DATAZONE Control: Centralized IT Monitoring and Patch Management

IT infrastructure grows — and so does its complexity. Servers, firewalls, storage systems, and network components are distributed across multiple locations. Anyone manually monitoring and patching 50 systems spends hours on repetitive tasks while still missing critical updates. DATAZONE Control centralizes monitoring, patch management, and configuration in one platform — self-hosted, without cloud dependency.

The Problem: Decentralized IT Administration

A typical SMB with 3 locations operates:

• 10–20 Proxmox hosts with VMs and containers
• 3–6 OPNsense firewalls
• 2–4 TrueNAS storage systems
• Various Linux servers (web servers, mail servers, databases)

Without central management, this means:

• SSH into every server individually to check for updates
• Open each firewall’s web interface separately
• No unified overview of overall health
• Inconsistent patch levels between locations
• Delayed response to critical security updates

DATAZONE Control: The Central Hub

DATAZONE Control is a self-hosted platform for centralized management of heterogeneous IT infrastructure. An agent on each managed system reports status information and receives tasks.

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────┐
│      DATAZONE Control        │
│      (Self-Hosted Server)    │
├──────────────────────────────┤
│  Dashboard · Monitoring      │
│  Patch Management · Scripts  │
│  Asset Inventory · Alerting  │
└──────────────┬───────────────┘
               │
    ┌──────────┼──────────┐
    ▼          ▼          ▼
┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐
│ Site A │ │ Site B │ │ Site C │
│        │ │        │ │        │
│Proxmox │ │Proxmox │ │OPNsense│
│OPNsense│ │TrueNAS │ │Linux   │
│TrueNAS │ │Linux   │ │Servers │
└────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘

Each system runs a lightweight agent that:

• Collects system information (CPU, RAM, disk, network)
• Reports installed packages and versions
• Detects available updates
• Receives and executes scripts and tasks from the control server
• Sends status reports at configurable intervals

Monitoring: Everything at a Glance

System Monitoring

DATAZONE Control monitors for each system:

Metric	Description	Alert Threshold
CPU utilization	Average and peaks	> 90% for 5 minutes
RAM usage	Used, cache, swap	> 85% used
Disk capacity	Per partition/pool	> 80% used
Disk health	SMART status	Any error
Network traffic	In/out per interface	Anomaly detection
Uptime	Since last reboot	Unplanned restart
Service status	Systemd services	Service not active

Proxmox-Specific

For Proxmox hosts additionally:

• VM/CT status: Which VMs and containers are running, which are stopped
• Cluster quorum: Are all nodes in the cluster reachable
• Ceph health: Status of distributed storage (if Ceph is in use)
• Backup status: Latest PBS backups and their results
• HA status: High availability groups and failover readiness

OPNsense-Specific

For OPNsense firewalls:

• Firewall rules: Number of active rules, last change
• VPN tunnels: Status of all IPsec/WireGuard tunnels
• IDS/IPS alerts: Suricata alerts aggregated
• Blocklist status: Are all alias tables loaded
• Update availability: OPNsense version status

Alerting

Alerts are triggered for:

• Threshold exceeded on defined metrics
• System unreachable (no heartbeat)
• Available security updates (by severity)
• Failed backups
• Disk SMART warnings

Notification channels: Email, webhook, integration with existing monitoring systems.

Patch Management: Central and Auditable

Overview Across All Systems

The patch dashboard shows:

• Systems with pending updates (grouped by severity)
• Security-relevant updates highlighted
• Patch compliance per location (percentage of current systems)
• Update history for audit and traceability

Patch Workflow

1. Detection: Agents report available updates automatically
2. Assessment: Updates are classified by severity (critical, high, medium, low)
3. Approval: IT administrator reviews and approves updates in the dashboard
4. Execution: Updates are deployed to selected systems or groups
5. Validation: Agent reports result — success or failure
6. Documentation: Complete audit log of all performed updates

Patch Groups

Systems can be organized into groups:

• Test group: Test updates here first (one representative server)
• Production Site A: Roll out after successful testing
• Production Site B: Staggered after Site A
• Firewalls: Separate group with its own approval level

Example: Kernel Update on 15 Linux Servers

Without DATAZONE Control:

1. SSH into server 1, apt update && apt upgrade, wait, reboot
2. SSH into server 2, same thing…
3. …repeat for 15 servers
4. Verify all services are running again
5. Time required: ~3 hours

With DATAZONE Control:

1. Dashboard: “15 servers with available kernel update”
2. First test group: update 1 server, validate
3. Select all remaining servers, start update
4. Monitor status in real-time, all services are checked automatically
5. Time required: ~15 minutes

Script Execution: Configuration Management

Beyond monitoring and patches, DATAZONE Control can execute arbitrary scripts on managed systems:

• Configuration changes across all systems simultaneously
• Compliance checks (CIS hardening, security audits)
• Automated setups (blocklists, agent configurations)
• Data collection (inventory, license status)

Scripts are centrally managed, versioned, and executed with logging. Every execution is recorded — who ran what, when, on which system.

Self-Hosted: Full Control

DATAZONE Control runs on your own infrastructure — no cloud dependency, no third-party access.

Advantages over cloud RMM:

• Data sovereignty: All data stays in your network
• No vendor lock-in: No monthly SaaS fees
• GDPR compliance: No data transfers to third parties
• No internet requirement: Works in air-gapped networks too
• Customization: Adaptable to specific requirements

Frequently Asked Questions

Which operating systems are supported?

The DATAZONE Agent runs on Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Rocky Linux, Alpine Linux, FreeBSD (OPNsense), Proxmox VE, and TrueNAS. Windows support via a separate agent.

How does the agent communicate with the control server?

Encrypted via HTTPS. The agent initiates the connection to the control server (pull model) — no inbound firewall ports needed on managed systems.

Can DATAZONE Control replace existing monitoring systems?

For most SMBs, yes — DATAZONE Control covers system monitoring, patch management, and script execution. For complex monitoring requirements (application performance monitoring, custom dashboards), it can additionally be connected to Prometheus/Grafana or Zabbix.

What happens if the control server goes down?

Managed systems continue running independently — the agent has no influence on operations. Monitoring data is buffered locally and synchronized after connection is restored.

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Want to centrally manage your IT infrastructure? Contact us — we set up DATAZONE Control and integrate all your Proxmox, OPNsense, and TrueNAS systems.