An introduction to Cacti data management

Cacti provides different methods for remote data query. You already learned about the data input methods for retrieving a single SNMP value, but this method is not limited to SNMP. You can use several other methods, such as scripts or the WMI, for retrieving and graphing data.

Data input methods

Data input methods are commonly used when it comes to basic data retrieval. They can be external scripts, simple SNMP queries, or anything that does not involve indexed data.

Data queries

Data queries are being used when it comes to indexed data. A good example for indexed data is retrieving interface statistics for switches where each data entry (for example, the interface inOctets data) is linked to the interface using an index. Therefore, for complex data, you will need to create a data query.