Centreon vs Icinga: What are the differences?

Introduction:

Centreon and Icinga are both popular open-source monitoring tools used to monitor IT infrastructure in real time. While they share a similar purpose, there are several key differences between them.

1. Architecture: Centreon is based on a unified architecture, where all monitoring tasks are performed by a central server. On the other hand, Icinga follows a distributed architecture, allowing monitoring tasks to be distributed among multiple nodes. This makes Icinga more scalable and suitable for large-scale deployments.

2. Interface and User Experience: Centreon provides a web-based interface that is known for its user-friendly and intuitive design. It offers a comprehensive dashboard with detailed graphs and reports. In contrast, Icinga has a more minimalistic interface and focuses on providing essential monitoring features without compromising on performance. Icinga's interface is often preferred by experienced users who prioritize flexibility and customizability.

3. Configuration: Centreon features a graphical configuration tool that allows users to easily set up monitoring checks, thresholds, and notifications. It offers a drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible for users with limited technical skills. On the other hand, Icinga uses a configuration file-based approach, where all the monitoring objects and settings are defined using plain text files. This provides more flexibility and version control capabilities but requires a higher level of technical expertise.

4. Compatibility: Centreon is built on top of the Nagios Core monitoring engine, which means it is compatible with Nagios plugins and extensions. This enables users to leverage the vast Nagios ecosystem. Icinga, on the other hand, is a Nagios fork that aims to improve its shortcomings. It is also compatible with Nagios plugins but offers its own native plugins and extensions, expanding its functionality beyond Nagios.

5. Development and Community: Centreon is backed by a commercial company that provides professional support and services. It has an active and dedicated community that continuously contributes to its development and provides updates and bug fixes. Icinga, on the other hand, is a community-driven project with a strong emphasis on open-source collaboration. It is maintained by a group of passionate volunteers and has a vibrant community that actively contributes to its development.

6. Notification and Alerting: Both Centreon and Icinga provide comprehensive notification and alerting capabilities. However, Centreon offers a wider range of notification methods, including email, SMS, and SNMP traps. It also provides more advanced features like escalations, on-call rotations, and downtime scheduling. Icinga, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and provides a straightforward notification system, primarily based on email alerts.

In Summary, Centreon and Icinga differ in architecture, interface, configuration methods, compatibility, development style, and notification capabilities. While Centreon offers a user-friendly interface and graphical configuration tools, Icinga provides a more scalable architecture, greater flexibility in configuration, and a vibrant community-driven development.