Netfilter firewalls create highly detailed logfiles that nobody really wants to inspectmanually. Logfile analysis tools like IPtables Log Analyzer,Wallfire Wflogs,and FWlogwatch help administrators keep track of developments and filter for importantmessages.
What could be more boring than watching a computer run through an error-free boot routine? Why watch for messages that may never appear? Every second you save adds to your valuable leisure time. Bootchart helps you find those valuable leisure moments.
If you do not receive a response to a ping, or if the response is seriously delayed, you might like to take this as a warning. But who wants to ping all day? You need a ping-based monitoring utility like Smokeping.
A busy proxy server is something that no self-respecting admin should leave to its own devices. The Squid logfile analyzer, dubbed Sarg by its author, helps you keep your Squid servers on track.
A partly overloaded DNS server can slow down all the workstations on the network. Dnsgraph is an early warning system that gives administrators a graph of critical values. Your Dnsgraph charts will help you keep your systems serving names.