NRPE VS SNMP

[jronin]

We are using Nagios XI and are using SNMP checks for most of our information. Is there anything to be gained by switching over to NRPE?

[lmiltchev]

SNMP will put higher load on your system's resources. NRPE is also easier to work with

What kind of checks are you doing? On one hand, not all of the data collected via SNMP will be available via NRPE, but on the other hand, NRPE is a lot more flexible. You can utilze custom scripts, etc. So, basically, your choice depends on your environment, and needs.

[jronin]

We have active checks for ping, CPU, process/service, storage, memory. I thought about using NRPE along with a check_logs plugin to monitor syslog/log data and leaving the rest SNMP.

[slansing]

As lmiltchev put it there are certain things you can monitor with SNMP and certain things you can monitor with NRPE. NRPE is pretty highly flexible as far as active checks go. For example there are scripts available to restart services on a remote host when they go down and much more. Keep in mind you are not nailed down to choosing between one of the two you can use both in your environment. One of the most popular uses for NRPE is live log monitoring, one thing you cannot do with SNMP.