It's common for IT administrators to be responsible for systems at multiple locations and FrameFlow can help you to monitor these distributed systems all through one master console that runs at your headquarters.

With FrameFlow you have two options for multi-site monitoring: FrameFlow Server Monitor and FrameFlow MSP. Each has its own strengths and your choice depends only how you prefer to organize and manage your sites and systems.

Setting up remote monitoring is the same for FrameFlow Server Monitor and FrameFlow MSP. First you install the master console at your headquarters, and switch it to run through IIS with a self-signed certificate for secure HTTPS/SSL communications.

Next, you open a port on your firewall to allow external access via HTTPS/SSL on any port that you choose. Then you log into the FrameFlow master console from the remote site and download the remote node setup from the Tools section of the interface.

The setup will prompt you for the HTTPS path and credentials for the master console and verify that it is able to connect.

And that's all! Your remote node is connected and you never need to visit it again because all configuration, monitoring, management and reporting is done using the master console.

For FrameFlow Server Monitor: Once your first remote site has connected, a new report called "Remote Sites Report" appears in the "Configuration Reports" section of the interface. This new report lists all of the remote sites that have called home along with the last time that the master console heard from them.

When you add network devices, a new option appears asking you which site to associate the device with. Assign the remote device to one or more event monitors and FrameFlow will starting monitoring it. All sites share the same event monitors, authentication profiles, notification profiles, reports and everything else. Even though your remote site can be across the country, you manage its devices as if they were local. FrameFlow Server Monitor manages it all transparently under the hood.

For FrameFlow MSP: All of your local monitoring is grouped under a site called "Local Site". When a new remote node calls home for the first time a new site appears at the same level as "Local Site" and it has the name that you selected when you installed the remote node.

With FrameFlow MSP, each site has its own dashboards, its own devices, event monitors and reports. Each site acts as a monitoring operation of its own and new permission settings let you control which administrators have access to which sites and at what level.

Choose FrameFlow Server Monitor:

• If most of your IT systems are at one location and you want to monitor a few others at remote sites.
• If you want your remote systems to be included in the reports and dashboards for your main site.
• If all of your system admins are to have the same access to the monitoring configuration for all sites.

Choose FrameFlow MSP:

• If you are a service provider, providing monitoring services to multiple clients.
• If each remote site has a distinct set of monitoring requirements with little overlap.
• If you want to define multiple FrameFlow users with restrictions on which sites they can see and manage.

Drop us a note and we are always happy to help in any way we can. We'll listen to your monitoring requirements and provide you with recommendations on the best FrameFlow edition to help you implement the 24x7 monitoring that you need.