production tools/applications

Had an interesting meeting with Mike Karliner yesterday. We went through some of the tools he is extensively using in his production process. Some were very familiar (such as subversion which we use as version control internally), some not. The list below gives a pretty good toolset for anyone looking into rolling a production process - and everything is open source:

1) Version control
Subversion: The Subversion project arose out of frustration with the limitations of CVS (Concurrent Versions System). Subversion is designed to be like CVS, but to fix its flaws. A key improvement in Subversion is atomic commits. This means that when you commit a changed project, either all the changes succeed or none, like a database transaction.

2) Version Control UI for windows
Tortoise: TortoiseSVN is a cool/efficient/friendly SCM / source control software for Microsoft Windows.

3) Project management / Bugs tracking:
Trac: Trac is a web-based software project management and bug/issue tracking system. It provides an interface to Subversion and an integrated wiki.

4) Data storage
FreeNas: FreeNAS will allow you to turn just about any computer in to a full-featured NAS, complete with a easy to use web-based configuration utility.

5) Server's/applications monitoring
Hobbit monitor: Hobbit is a monitoring solution for servers and network devices and allows you to write or use extensions to monitor just about anything that responds over a network connection. A central server controls and collects the monitoring and displays the results via a fairly easy to use web interface. It will track history and trends (via rrd) and provides a built-in reporting tool. If there is an issue (that you've defined), such as a down host, the interface will turn red and will performs any alerting actions that you've defined, such as sending an email or sms message.

6) Traffic analysis
Cacti: Cacti provides a fast poller, advanced graph templating, multiple data acquisition methods, and user management features out of the box. This allows you to build up your own analytics tool, combining data at will, and building very custom reports.

7) External bugs tracker
Mantis: if you are deaing with clients, or have an external team of testers, this tool will let you track and report on bugs fixes and software updates.