The best way to see Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor in action
is to take a walk through of the demo. Check for yourself what
this award winning network management solution can do for your setup.
Install on Windows Server; you need an SQL Database, but don't worry
it comes with SQL Express.
2. How Does NPM Poll?
Using either ICMP, SNMPor WMI
3. Access the NPM Features Via These Tabs
a. Home (See tab below) b. VMware
4. Home Page
a. General overview of all nodes on your network, which we will drill
down in a moment b. Example of the types of devices we can monitor.
5. Node Details
a. Expand Cisco > Cisco Core Router (you can hover over the specific
node in the tree view to show a snapshot of that nodes operability)
i. left side = real-time information ii. right side = historical
information iii. here you can monitor specific information or each
node, including: bandwidth utilization and the interfaces that are
being monitored on that node
Packet loss
Average response time
Latency
Disk errors/alerts
CPU load
Memory utilization
iv. stacking multiple interfaces on a single chart v. Network
Topology shows you what port is connected to what device
6. Interface Details
a. Click GigabitEthernet 0/1 – link to PIX (at the top right of the
Node Details page) i. This view will show your interface utilization
information such as, Receive & Transmit utilization, errors & discards,
or total bytes transferred.
7. Volume Details
a. Go back to Home > Expand Windows > Expand OrionDevServer i. the
first view is back to the Node you can see it's a Windows server and the
interfaces being monitored ii. You can also see the Volumes that are
being monitored. (Volume is a physical disk drive or physical or virtual
memory) b. Drill into Physical Memory i. You can see the size of
the drives, space available, % used, % available
a. Back on the Home Page - On the right, you have a customizable map
that shows your network distribution by Geographic location, along with
bubbles indicating a operating or degraded state b. US Map > US
Operations Map > Austin > Headquarters
9. Customizing HTML resources:
a. One of the cool features of NPM is the customizable HTML resource
at the bottom of the Home page, including: i. Open HelpDesk Tickets (we use LANDesk,
but you can use anything) ii. Dynamic map or picture (we show the
current US radar, which could be a component that's affecting your
network in a particular area)
10. Top 10 View
a. view of all the Top 10 Issues on your network b. the resources
are customizable, so if you want the a Top 25 view, just simply edit
that resource c. Click Top 10 on the Home Menu Bar
11. Groups View
a. Groups allows you to define any logical grouping of your nodes,
interfaces, volumes, applications, … If there is ever a problem with any
part of that group we will tell you the ROOT CAUSE. b. Click Groups
on Home Menu Bar (drill into any group to demonstrate the ROOT CAUSE)
12. DataCenter View
a. This view that has been created from the 'Home' tab to demonstrate the level of
customization. b. shows core datacenter nodes, along with a
customizable core map c. helpful in identifying your VSAN (virtual
storage area network) traffic and historical interface aggregate chart
data d. Click Data Center on the Menu Bar
13. Overview View
a. This view is accessed via the Network tab and shows an overview of all of your nodes and interfaces
and the ability to change the view types. b. nodes and interfaces
and their operability c. you can hold your mouse over each icon for
details, again most of which would require additional work to find if
you did not have NPM d. data key (legend) at the bottom e. Click
Overview on the Menu Bar
14. Alerts
a. N.B. This is not available via the Web interface. Click on Alerts on the Home Menu Bar i. Alerts view shows all
of your active alerts ii. Ability to identify any thresholds and
anything being monitored and alert on it. iii. Over 14 different
actions when an alert is triggered iv. Alert Escalation ability
15. Syslog and Traps:
a. Click on the Message Center view under Home i. NPM includes a syslog
and trap receiver. ii. Alert and report on those syslog or traps.
16. Reports:
a. Click on Reports on the Home Menu bar b. tons of reports
included out of the box. c. Easy to modify or create on your own
d. Ability to have reports emailed on scheduled interval e. Example
Report to show – Home > Reports > Node Reports > Inventory > IOS Versions of Cisco
Devices
17. THWACK
a. Click on thwack on the Home Menu Bar b. online community for
answering software questions and troubleshooting c. useful
information, valuable tools and resources d. allows you to join and
talk to other SolarWinds customers and network engineers, as well as
directly to Solarwinds personnel (e.g. developers and product managers).
18. WIRELESS
a. Click on Wireless on the Home Menu Bar b. Wireless monitoring
is INCLUDED with NPM c. Capture statistics such as Access Points,
SSIDs, Clients on the wireless network, and traffic throughput. d.
SUPPORT FOR WIRELESS CONTROLLERS *** (Cisco, Aruba, Meru) e.
19. The NETWORK Tab
This provides additional features such as VSAN support, Cisco UCS,
Fiber Channel, and EnergyWise a. Click Network tab to showcase
20. The VMware Tab
This is also included in SolarWinds NPM and provides bird's eye view of
your Virtualization Infrastructure. You can view the Cluster, Data
Center, ESX Host, or VM level a. Click on Home (tab) > VMware > Expand
P390SVR-DT > SE & PMM Datacenter > Cai-VM-02 i. Displays the Virtual
Machines on the ESX Host, the state they are in, and the resources they
are using. ii. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the stacked
graphs of CPU, Memory consumption, and network traffic for each VM.
Get started with 3 simple steps:
More Free and Trial Network Software
Here are Guy's evaluations, recommendations and download links for handy
utilities.
Guy Recommends:
SolarWinds' NPM - Network Performance Monitor
SolarWinds' performance monitor is designed for detecting network outages,
making it easy to see what's working, and what needs your attention.
This utility guides you through creating network maps; it also helps
identifying whether the
root cause is faulty equipment, or resource overload. Give NPM a try.
