They are using it to do a lot of time scaling stuff so that we can support SQL data. However, it seems like they have limitations with the Postgre database.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. We have admins and users and 50 IT people on it. However, the systems we are monitoring are more than 10,000. You can monitor more than 10,000 UIs. That's our target.

How are customer service and technical support?

We are using the open-source version and therefore we don't get technical support. However, if someone wants to opt for it, they can get it and technical support is great, even though we haven't used it yet.

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

The pricing is very reasonable. Zabbix is very cheap. Compared to other tools like Nagios and others, Zabbix is very cheap.

What other advice do I have?

If a company wants to implement the solution, I suggest they go with the latest version. It is a stable version. Preferably they should use it with the database, and not the AWS database, as it doesn't give you time scaling. You have to install your own Postgre and you can apply the time scaling feature in that. That way, you can add your data competition to Zabbix. 

You have to do a lot of tuning on cache and view sizing. If your clients are on a remote site, you usually use proxies. Therefore, data will be sent to proxies, and then from proxies, it will be sent to the server. 

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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Zabbix
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Zabbix. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
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PeerSpot user
IT Assistant at Hotel 2 Fevrier
Real User
Open-source, reliable monitoring that helped solve my connection problems
Pros and Cons
  • "During my testing, the features that I like the most are that it can be integrated with my system, and it provides me with reports of all of my servers."
  • "I would like to remotely connect to the computer, and Zabbix doesn't have this capability."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is to resolve connection issues for my YouTube access.

What is most valuable?

I am still exploring all of the features that this solution offers. At this time, I have only downloaded the system log and scripts. 

During my testing, the features that I like the most are that it can be integrated with my system, and it provides me with reports of all of my servers. This allows me to know what is going on with my servers.

Also, I can create a script to download all of my configurations.

What needs improvement?

I don't know if I can remotely restart my servers or to know how a guest is doing on the server. I would like to remotely connect to the computer, and Zabbix doesn't have this capability. 

I have to use another software such as Emperor to log into the computer to see what is going on with the servers.

I would like to see a RAS integrated with Zabbix for monitoring, also to be able to check the server and to have an automatic display to do what we need to do.

For how long have I used the solution?

We are in the testing phases of Zabbix. I have been testing it for three months.

We are currently deploying it on my VMware to test the product and see how it works. Once I have all of the skills and requirements, I can process it into a real deployment.

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?

I am currently the only user in my organization.

I plan to use Zabbix in the future, as it has helped me resolve my connection issue.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not contacted technical support. When I have an issue, I research their YouTube channel and watch their videos. 

You have to be patient. It helped to resolve the issues.

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

Previously, I was using the PRTG Network Monitor. It's an expensive solution. 

I chose Zabbix because it's a free edition, and I don't require a lot of monitoring. Also, I was limited.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was fine, it was simple.

For a proper installation, it can take up to two weeks.

What about the implementation team?

I completed the installation myself.

I installed the server, and then the client on the Windows machine to make the link.

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

It's an open-source solution that can be used free of charge.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have not tested any other solutions. I looked at most of the other products, but we have to pay for them. 

To resolve a fixed problem, I would have asked the management to purchase the product, which would take time. Instead, I read the review and installed Zabbix directly to resolve my connection issue.

What other advice do I have?

I am also using this solution to help me with writing my master examination. I need to write something about this solution.

I would recommend this product to anyone who is interested in using it.

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
Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Easy to manage, user-friendly, and new features added frequently
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is open-source, easy to manage, and user-friendly making it easy for anyone to use."
  • "In an upcoming release, there should be automated reports which we are currently doing manually. For example, if we collect a report file every day and want to send it to a moderator for review. We are expecting this feature to come out soon but it would be valuable to have now."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for network and application monitoring.

What is most valuable?

The solution is open-source, easy to manage, and user-friendly making it easy for anyone to use.

Zabbix is always improving by adding more features and they have monthly announcements explaining the upcoming new features and functionality.

What needs improvement?

The automation could be improved.

In an upcoming release, there should be automated reports which we are currently doing manually. For example, if we collect a report file every day and want to send it to a moderator for review. We are expecting this feature to come out soon but it would be valuable to have now.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for approximately four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. They release major updates every two or three years with the minor changes being released every six months.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have evaluated other solutions. 

