A broker is a server running a small piece of Circonus software that execute the checks that you define. For some check types, the broker software can speak directly to the monitored service, while others require an agent to be installed and configured on the host.
You have access to a number of public brokers distributed around the world for you to use. When creating a check, you’ll need to make sure that the port listed below is reachable from the broker that you plan to use. You can find the broker hostname and IP from the Account->Brokers page in the Circonus UI (see Figure 1). Public brokers are often used to monitor publicly-accessible hosts or services.
Alternatively, we offer the ability for you to run your own broker - an Enterprise Broker. The software can be run on a VM, AWS EC2 instance, or a physical server, and requires only a single SSL port (43191) back to our main Circonus systems. This is a perfect option for users who have large internal data centers with minimal external access. When connecting checks to Enterprise Brokers, you’ll need to make sure the ports listed for each check are reachable from this broker.
When you log into your Circonus account, you will be able to see all the Brokers (Public and/or Enterprise) that are available on your account.
Further information about installing, configuring, and system requirements can be found in the Circonus User's Manual.