I'm trying to monitor the uptime of 53 remote windows machines, all at separate locations. These are all behind cheapy consumer level routers of various makes, and they all have dynamic IP addresses.
I just want to have a list of the machines, if they are currently connected to the internet, and if they're not connected when did they check in last.
Would be nice: A simple log for each machine indicating times they went offline.
We're a non-profit. I'm looking for an open-source/free solution.
My original idea was to have a hidden IRCbot launch on each machine and autoconnect to a channel. I could join said channel and view at a glance which machines were connected, and the channel log(with enough sifting) would tell me which machines were frequently disconnecting.
A friend told me "nah, use nagios."
After a bit of googling I've arrived at NCclient++ which I've installed on a remote box and am attempting to make check in with my brand-new Nagios box, without much luck.
Am I on the right track? Can anyone point me in the right direction? I've been googling around for a more comprehensive guide on how to do this, and I've not had much luck.