Totally get where you’re coming from — a lot of tools are powerful, but the time investment just doesn’t match the actual size of the environment.

For a setup like yours (10 hosts + a few switches), the key is really:

* fast setup
* low maintenance
* and no “toolchain building”

Regarding Checkmk — I get your point about the UI feeling busy at first. It can look a bit overwhelming initially, especially compared to simpler tools.

But what helped me (and why I still use it, even in my homelab) is that you don’t actually have to use everything it shows. You can:

• focus on specific services (e.g. a single switch port interface)
• build custom views/dashboards for exactly what you care about
• and keep things very minimal once it’s set up

For your requirements, it actually fits quite well

• Linux hosts → agent-based, super quick to get basic metrics
• Network → SNMP out of the box
• API checks → easy to script (special agent / local checks) and graph over time
• Multi-site → possible without VPN via distributed setup
• Syslog → can be integrated, but yeah, some people still split logging out

The “ease” part mostly comes from auto-discovery — you add a host, it finds services, you’re basically done.

And from my experience (also running it in a small homelab), it’s one of the few tools where you can start simple but don’t hit a wall later if requirements grow.

That said — if you really want something ultra-minimal, Checkmk might feel like more than you need at first glance. But if you’re okay with a short learning curve, it usually pays off pretty quickly.