using Twitter for server-monitoring
if you think Twitter is all about personal micro-blogging and basically a waste of time, think again. with their recent API-extension, it’s now possible to integrate Twitter as a cost-free SMS gateway into your own applications (like the guys at Tupalo have already done).
of course there are loads of SMS-based monitoring services out there, but the good ones aren’t free, and most aren’t very customizable. my simple demo PHP-script monitors any number of web-servers and alerts me by direct SMS if one of them goes down. just insert you account-credentials and make it a 5min-cronjob. keep in mind that you’ll need two Twitter-accounts for this kind of application, with the sending-account added as a friend to the receiver. otherwise the script can be easily customized and extended for you own needs…have fun!
ps: it might be a good idea to simultaneously run the script on two independent machines on different locations!
Dude,
U rock! Way to think outside the box. I’m definitely going to try this puppy out.
Thanks
[...] was surfing dzone and I came across two links regarding site monitoring. The first link was “using Twitter for server-monitoring” and the second link was, in a nutshell, making a PHP poor man’s ping without using Net_Ping. [...]
@shane: thx! glad you can use it…
[...] When I first heard about twitter, it reminded me of the Dullest Blog in The World, but my spark was following Cole’s line of interest and experimentation. So I quickly talked over some of the growing list of twitter viewing/publishing tools and interesting things people are doing with twitter. Wow, the library in nearby Casa Grande Arizona has rigged a library RSS feed that auto twits. Twittervision is hypnotic and becomes yet anther net-addiction. John Edwards has 2228 friends. Andy Carvins ponders if twitter can save lives? Churches are tweeting while others look at ways to use it to monitor server status. [...]
[...] around the world use it to update each other on their project or the way someone is using twitter to monitor a server or Andy Carvin’s ideas on how twitter might save [...]
[...] iterates on the idea of using Twitter to monitor web-servers. instead using the direct messaging API like my script, I guess MoniTwitter is posting to a [...]
[...] on a little script I wrote few months back (and inspired by a recent server-crash :( ) I have now put this script [...]
hi all… check out http://twittermon.com - basically the above script available to everybody as a web-mashup. enjoy!
[...] auf einem kleinen PHP-Skript welches ich vor mehreren Monaten auf meinem english-sprachigen Blog (nonsmokingarea.com) [...]
[...] twitter could be used instead of Vodafone. That would allow more people to set this up. Here is a script for monitoring your server and notifying you via SMS - all for free. It should be easy to customize for MythTV. Let me know if you do [...]
Right on track about thinking outside the box, I agree. Trying this out, too, thanks for the heads up!