Review of PACKT publishing Cacti Network Monitoring
I recently received a copy of PACKT publishings new book titled Cacti 0.8 Network Monitoring. You can grab yourself a copy of the same chapter here.
Facts
- 8 Chapters, 116 pages with an RRP of $34.99 US / £31.99 UK
- The book is aimed at anyone who wants to manage a network using Cacti. No previous Cacti or Linux experience is needed
Pros
- The book is ideal for someone who has never used a Linux or Cacti system before. It’s an ideal introduction to Cacti.
- The instructions and illustrations are clear and concise, with no room for misinterpretation
- Provides a good introduction to data, host and graph templates and how to use them.
Cons
- The book is filled with poor sentence structure and typos. Given that PACKT had someone review the writing and correct mistakes, this is a real shame.
- The book makes frequent and consistent spelling mistakes. For example, the book constantly refers to Tobi Oetiker as Tobi Oeticker
- The first 46 pages (of 116) cover what SNMP and rrdtool are and how to install Cacti. Given the book is so short, this seems a waste when a simple aptitude install cacti would have covered it.
- 10 pages on user management really is a waste. If you can’t figure out how to create a user on your own you really shouldn’t be setting up the network monitoring system for your organization.
Conclusion
I’m in two minds about this book. On the one hand it’s full of typos and poor English. It doesn’t go into much depth in the areas I wanted it to (Cacti XML Queries and data templates) but spends a long time on simple tasks (installing and basic configuration). On the positive side the book does provide a good introduction to SNMP and how to get started with Cacti.
All considered I think the book is suitable for someone who is looking at implementing Cacti but shouldn’t be considered a complete guide. One to avoid if endless typos are likely to get on your nerves.