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
Managing Director at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
A free enterprise monitoring solution
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a very reliable platform and we've never had any issues regarding the scalability or the stability of Zabbix."
  • "Zabbix technical support is sold separately."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is the cost. Typically speaking, our customers have a plethora of tools and they find it very difficult to manage their business services with a selection of tools. In most cases, they're able to replace all of their tools with one — Zabbix. 

We counsel groups and we recommend using Zabbix — we're a reseller.

We focus on Zabbix. When a customer needs it integrated with Microsoft, or ServiceNow, or other solutions, then we help them out from a consulting perspective. We focus on and we recommend Zabbix. Which is an enterprise monitoring solution.

I take care of sales and marketing.

If the customer requires integration, then there are easy ways of integrating Zabbix with JIRA, ServiceNow, ITSM, and all other sorts of different solutions.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable aspect of this solution is the fact that it is enterprise-level, scalable, and free.

Just being free isn't enough, obviously. You have to be able to respond to a considerable number of enterprise requirements and be secure. Security is part of the enterprise requirements. The fact that Zabbix can offer those things, and it's free, is why our customers choose it.

What needs improvement?

When our customers don't choose to go with Zabbix, it's usually been because they're looking for a solution that also contains mainstream AI, AIOps, if you wish. AIOps is a fully noted marketing buzzword, which can mean all sorts of things for different people. When I use that term, I'm talking about the requirement to analyze in-depth enterprise data. Zabbix is not an analytics platform.

We've never had any issue at all integrating Zabbix with any of the existing enterprise tools, whether it be ITSM, JIRA, or an analytics tool like Splunk — it's never been an issue. Their design team does a very good job allowing people to get access to the Zabbix database and to the Zabbix Schema, which defines the data that's stored in.

In the latest version, which is just about to be deployed, they are adding the capability of doing APM (Application Performance Monitoring). That's a feature that has currently been lacking — we'll have to see how it goes.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zabbix for one year.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a very reliable platform and we've never had any issues regarding the scalability or the stability of Zabbix. We've seen customers (not our customers) that have got huge implementations of millions of objects which are being managed. We've never had any issues with scalability.

How are customer service and technical support?

Zabbix is not a licensed software. People don't buy licenses for Zabbix. Technically, we are a reseller. So what is it that we resell from Zabbix? The answer is their service. Either their contractual support, their annuity based support, or their technical support. We can get them involved in certain implementations if the customer requirements require that.

Zabbix technical support is sold separately.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It's a powerful tool; it's applicable to many different domains, through networks, through infrastructure, through applications, through containers, virtual resources, and cloud-based applications — it can be applied to all of them. The initial implementation is usually something we never have an issue with. It's a very easy-to-download package. Implementation requires experience. Deploying Zabbix is very easy, but if you don't know what you're doing, you can make an awful mess. That's where and why we offer our consultancy — to help people to make sure that they don't end up with petabytes of monitoring information on the first day. Which of course no one has any time to go through and handle. 

What other advice do I have?

Speak to a Zabbix expert before you get started because there are so many options in terms of architecture for deployment that you really need to understand relating to how Zabbix can give you those options and why they're useful. Options might include encryption or distributed architecture, so delegating monitoring responsibilities close to the objects that have been managed using proxies is a good idea. There are choices to be made so if you don't know the product and you are speaking to someone who does, then listen, because they can advise you properly to get the best benefit out of the software. Zabbix is a free package, you're not paying for any licensed software; the expense of Zabbix over time is related to how it's deployed and used. If you don't deploy it right, then you'll spend more time fixing your mistakes than actually using the software.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Zabbix a rating of eight.

I am not giving them a higher rating because they don't have analytics. They're getting there. They're becoming more and more proactive. They just added something which was very important called 'application performance monitoring'. From an enterprise perspective, they still lack the analytics capabilities, but that's not necessarily an issue unless you're looking to choose one tool that does everything.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
it_user901191 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
We use it to monitor and manage our servers
Pros and Cons
  • "Zabbix can use old data to current data to set the threshold. We can use previous data to set the threshold."
  • "We use it to monitor and manage our servers."
  • "I want Zabbix to improve the UX/UI. Zabbix doesn't use a JavaScript chart for images, and I want them to improve this."

What is our primary use case?

We have a lot of servers (about 10,000). We monitor and manage them using Zabbix.

How has it helped my organization?

It has rich functions.

