SolarWinds Hybrid-Cloud-Observability-Network-Monitoring Dumps

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

If devices respond to SNMP queries individually but aren't discovered during network scans, the most likely cause is the discovery timeout value being set too low. This can result in slower devices timing out before responding to discovery requests, even though they are operational and SNMP-enabled.

The documentation explains:

"If devices are not discovered but respond to SNMP queries, increase the discovery timeout and retry. Short timeouts can cause missed responses from devices that take longer to reply during scanning."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Unreadable fields in SNMP traps from a device typically indicate either the device is not monitored as a node (so SolarWinds cannot fully parse its SNMP data) or the MIB file for that device is not included in the SolarWinds MIB database, making it impossible to decode certain OIDs.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To display the serial number in the node details widget using Device Studio, you must add a new data source field, name it "Serial Number," and provide the correct OID that polls the serial number from the device. This field then appears in the node details widget for the custom poller. Editing an existing field's name is not best practice, and UDPs cannot be linked directly to Device Studio widgets.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Network Insight in SolarWinds supports in-depth monitoring for certain advanced switch platforms. According to the latest SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide:

"Network Insight for Cisco Nexus provides advanced visibility into the health, configuration, and performance of Nexus switches. This includes inventory, configuration changes, interface health, VDCs, and more."

Other switch families such as Brocade, Juniper, and Meraki are not currently supported by Network Insight.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The radial gauge display in the SolarWinds web console requires that the polled value from the OID is a numeric type that supports gauge visualizations (for example, a percentage or value with a defined minimum and maximum). If the OID returns data that does not fit these requirements—such as text, status, or a counter with no clear min/max—the gauge option will be grayed out and unavailable for selection. This behavior is explained in the Universal Device Poller documentation, which states that only compatible numeric OID types can be displayed using radial gauge resources.

The “top talkers” feature tracks the highest-bandwidth consumers in your network. Lowering the optimization value means more flows and more detailed data are collected and stored, which can increase the storage requirement on your server.

Exact Extract from Official Guide:

“Decreasing the Top Talkers optimization value results in the storage of more detailed data, which increases the database and storage requirements.”

— (Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide, “NetFlow and Top Talkers Optimization” section)

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

If logs are not being sent from a Windows agent, you must confirm that the log forwarding feature is enabled. Even if the agent is installed, logs will not be transmitted unless this setting is turned on.

The documentation notes:

"Ensure the agent is configured to forward logs. Log forwarding must be enabled for the agent to transmit log data to the SolarWinds platform."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

When the SolarWinds Log Analyzer web console is in "live mode," it automatically refreshes the log viewer data every 10 seconds by default, ensuring users see near real-time event streams.

The documentation states:

"In live mode, Log Analyzer refreshes data every 10 seconds to display the most recent events as they arrive."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The standard unit for flow-based alerts in SolarWinds (e.g., NetFlow Traffic Analyzer) is megabits per second (mbps). Alerts regarding traffic rates, bandwidth utilization, and similar flow metrics are configured and displayed in mbps for consistency with network monitoring best practices.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The flow navigator in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer allows users to filter and analyze flow data. For future access, you can save your custom view to the menu bar from the flow navigator, providing one-click access to your saved configurations.

The documentation states:

“To save a custom NetFlow analysis for future use, configure your view in the flow navigator, then select the option to save the view to the menu bar for easy retrieval.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To properly collect and display NetFlow data in SolarWinds NTA, the following requirements must be met:

C. Each device that exports NetFlow data to SolarWinds’ NTA must be monitored in NPM.

NTA (NetFlow Traffic Analyzer) relies on devices being monitored by NPM (Network Performance Monitor) to collect and correlate flow data.

D. The interface through which a device exports NetFlow data must be monitored in NPM.

Only interfaces that are managed in NPM can be used for NetFlow data collection, visualization, and reporting.

