Added examples of nagios-herald in action.

etsy · May 21, 2014 · 4f814d0 · 4f814d0
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diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ the **highlighted ``df`` output** that neatly defines which threshold was exceed
 
 **NOTE**: In this example, the Nagios check ran ``df`` and supplied that input.
 
+### More Examples
+
+For more examples of ``nagios-herald`` in action, see the [example alerts](/docs/example_alerts.md) page.
+
 This is possible because ``nagios-herald`` provides extensible formatters.
 
 ## Formatters

diff --git a/docs/example_alerts.md b/docs/example_alerts.md
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# Example Alerts
+
+To demonstrate how ``nagios-herald`` can format alerts to be more legible and useful, see below for some example alerts without context (before ``nagios-herald``) and **with** context (**after** ``nagios-herald``).
+
+## CPU Alert
+
+### No Context
+
+This is a basic CPU alert informing the operator that *something* is wrong with a server's overall processor utilization.
+
+![cpu_no_context](/docs/images/cpu_no_context.png)
+
+### With Context
+
+The CPU check has been updated to inform the operator of which threshold has been exceeded and lists the top 5 processes by processor utilization and ``nagios-herald`` formatted the content to make it more legible.
+
+![cpu_with_context](/docs/images/cpu_with_context.png)
+
+## Disk Space Alert
+
+Among most operators, disk space alerts probably garner the most disdain for their lack of utility and frequency of delivery.
+
+### No Context
+
+It's easy to understand why disk space alerts are perceived to be useless given the following example.
+
+![disk_space_no_context](/docs/images/disk_space_no_context.png)
+
+### With Context
+
+Now, imagine how much more useful it would be if the check output the results of ``df`` and ``nagios-herald`` could use that information to provide context.  In the example below, ``nagios-herald`` was used to add a **stack bar** to indicate which volume exceeded the threshold, add a **Ganglia graph** of disk utilization for the past 24 hours, **highlight** the relevant volume in the ``df`` output, and even inform the operator of the **number of times in the last week** that the alert fired.
+
+![disk_space_with_context](/docs/images/disk_space_with_context.png)
+
+## Memory Alert
+
+### No Context
+
+Memory alerts that simply inform the operator that some threshold have been exceeded aren't very helpful.
+
+![memory_high_no_context](/docs/images/memory_high_no_context.png)
+
+### With Context
+
+The first thing most operators do is run ``top`` to understand what processes are running, sorted by memory usage.  In the example below, the check was updated to output the top 5 processes by memory utilization and ``nagios-herald`` formatted the output for legibility.
+
+![memory_high_with_context](/docs/images/memory_high_with_context.png)
+
diff --git a/docs/images/cpu_no_context.png b/docs/images/cpu_no_context.png
diff --git a/docs/images/cpu_with_context.png b/docs/images/cpu_with_context.png
diff --git a/docs/images/disk_space_no_context.png b/docs/images/disk_space_no_context.png
diff --git a/docs/images/disk_space_with_context.png b/docs/images/disk_space_with_context.png
diff --git a/docs/images/memory_high_no_context.png b/docs/images/memory_high_no_context.png
diff --git a/docs/images/memory_high_with_context.png b/docs/images/memory_high_with_context.png