NetPath is a feature of NPM that helps you identify network problems faster by automatically

creating a map of the problem area, with a wide variety of supporting information. NetPath displays

the performance details of devices inside and outside of your network. NetPath can analyze paths to

any network segment, whether it is on-premise, cloud, or hybrid. NetPath uses distributed

monitoring and path analysis to discover how applications are delivered through the network to your

users. You can deploy agents on Windows computers that act as synthetic users and use advanced

probing to discover and test the network path that traffic takes to any network endpoint, such as

your local file print server, your website, or external websites. NetPath can also incorporate data

from NPM, NCM, and NTA about your on-premises gear, as well as data from the Internet nodes and

providers12. Reference: 1: Discover your network paths in NPM3, 2: NetPath - Easy Visual Network

Path Analysis | SolarWinds4

If you do not want to be notified when an interface is down, you can specify that the interface is

unpluggable. The interface status is not reflected in the status of the parent node and in alerts. On

the Node Management view, select the interface, and click Edit Properties. Select Display Interface as

Unplugged Rather Than Down, and click Submit. The interface status does not influence the status of

the parent node1. Reference:

Suspend collecting data for interfaces in NPM - SolarWinds (see the Set the interface status as

Unpluggable section)

Device Studio Poller is a feature that allows users to create custom pollers for devices or

technologies that are not supported by default in NPM. It can poll multiple OIDs for a given

technology, perform logical operations or transformations on the polled data, and display the polled

values in existing resources. However, it does not collect data from Orion Failover Engine or Hot

Standby Engines, which are features of Orion High Availability that ensure continuous monitoring in

case of primary server failure12. Reference: 1: Create pollers in Device Studio for NPM3, 2: When

Good OIDs Go Bad: Customizing Device Pollers, 3: Manage Pollers (AKA Device Studio) question

https://documentation.solarwinds.com/en/success_center/orionplatform/content/core-monitoringmibs-with-universal-device-pollers-sw548.htm

Capacity Forecast Charts in NPM show the usage trends and forecasts for nodes, interfaces, and

volumes based on historical data. By default, 7 days of data are required to generate these

charts1. You can change this setting globally or individually for each object2. Capacity Forecast Charts

are available for the following metrics: CPU utilization, memory usage, space usage, receive

utilization, and transmit utilization3. Reference: 1: Monitor capacity usage trends on the network and

forecast capacity issues in NPM - Capacity forecasting is available for nodes, interfaces, and volumes

that meet the following requirements 2: Change capacity forecasting settings globally in NPM -

Change the number of days of historical data required for capacity forecasting 3: Monitor capacity

usage trends on the network and forecast capacity issues in NPM - Capacity forecasting is available

for the following metrics of monitored nodes, interfaces, and volumes monitored

You can import device-specific MIBs into the SolarWinds MIB Database, and you can also import

UnDP pollers based on OIDs from device-specific MIBs. UnDP stands for Universal Device Poller,

which is a tool that allows you to monitor custom statistics based on OIDs with NPM. You can create

UnDP pollers by selecting OIDs from the MIB Browser, or by importing them from a file that contains

OIDs and poller names. You can then assign UnDP pollers to devices monitored by NPM and view the

results on the web console. Reference:

Monitor custom statistics based on OIDs with Universal Device Pollers in NPM - SolarWinds

Import Universal Device Pollers - SolarWinds

SCP Study Aid - SolarWinds (page 7)

NPM polls static properties, such as interface speed and duplex mode, from the firewall devices using

SNMP. NPM also collects traffic statistics, such as bytes in and bytes out, from the firewall interfaces

using SNMP or NetFlow. NPM then calculates bandwidth consumption based on the total amount of

bytes coming through the firewall over a given time interval. Bandwidth consumption is expressed as

a percentage of the interface speed. For example, if a firewall interface has a speed of 100 Mbps and