Devices do not need to be monitored in NCM (Network Configuration Manager) for NetFlow, and exporting NetFlow is not optional if you want the device’s flows displayed in NTA.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To change the polling interval for a specific node, navigate to the Node Details Summary, then choose “Edit Node.” In the polling section, you can configure how often SolarWinds polls this node for status and statistics. This is the correct place for per-node polling interval adjustments.

The global polling settings under “Settings > All Settings > Polling Settings” (option D) affect all nodes, not an individual node.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

A. Communication issue exists in new device: If there is an SNMP or network issue, the poller cannot retrieve data.

D. Object IDs (OIDs) are not supported: The new device may not support the same OIDs as the test device, resulting in no data returned.

SolarWinds documentation notes:

"When extending a poller to other devices, ensure network/SNMP communication is successful and that the target devices support the required OIDs. Differences in support or access may cause data collection to fail on some nodes."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

SolarWinds allows you to confirm which metrics (contributors) are used to determine node status. In the node status contributors configuration, you can check if CPU load is included for status calculation. This ensures that CPU thresholds are considered when evaluating overall node health.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Hardware health monitoring can be enabled during node discovery or after a node is added via the "List Resources" option. Additionally, hardware health can be enabled or viewed in the Asset Inventory page for nodes that support it.

From the documentation:

“You can enable hardware health sensors by selecting the option during resource discovery (List Resources) or later via Asset Inventory for individual nodes.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To detect duplex mismatches:

The node must be monitored (i.e., managed in SolarWinds).

The node must be in "up" status, so SNMP data about interface status, speed, and errors can be polled and compared.

Description in MIB (A) is not necessary if the device is already SNMP-capable, and "warning" status (C) is a result, not a requirement.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

If a node is up but its interfaces show as “unknown,” this usually means the interfaces are not currently being managed/monitored in the SolarWinds platform.

From the documentation:

“If interfaces are not selected for management during discovery or have been removed from monitoring, their status appears as ‘unknown’ even though the parent node is up.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In NetPath visualizations, the thickness of the connection lines represents the likelihood or frequency of traffic using that path.

From the documentation:

“In NetPath, thicker lines between nodes indicate a higher probability that traffic will flow along that path. This visualization is based on the frequency of successful probes and actual traffic analysis.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

For effective network capacity planning:

Enough historical data (at least 7 days) must be available: This ensures meaningful trend and forecast analysis.

Relevant objects (nodes, interfaces, volumes) must be managed: Only managed entities are included in capacity planning calculations.

Polling every OID or updating the MIB database (A, D) is not a direct requirement for capacity planning.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In NetFlow (especially Flexible NetFlow on Cisco devices), a flow monitor is applied to an interface to track and collect information about IPv4 (or IPv6) traffic. The flow monitor references a flow record and a flow exporter. The monitor itself is the entity configured on an interface to start the flow tracking process.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The Universal Device Poller (UDP) in SolarWinds NPM allows users to monitor any SNMP-exposed value, including interface traffic, UPS battery status, and CPU temperature, provided the device's MIB exposes the relevant OIDs. Users configure the UDP to poll these custom OIDs, making it a flexible option for monitoring a wide range of metrics across diverse devices.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Show best is the status rollup mode designed for groups of redundant or backup devices. It displays the "best" (most available/least severe) status within the group, which is most useful when any one device in the group being up means the group is healthy.

The “Device View” feature allows users to view the physical layout of device interfaces on graphical stencils, providing an intuitive graphical representation of port locations and status.

Exact Extract from Official Guide:

“Device View displays the physical layout of device interfaces using graphical stencils for supported devices.”

— (Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide, “Device View” section)

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To effectively diagnose a slow connection using NetPath, the following data points are essential:

Date, time, and duration of the performance issue: Helps correlate the problem with specific events or maintenance windows.

IP addresses of the nodes in question: Identifies the exact points in the network path where issues may arise.

Latency and packet loss information: These are core metrics provided by NetPath and are critical for pinpointing where delays and data loss occur.

