Internet Accessible Home Security Systems?
PenguinRadio asks: "I'm about to embark on trip and while the thousands of dollars of computers are protected by a PIX firewall and whatnot from viruses, I'm now kind of wondering about the physical security of my 'server room' that I've built in my house. Basically, an Internet accessible burglar/fire alarm. Has anyone found a good residential security system that can be remotely checked or monitored from the other side of the world? I'd especially like the capability of look in on any security cameras (rather than setting up a simple webcam) and monitor any alarm logs. ADT and Brinks didn't seem to have anything readily visible on their website, and I'm not quite up for an X-10 version of a security system."
Actually ping works pretty well. I have nagios monitoring my home servers from work (home servers monitor work servers as well). It's set to SMS my cell whenever anything goes wrong.
A few months ago nagios zotted my cell with system unreachable message. Called home and my GF told me she'd unplugged the power strip to plug in her Synthesizer. She proclaimed me "scary creepy" for knowing what she'd done only moments after she'd yanked the cable.