The short answer
Choose Rivana if you want fleet-wide storage health — per-device I/O latency, SMART degradation trends, and failing-drive alerts in one self-hosted dashboard — instead of running smartctl host by host. smartmontools is the right tool when you just need to read one drive's raw SMART attributes from the command line for free and don't need latency, fleet aggregation, or trend analysis.
Side by side
| Detail | Rivana | smartmontools |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Purpose-built storage-fleet monitoring | Free CLI for reading SMART data |
| Per-device I/O latency | Per-device I/O latency distributions via eBPF (not just averages) | None — SMART attributes only |
| Drive-failure prediction | SMART degradation trends that flag drives before they fail | Raw SMART values + self-tests (you interpret them) |
| Deployment | Self-hosted single binary — deploys in ~10 min, no cloud | Per-host CLI/daemon; DIY scripting and alerts |
| Pricing | Per-device annual license (free 30-day trial) | Free & open source |
| Best for | Infra teams running 50–500 on-prem SSD/HDD drives, tired of guessing why latency degraded | Spot-checking one drive's SMART status from the command line |
Strengths & trade-offs
Rivana
Infra teams running 50–500 on-prem SSD/HDD drives, tired of guessing why latency degraded
Rivana is a self-hosted monitoring tool built specifically for storage fleets. A lightweight eBPF collector on each host captures real per-device I/O latency — full distributions, not just averages — alongside SMART attributes, temperature, and utilization, and the aggregator flags drives whose degradation trends predict failure. It installs as a single Rust binary in about ten minutes, runs entirely on your own infrastructure with no cloud dependency, and is licensed per monitored device.
Strengths
- Built only for storage — per-device latency, SMART, and degradation in one place
- eBPF captures real I/O latency distributions, not just averages
- Flags failing or slow drives from SMART trends before they cause an outage
- Self-hosted single binary — deploys in ~10 minutes, no cloud dependency
- Fleet-wide view of 50–500+ drives out of the box
Consider
- Storage-focused — not a general-purpose metrics platform
- Commercial per-device license (free 30-day trial, then paid)
- Linux hosts (the collector uses eBPF)
- Newer than the established monitoring stacks
smartmontools
Spot-checking one drive's SMART status from the command line
smartmontools (smartctl and the smartd daemon) is the de-facto open-source tool for reading SMART attributes and running self-tests on individual drives. It's free, ubiquitous, and scriptable — but it reports raw attributes one host at a time, has no I/O latency, no fleet view, and no trend analysis or dashboards; you build the alerting, storage, and aggregation around it yourself.
Strengths
- Free, open source, and on virtually every Linux box
- Direct access to raw SMART attributes and self-tests
- Easily scripted into your own tooling
- Lightweight and battle-tested
Consider
- Per-host CLI — no built-in fleet view or dashboard
- No I/O latency metrics at all
- Raw attributes only — no trend or failure-prediction analysis
- You build alerting, storage, and aggregation yourself
Frequently asked questions
Is Rivana a replacement for smartmontools?
Choose Rivana if you want fleet-wide storage health — per-device I/O latency, SMART degradation trends, and failing-drive alerts in one self-hosted dashboard — instead of running smartctl host by host. smartmontools is the right tool when you just need to read one drive's raw SMART attributes from the command line for free and don't need latency, fleet aggregation, or trend analysis.
What storage devices and metrics does Rivana monitor?
Rivana monitors NVMe SSDs, SATA SSDs, and HDDs on Linux hosts. A lightweight eBPF collector captures per-device I/O latency distributions, SMART attributes, temperature, and utilization, and the aggregator surfaces fleet-wide dashboards plus degradation trends that flag drives likely to fail.
Does Rivana run on my own infrastructure?
Yes. Rivana is self-hosted: the aggregator installs as a single Rust binary in about ten minutes with an embedded database, and licenses are validated locally with no phone-home or internet dependency. Your storage telemetry never leaves your infrastructure.
See your storage fleet clearly
Deploy Rivana on your own infrastructure in about ten minutes. Free 30-day trial for up to 50 drives.
Start a free trialCompetitor capabilities and pricing are directional and were verified in June 2026 — check each project's or vendor's own site for current details. Rivana is an independent product and isn't affiliated with the tools compared here.