The SolarWinds documentation states:

"When troubleshooting with NetPath, consider the time frame, the specific nodes (by IP address), and the latency/packet loss details between hops. Alert descriptions are not a primary diagnostic data point in NetPath's workflow."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To create a NetPath probe in SolarWinds, you need to specify a source (which requires a Windows-based agent or node) and a destination port. The documentation states:

“To deploy a NetPath probe, select a Windows node or agent as the source and specify the connection port for the service to be monitored. Linux nodes and agents are not supported for NetPath probes.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

When monitoring F5 BIG-IP load balancers, SolarWinds Network Insight requires both SNMP for device status and iControl (a proprietary F5 API) for advanced configuration and health monitoring. The SolarWinds guide states:

"After adding an F5 load balancer with SNMP, configure the iControl connection to access additional F5-specific health and configuration metrics."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To request an update to the SolarWinds MIB database, you must provide a complete SNMP walk or MIB walk from the device in question. This allows SolarWinds to identify and incorporate new OIDs and their definitions into the database.

From the documentation:

"Submit a request with a full SNMP walk or MIB walk output from your device. This provides the necessary OID and device structure for the SolarWinds team to update the MIB database."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Custom pollers are typically created when you need to monitor metrics or OIDs that are not supported by default in SolarWinds:

Monitor specific metric that is not out-of-the-box: If a device exposes a metric not natively monitored by SolarWinds, you must create a custom poller for that metric.

Monitor unsupported object ID: For any OID that is not included in default templates, a custom poller is necessary.

Monitoring special equipment or devices without WMI might also need custom pollers, but the requirement specifically applies when you need to access non-standard metrics or OIDs.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

A. A different port is being used: If MSSQL traffic is sent on a port different from the default (1433), SolarWinds may not classify it as MSSQL unless custom mapping is defined.

C. The source or the destination port field is not present: Application mapping relies on port information; missing fields prevent classification.

The documentation states:

"Unclassified traffic may result when known applications use non-default ports or when flow records lack required port information for mapping."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

If the flow source view in SolarWinds NTA shows “never received” and firewall issues are ruled out, it is often because the device (node) is no longer monitored by SolarWinds. If a node is removed or its monitoring is disabled, the collector will not associate incoming flows from that node, resulting in "never received" status.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Flow sampling reduces resource usage by analyzing a subset of traffic. The following protocols support sampling:

Cisco NetFlow (except v1): Most NetFlow versions support sampling.

IPFIX: Supports flow sampling as part of its standard.

NetFlow Lite: Designed to provide sampled flow data.

NetFlow V1 does not support flow sampling.

Exact Extract from Official Guide:

"NetFlow (except v1), IPFIX, and NetFlow Lite support flow sampling, enabling high-performance monitoring of large traffic volumes."

— (Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide, “Flow Protocols and Sampling” section)

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

SolarWinds NTA processes flow data via a dedicated collector component. Devices are configured to export flow records to the NTA collector, which ingests, stores, and analyzes the data.

"NetFlow Traffic Analyzer receives flow data from network devices using the NetFlow Collector service, which processes and stores traffic information for analysis."

No agent is required on target devices, and the collector is the key processing method.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Applications and NBAR2 applications in top applications are sorted by bytes: The default sorting for the “Top Applications” view, including NBAR2 apps, is by bytes.

It is possible to combine applications and NBAR2 applications: SolarWinds allows combining standard and NBAR2-classified apps for alerting and reporting purposes.

Exact Extract from Official Guide:

"Top Applications, including NBAR2, are sorted by bytes and you can combine standard and NBAR2 application data in alerts and reports."

— (Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide, “NBAR2 Applications” section)

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Device Studio pollers are used to build custom pollers for advanced device-specific metrics and widgets. The technologies explicitly supported for Device Studio pollers include:

Machine type for node details widget: Device Studio can create custom pollers to display specific node details, such as machine type, chassis ID, or serial number, within a node details widget.

