Paessler IPCheck Server Monitor

As part of the installation process it will install its own database - Firebird, and adds a service for it. Unfortunately, there's no way to point it to an alternative, such as SQL Server, Access, MySQL or any other database product you possess, which will not please IT managers. If there is one thing IT departments are wary of, it's the creep of embedded databases that they know nothing about.

After prompting you to change the default password for Firebird, you move on to create a webserver account for the machine on which you have done the installation. This will be needed later to run the web GUI for administration. It installs using port 80 by default but gives you the option of requiring SSL.

The software asks you for the details of an SMTP server in order to send alerts but you are then told that you cannot configure security at this point. Instead, you will need to wait until later and then run the separate utility that IPCheck installs into Control Panel. As you go further into using and configuring IPCheck you find that this is not the only occasion where you need to work out which configuration tool to use.

Moving on, you insert the licence key and the initial installation is completed. Now you are on to the first pass of configuration. I say first pass because to get a really effective set up you will need to move between the different menus and tools and as such, Paessler just misses the mark in terms of having a really simple and effective set up.

You still need to download updates. If you are using the commercial version you will need the email account that was used to purchase the product to create an account on Paessler's server.

Another issue that cropped us as I worked through the configuration was that IPCheck refers to both sensors and servers. Initially, I thought the two words were being used interchangeably and only later did I discover that they are actually very different. When Paessler talks about sensors it refers to a protocol or a service. This confusion is unfortunate and Paessler should explain what each does more clearly.