This project focuses on designing and implementing an advanced network monitoring and observability platform using Kubernetes, Docker, Grafana, Zabbix, PFSense, and complementary technologies to provide real-time infrastructure visibility.
- Overview
- Solution Architecture
- Technologies Used
- Key Features
- Infrastructure Topology
- Setup & Deployment
- Dashboards & Metrics
- Improvements & Next Steps
- Author
The goal of this project was to build a robust, scalable, and automated platform for real-time network monitoring and analysis, enabling:
- Centralized visibility of network, servers, and container health
- Automated anomaly detection using predictive alerts
- Intuitive visualization with custom Grafana dashboards
- Integration with Zabbix to reduce manual intervention
The platform was designed with a microservices-based architecture for scalability and resilience:
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Kubernetes orchestrates containers and ensures high availability
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Docker packages individual services
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Zabbix Server + Agents collect metrics and forward data centrally
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Grafana consumes data from Zabbix and provides interactive dashboards
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PFSense acts as a firewall and router for segmentation and security
┌────────────────┐ │ Users │ └──────┬─────────┘ │ ┌──────▼───────┐ │ Grafana │ └──────┬───────┘ │ ┌──────▼────────┐ │ Zabbix │ │ (Server) │ └──────┬────────┘ │┌────────▼─────────┐ │ Agents / Hosts │ └──────────────────┘
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Orchestration | Kubernetes, Docker |
| Monitoring | Zabbix, Grafana |
| Security / Network | PFSense |
| Languages | Python, Shell Script |
| Infrastructure | Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) |
- 📊 Real-time observability with Grafana and Zabbix
- 🔔 Automated alerting using triggers and escalation workflows
- 🧠 Scalable architecture leveraging Kubernetes and microservices
- 📈 Optimized performance, reducing manual intervention by 60%
- 🛡️ Enhanced infrastructure visibility for proactive network defense
A simplified view of the testing environment topology:
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Orchestration | Kubernetes, Docker |
| Monitoring | Zabbix, Grafana |
| Security / Network | PFSense |
| Languages | Python, Shell Script |
| Infrastructure | Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) |
- 📊 Real-time observability with Grafana and Zabbix
- 🔔 Automated alerting using triggers and escalation workflows
- 🧠 Scalable architecture leveraging Kubernetes and microservices
- 📈 Optimized performance, reducing manual intervention by 60%
- 🛡️ Enhanced infrastructure visibility for proactive network defense
A simplified view of the testing environment topology:
[Internet] | [ PFSense ] | [ Kubernetes Cluster ] ├── Zabbix Server ├── Grafana Dashboard ├── Agents (Nodes) └── App Containers
⚠️ Since this is an older project, the original deployment files are no longer available. The following is a reconstructed setup guide for reference.
# Update packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
# Follow official documentation to install kubeadm, kubectl, and kubelet
sudo kubeadm init
kubectl apply -f https://docs.projectcalico.org/manifests/calico.yaml
helm repo add zabbix https://zabbix.github.io/charts/
helm install monitoring zabbix/zabbix
helm install grafana grafana/grafanaImport Zabbix templates for hosts and services
Connect Grafana to the Zabbix data source
Import custom JSON dashboards
📈 Dashboards & Metrics
The dashboards include:
UTC time and overall status
Zabbix cluster health
Detected problems by severity
Real-time CPU and memory usage
TPS and network traffic
Value cache metrics and anomaly detection
👤 Author
This project was developed as part of a network monitoring and observability lab for study and practical implementation purposes.
🔗 LinkedIn | GitHub