What is most valuable?

The financial setting is the most valuable feature, since Zabbix can use old data to current data to set the threshold. We can use previous data to set the threshold.

What needs improvement?

I want Zabbix to improve the UX/UI. Zabbix doesn't use a JavaScript chart for images, and I want them to improve this.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Performance is really stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable.

How are customer service and technical support?

We don't use technical support. We have a contract, but we don't use it because there are not many problems.

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

We switched from our previous solution because of cost.

How was the initial setup?

I installed Zabbix, and it was easy.

What was our ROI?

It is free, which allows us to reduce costs.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Our choices were Geneos, Nagios, Zabbix, Centreon, and Cacti. We chose Zabbix because we did a proof of concept, and Zabbix was the best. It had the richest functions, and it was free.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution as a 10 out of 10. It is the best product. I really love Zabbix because it has a lot of functions and works well. My advice is to use Zabbix.

When selecting a vendor, the number of customers is very important along with the price.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Support Team and Services at konverge technologies pvt ltd
Real User
It's a cost-effective solution for a small business, but the setup is complex and the documentation is lacking
Pros and Cons
  • "Zabbix is a cost-effective solution. We're a small organization with a few dozen devices to monitor, and it was available for free. We can see what we need. We haven't done an in-depth analysis on it, but we're currently okay with the product."
  • "The GUI could be more intuitive. Also, we'd like streaming telemetry. Zabbix might have this feature, but I haven't seen it yet. It took us a long time to get started because the documentation isn't very descriptive. We had to go through various sources like YouTube and forums to get this solution working."

What is our primary use case?

I use Zabbix for network and server hardware monitoring.

What is most valuable?

Zabbix is a cost-effective solution. We're a small organization with a few dozen devices to monitor, and it was available for free. We can see what we need. We haven't done an in-depth analysis on it, but we're currently okay with the product.

What needs improvement?

The GUI could be more intuitive. Also, we'd like streaming telemetry. Zabbix might have this feature, but I haven't seen it yet. It took us a long time to get started because the documentation isn't very descriptive. We had to go through various sources like YouTube and forums to get this solution working. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zabbix for about six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate Zabbix seven out of 10 for stability. It does the job, but I don't think we've truly tested it so far. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate Zabbix five out of 10 for scalability. The solution has room for improvement in this area. My team is facing some issues with API integration. We were unable to find NetCom features. We wanted to use a different data modeling solution, like GRPC and GNMI. 

How are customer service and support?

We get support from the community. It has helped us a lot. I'd rate Zabbix community support eight out of 10. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

I rate Zabbix four out of 10 for ease of setup. Setting up Zabbix is complicated,  and the documentation isn't clear. Including the research, it took us two or three workdays to get this up and running.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have not weighed other options like SolarWinds or ManageEngine. This is the first one we have tried. It is somewhat early for me to say what Zabbix's advantages are relative to others.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Zabbix seven out of 10. 

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
Président / Directeur des services informatiques at Atig network
Real User
Fast, lightweight, and easy to install
Pros and Cons
  • "The basic setup is very easy."
  • "I am having difficulties connecting it to Grafana, as well as some of the other plugins like Kibana."

What is our primary use case?

I use Zabbix on my Raspberry Pi and it is set up to monitor our network. We are testing it at the moment to see how it responds to our network, which includes laptops and workstations.

I have not gone into great detail with the product, although I expect to be doing that within the next months.

What is most valuable?

It is not hard to integrate.

What needs improvement?

I am having difficulties connecting it to Grafana, as well as some of the other plugins like Kibana. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zabbix for the past year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is okay, although, at this point, I'm only using it on a Raspberry Pi. I need to set it on a higher level server to see exactly how it responds on the network and how to deal with it. In this testing phase, it is stable, but when I'm ready to put it live into production then we will see how it reacts.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I haven't tried to scale it, yet. I am the only one using it because I'm performing the testing.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not been in contact with technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The basic setup is very easy. I installed it in a Raspberry Pi with a Linux version. It took perhaps 20 minutes to install, at the most.

What other advice do I have?

This is a product I can recommend to others.

Overall, I think that this is a great tool, although I need to spend more time with it to see exactly what the different features are, and how I can use it to implement my network better. There are a few glitches that need to be fixed, such as making the plugins easier to install.

I would rate this solution a nine 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
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.