Zabbix is an open-source, enterprise-level monitoring platform designed to give organizations full visibility into their IT systems, from on-prem servers to complex, hybrid, cloud-native infrastructures. With its powerful feature set, extensibility, and zero licensing costs, Zabbix has become a go-to solution for businesses seeking to monitor availability, performance, and security in real time.
In this article, we’ll explain what Zabbix is used for, how it works, and how it compares with other monitoring tools.
Zabbix is a centralised monitoring system that collects, stores, processes, and visualises data from networks, servers, virtual machines, containers, applications, databases, services, and more. It supports a wide range of protocols and methods, including:
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface)
JMX (Java Management Extensions)
SSH/Telnet
Zabbix Agent and Agent2 (cross-platform)
REST API for automation and integrations
Built with scalability in mind, Zabbix can monitor from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of devices and metrics with minimal latency.
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Zabbix is used across industries, from telecoms and banking to healthcare and manufacturing for comprehensive infrastructure, application, and service monitoring.
Zabbix collects real-time metrics such as:
CPU, memory, and disk usage
Network bandwidth and packet loss
Hardware health: temperature, power supply, fans
Virtualization layers: VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox
Zabbix can monitor:
HTTP/S, SMTP, DNS, FTP, TCP ports
Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MS SQL)
Cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP via API or proxy)
Custom applications through scripts, user parameters, or API integrations
Zabbix includes a highly configurable alerting engine:
Define triggers with thresholds, trends, or patterns
Use macros for reusable alert templates
Notify via email, SMS, webhook, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, etc.
Set escalation paths with conditions and delays
Trigger auto-remediation scripts or remote commands
Zabbix provides real-time dashboards tailored for:
IT operations (NOC views, system health overviews)
Application teams (error rates, response times)
Executives (SLA compliance, KPIs)
Custom widgets include graphs, maps, charts, SLA gauges, and top hosts. Dashboards are fully customisable and support multi-tenant access via user roles and permissions.
Trend storage and capacity planning
SLA reports by service, team, or region
Audit logs for user and system actions
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Vendor-agnostic: monitor any device, system, or cloud provider
Highly scalable: distributed architecture using proxies and pollers
Secure: encryption, user roles, audit trails, and API tokens
Lightweight agents: low impact on monitored systems
Integration-ready: REST API, webhook support, external scripts
No licensing costs: 100% open source, no feature limitations
Network monitoring for ISPs, telcos, and enterprise WANs
Data center visibility across power, HVAC, rack health
Multi-cloud monitoring with unified dashboards
Application monitoring with user-defined KPIs
ITSM integration for auto-ticket creation and incident workflows
| Feature | Zabbix | Prometheus | Nagios | Datadog (SaaS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing | Open source | Open source | Open source | Commercial |
| UI & dashboards | Built-in | Grafana | Basic | Advanced |
| Auto-discovery | Yes | Limited | Plugins | Yes |
| Alerting engine | Native, rich | Basic | External | Advanced |
| Scalability (large envs) | Excellent | High | Medium | Excellent |
| Built-in security features | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Zabbix offers an optimal mix of enterprise functionality with full control over deployment, updates, and customisation, something often lacking in SaaS-first tools.
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As a trusted Zabbix partner and recognised Open Source Competence Center, Syone helps organisations design, deploy, and operate monitoring environments with confidence.
We offer:
Architecture design and implementation for large-scale deployments
Agent configuration and template development
Integration with ITSM and cloud providers
Custom dashboards by role, team, or service
Managed services with 24/7 monitoring and response
Whether you’re replacing legacy tools, building a SOC, or looking to optimise hybrid cloud operations, Syone delivers end-to-end expertise with Zabbix.
Learn more about our Open Source Monitoring solutions or contact us and speak with one of our Zabbix-certified consultants.