Power supply status for vital statistics view: Device Studio also allows polling and visualizing metrics such as power supply status, fan status, and other vital statistics that are not natively included in basic SNMP polling.

While Device Studio can poll for advanced or composite data such as VLAN, VRF, and device health, certain interface statistics or single CPU/memory metrics are typically managed by standard SNMP pollers or Universal Device Pollers rather than Device Studio.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

A. When you probe less frequently, updates are slower but generally more accurate since there's less overhead and less chance of missing network changes due to polling overlaps.

C. Probing more frequently results in faster updates but may slightly decrease accuracy due to increased network noise and overlapping probes.

The documentation states:

"A higher probing frequency provides faster updates in NetPath views but can reduce accuracy due to more frequent sampling. Lower frequency means slower updates but typically results in higher accuracy and less system load."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

If default SNMP polling is not returning data for a new device but works for others, it is likely that the device uses unique or vendor-specific MIBs not present in the SolarWinds MIB database. Updating the MIB database and building custom pollers (UDPs) for those MIBs allows you to collect the desired metrics. An SNMP walk may help you identify the OIDs, but building and assigning pollers is necessary for ongoing monitoring.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

If interfaces on a node show an “unknown” status, the recommended solution is to delete and rediscover the node. This ensures all current interface information, OIDs, and properties are correctly detected and polled, resolving mismatch or missing data that can cause an “unknown” status.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Accuracy is decreased: By increasing the polling interval, you reduce the frequency of path checks, which can cause the data to be less granular and less timely, reducing overall accuracy.

Probe is more likely to show all routes: With a longer interval, transient or temporary routes are less likely to be missed, and NetPath might display more complete route information over time.

The probe will still complete successfully; it is just executed less frequently. Accuracy is not increased with a higher polling interval.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

For a node-specific log view, navigate to the node’s details summary and choose “Analyze Logs” under the Management section. This provides a filtered view of log messages for the selected node, allowing you to drill into relevant log events and details.

From the documentation:

“To view logs for a specific node, open Node Details > Management > Analyze Logs for node-level log analysis and troubleshooting.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The local NetFlow source provides live (real-time) flow traffic data that is sourced to and from the main polling engine server. This feature is primarily for monitoring the main polling engine’s traffic and quickly identifying top talkers and general flow activity on that server.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

SolarWinds provides a MIB Browser utility that lets you search and verify whether a specific object ID (OID) exists in the SolarWinds MIB database. By entering the OID in the MIB Browser, you can confirm its presence and also test polling against the device.

The documentation states:

"Use the MIB Browser to search for and verify OIDs in the SolarWinds MIB database. The tool also allows you to test poll the device to ensure the OID is being returned."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

NetPath is specifically designed to trace and troubleshoot connectivity paths between nodes.

Network Insight provides in-depth analysis and diagnostics for specific vendors/devices, including health, connectivity, and configuration.

Asset inventory and MIB browser are not direct troubleshooting tools for connectivity.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

SolarWinds NTA maps flow sources to nodes by matching the IP address. If a device exports flows using a secondary IP (not the one defined as "primary" in SolarWinds), and the setting "Allow matching by other IPs" is not enabled, the flow will not map to a known node. The documentation explains:

"If flow packets are received from an IP address not designated as primary in SolarWinds, and matching by other IPs is disabled, the flow source is not linked to a node. Enable the setting to match by any device IP to resolve this issue."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

NetPath probes require a supported Windows environment for deployment. According to the SolarWinds documentation, probes can be run from the Hybrid Cloud Observability (HCO) server itself, which must be a Windows server, or from any Windows client computer, including Windows 10. NetPath agents are not available for Linux or for network devices such as routers; the agent cannot be installed on Red Hat Linux or routers.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Duplicate flow data typically results when both ingress and egress flow monitoring are applied simultaneously on interfaces. If both directions are enabled either globally (all interfaces) or locally (on a single interface), the same flow is counted twice—once entering and once leaving—resulting in duplicate statistics.