ClusterPing Help & Documentation

Learn how to use ClusterPing to monitor your storage clusters effectively.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Download and install ClusterPing from the Mac App Store
2. Open ClusterPing
3. Enter your cluster's hostname (e.g., storage-cluster.local)
4. Click "Start Monitoring"
5. Watch as nodes are automatically discovered and monitored

✨ Features

Automatic Node Discovery

ClusterPing uses DNS Round-Robin to automatically discover all nodes in your cluster. It performs multiple DNS lookups over a 10-second period to ensure all IPs are found, even in load-balanced environments where different IPs are returned with each query.

Real-time Ping Monitoring

Once nodes are discovered, ClusterPing continuously pings each one, tracking:

• Latency (round-trip time in milliseconds)
• Availability (whether the node responds)
• Packet loss percentage
• Success rate over time

Visual Charts

Click on any node to see a detailed latency chart. The chart shows latency trends over time, helping you identify performance issues and patterns.

Activity Log

All monitoring events are logged with timestamps. You can filter by log level (debug, info, warning, error, success) and search for specific events.

⚙️ Configuration

Access Settings by pressing ⌘, or choosing ClusterPing > Settings from the menu.

Monitoring Settings

• Ping Interval: Time between pings to each node (default: 1 second)
• DNS Refresh Interval: How often to perform DNS lookups (default: 30 seconds)

Advanced Settings

• Maximum Nodes: Limit the number of monitored nodes (default: 50)
• Ping Timeout: How long to wait for a ping response (default: 5 seconds)

📊 Exporting Data

1. Click the "Export" button in the toolbar
2. Choose a save location
3. Data is exported as a text file with all statistics

🎨 Demo Mode

Enable Demo Mode in Settings to use ClusterPing without an actual cluster. This is useful for:

• Learning how the app works
• Taking screenshots
• Testing export functionality

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Why aren't all my nodes being discovered?

DNS Round-Robin may take several queries to return all IPs. ClusterPing performs multiple DNS lookups over 10 seconds. If nodes are still missing, try increasing the DNS Refresh Interval in Settings.

Can I monitor multiple clusters at once?

Currently, ClusterPing monitors one cluster at a time. Stop the current session before starting a new one.

What network permissions does ClusterPing need?

ClusterPing needs outgoing network access for DNS resolution and ICMP ping. No incoming connections are required. The app is fully sandboxed and follows Apple's security guidelines.

Does ClusterPing support IPv6?

Yes! ClusterPing automatically supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

How much system resources does ClusterPing use?

ClusterPing is designed to be lightweight, using less than 100MB of memory and minimal CPU. The UI maintains 60 FPS even with many nodes.

📝 Keyboard Shortcuts

• ⌘, - Open Settings
• ⌘? - Open Help (this page)
• ⌘R - Reset monitoring session

🔧 Troubleshooting

DNS resolution fails

• Verify the hostname is correct and accessible from your network
• Check your Mac's DNS settings in System Settings > Network
• Try using a fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
• Test with ping hostname in Terminal to verify connectivity

Nodes show as unreachable

• Verify the nodes are actually online and responding to ping
• Check if firewall rules might be blocking ICMP packets
• Try increasing the Ping Timeout in Settings

App runs slowly with many nodes

• Reduce the maximum number of nodes in Settings
• Increase the ping interval to reduce load
• Clear the ping history by resetting the session

💬 Support

Need more help?

• Email: support@clusterping.dev
• GitHub: Report issues and view the code
• Documentation: Check the README for technical details

📖 Use Cases

Storage Cluster Monitoring

Monitor PowerScale/Isilon, NetApp, or other storage clusters to ensure all nodes are responding and performing well. Identify problematic nodes before they cause issues.

Load Balancer Validation

Verify that your DNS Round-Robin setup is correctly distributing connections across all nodes. Ensure all backend servers are discovered and reachable.

Network Performance Analysis

Track latency trends over time to identify network congestion or degradation. Compare performance across multiple nodes.

🛠️ Technical Details

How DNS Discovery Works

ClusterPing creates multiple simultaneous network connections to trigger DNS Round-Robin rotation. Each connection may receive a different IP address, allowing the app to discover all nodes in the pool.

Ping Implementation

ClusterPing uses the system's /sbin/ping command for ICMP ping. This ensures compatibility with macOS's App Sandbox and doesn't require special permissions.

🔒 Privacy & Security

ClusterPing performs all monitoring locally. No data is collected, stored, or transmitted to any servers. See our Privacy Policy for details.

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Still have questions?
Contact us at support@clusterping.dev