NPM polls 10 MB of bytes in and 10 MB of bytes out in one minute, the bandwidth consumption is

20% [(10 MB + 10 MB) / 100 Mbps * 100%]1. Reference: Monitor firewalls with NPM, Calculate

bandwidth utilization on an interface

If you want to see a statistic that NPM does not support out of the box, you can use the Manage

Pollers feature in Device Studio or the Universal Device Pollers (UnDP) feature to collect the statistics

you want from the device. Both features allow you to create custom monitors for almost any statistic

provided by SNMP based on its Management Information Base (MIB) and object identifier (OID). You

can also assign the custom pollers to specific devices, view the polled data in the Orion Web Console,

and use the data in alerts and reports. The difference between the two features is that Manage

Pollers is a web-based interface that simplifies the creation and management of custom pollers,

while UnDP is a standalone application that offers more advanced options and flexibility. Device

templates and application monitor templates are not features that can be used to collect custom

statistics from devices, as they are predefined sets of monitors for specific device types or

applications that NPM supports out of the box. Reference:

Define a custom statistic to monitor in the NPM

Manage pollers using Device Studio

[Monitor custom statistics based on OIDs with Universal Device Pollers]

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a protocol that allows network managers to

monitor and control network devices using a set of standardized messages and data structures.

SNMP uses a client-server model, where the network manager (client) sends requests to the network

device (server) and receives responses. The network device has an SNMP agent that collects and

reports the data using a MIB (Management Information Base), which is a hierarchical database of

variables that describe the device’s status and configuration. Each variable in the MIB has a unique

identifier called an OID (Object Identifier), which is a dot-separated sequence of numbers that

follows a tree structure12.

To retrieve a single value in SNMP, you can use two types of requests: GET and GET NEXT. A GET

request asks for the value of a specific OID, and the SNMP agent responds with the value if it exists,

or an error if it does not. A GET NEXT request asks for the value of the next OID in the MIB tree, and

the SNMP agent responds with the value and the OID of the next variable, or an error if there is no

next variable. A GET NEXT request can be useful for discovering the OIDs and values of a device, or

for iterating over a table of values34.

A GET VALUE request is not a valid SNMP request, and a GET TABLE request is not a single request,

but a series of GET NEXT requests that retrieve all the values in a table . Reference: 1: SNMP

Basics, 2: SNMP Tutorial Part 1 – Understanding MIBs and OIDs, 3: SNMP Tutorial Part 2 – SNMP Get,

GetNext, GetBulk, 4: SNMP Commands, : SNMP Table Operations, : SNMP Table Retrieval

NPM can monitor a wide range of network devices and infrastructure, including routers, switches,

firewalls, servers, and virtual machines. However, some devices may not support standard protocols

such as SNMP or WMI, or may have specific metrics that are not monitored out-of-the box by NPM.

In such cases, you can extend NPM’s monitoring to non-standard devices by using object identifiers

(OIDs) organized in management information bases (MIBs). OIDs are numeric strings that uniquely

identify a variable in a MIB. MIBs are hierarchical databases that define the properties and values of

the variables that can be monitored on a device. By importing device-specific MIBs into the

SolarWinds MIB Database, and creating custom pollers based on OIDs from the MIBs, you can

monitor any metric that is available on the device. You can also display the polled data in the web

console using dedicated or existing resources12. Reference:

Create custom monitors in NPM - SolarWinds

SCP Study Aid - SolarWinds (page 10)

You can make bulk changes to nodes in NPM using the Manage Nodes feature. This allows you to

select multiple nodes and edit their properties, such as the polling method, the polling frequency,

the SNMP credentials, the custom properties, and more. You can also use the Edit Nodes feature to

assign or unassign pollers to nodes, such as the Universal Device Poller (UnDP), the Hardware Health

Poller, the Wireless Poller, and more12. Reference: 1: Change the polling method for a node3, 2:

Manage pollers using Device Studio4