SolarWinds SCP-NPM SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) Exam Exam Practice Test

NPM provides a default report called Top 25 Interfaces by Percent Utilization that shows the interfaces with the highest average utilization over the selected time period1. This report can be easily edited to change the number of interfaces displayed, the time period, the sorting order, the layout, and the filters2. To create a report that shows the top 50 interfaces by percent utilization, you can simply edit this report and change the Limit option from 25 to 503. This is the most time-efficient way to create the report, as it does not require creating a new report from scratch, writing a SQL query, or running the report multiple times for different timeframes. References: 1: Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide - Top 25 Interfaces by Percent Utilization 2: Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide - Edit a report 3: Network Performance Monitor Getting Started Guide - Customize a report

One possible reason for not being able to show the polled results as charts on the Orion Web Console is that you did not set the poller to collect historical statistics. Historical statistics are required for displaying charts and gauges in the web console, as they provide the data points for plotting the trends and values over time. If you only set the poller to collect current statistics, you will only be able to view the polled results as tables or lists in the web console. To set the poller to collect historical statistics, you need to edit the poller and select the Keep Historical Data option in the Poller Properties page. You can also specify the retention settings for the historical data, such as the frequency and duration of data collection and storage1. References: Create a custom poller

High Traffic Utilization alerts are triggered when the interface’s received or transmitted percent utilization exceeds a specified threshold. However, this may not reflect the actual network congestion, as traffic spikes can occur momentarily and then subside. To avoid false alerts, you can configure the alert to trigger only when the traffic utilization remains high for a sustained period, such as 5 minutes or more. This way, you can filter out the transient traffic peaks and focus on the persistent issues that affect the network performance. References:

• How do I create a high transmit percent utilization alert to monitor interface bandwidth
• Trouble with High receive percent utilization alert
• How alerts work

 Map status thresholds determine how the status of a map is calculated based on the status of its child objects. If you set the map status threshold to above 50%, it means that the map will be up if more than half of its child objects are up, regardless of the severity of the down objects. This can cause a situation where half of your objects in a nested map are down, but the top level map is up, because the top level map only considers the status of the nested maps, not the individual objects within them. To avoid this, you can lower the map status threshold to a value that reflects the desired level of availability for your network, or use custom map status thresholds to specify different values for different maps. References: Set map status thresholds in NPM, Create nested maps in NPM, How to map through a deeply nested array of objects?

The Universal Device Poller (UnDP) is a feature of SolarWinds NPM that allows you to create custom monitors for almost any statistic provided by SNMP based on its Management Information Base (MIB) and object identifier (OID). An OID is a unique identifier for a variable that can be polled or set via SNMP. The UnDP retrieves management data in the OID format from the devices that support SNMP. The other formats (WMI, XML, ANSI 1) are not used by the UnDP. References:

• Monitor custom statistics based on OIDs with Universal Device Pollers
• NPM Universal Device Pollers

 The best way to monitor an SNMP metric that NPM is not monitoring out-of-the-box is to create a custom poller using the Universal Device Poller (UnDP) tool. A custom poller allows you to monitor specific aspects of your network devices using SNMP, by selecting the OIDs that correspond to the metrics you want to collect. You can then assign the custom poller to the devices you want to monitor, and view the results in the Orion Web Console, as charts, tables, or gauges. You can also use custom pollers to create alerts and reports based on the collected data. References: Monitor custom statistics based on OIDs with Universal Device Pollers in NPM, Create a custom poller, Assign Universal Device Pollers to devices monitored in NPM

According to the SolarWinds NPM Administrator Guide, you can assign different permissions to user accounts to control their access and actions in the Orion Platform. One of the permissions is “Allow Account to Clear Events and Acknowledge Alerts and Syslogs”, which enables the user to acknowledge alerts, clear events, and mark syslogs as read. This permission is required for auser to be able to acknowledge alerts, as acknowledging an alert stops the escalation process and provides an audit trail. The other permissions listed are not related to alert acknowledgment. “Allow Account to Unmanage Objects” allows the user to temporarily stop monitoring selected network objects. “Allow Node Management Rights” allows the user to add, edit, and delete nodes and interfaces. “Allow Administrator Rights” grants the user full access to all Orion Platform features and settings. References: SolarWinds NPM Administrator Guide, page 69-70; Add or remove an alert acknowledgment.

An agent is a software component that you can install on a node to collect and send data to the Orion server. Agents are useful when you need to monitor nodes that are behind firewalls, in the cloud, or have overlapping IP addresses. Agents can also provide more detailed information about the node’s performance and status than SNMP or WMI. Agents can use either agent-initiated or server-initiated communication, depending on your network configuration and security requirements. References: NPM Administrator Guide, page 67; SCP Study Aid - NPM, page 15.

You can share with others the PerfStack URL of any troubleshooting project you save in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console. PerfStack is a feature that allows you to create and customize interactive and dynamic charts that correlate time series data from multiple SolarWinds products and entity types. When you save a troubleshooting project, the URL becomes a sharable link that you can copy and paste to other users, such as your team members, network administrators, or product owners. The URL contains a compressed version of the project data, so it does not exceed the browser character limit. The users who receive the link can access the same project view as you, as long as they have the appropriate account permissions and limitations. References: Troubleshooting Analysis Projects, Create analysis projects with the Performance Analysis dashboard, Share analysis projects.

 The Universal Device Poller (UnDP) is a feature that allows users to create custom monitors for almost any statistic provided by SNMP based on its Management Information Base (MIB) and object identifier (OID). However, sometimes the OID that the user wants to monitor may not be available in the MIB tree, either because it is not supported by the device or because the MIB database is outdated. In this case, the user needs to update the MIB database to get the latest MIBs from the SolarWinds website or from the device vendor. This will ensure that the UnDP can find the OID in the MIB tree and poll it successfully12. References: 1: Update the SolarWinds MIB Database for the SolarWinds Platform3, 2: Monitor custom statistics based on OIDs with Universal Device Pollers in the SolarWinds Platform

An alert limitation is a filter that restricts the scope of an alert to a specific set of objects, such as nodes, interfaces, applications, or groups. You can use an alert limitation to create an alert that only applies to a select set of nodes in your network, and exclude the rest. To set an alert limitation for the nodes to be included in the alert, follow these steps1:

• Click Alerts & Activity > Alerts > Manage Alerts.
• Find the alert that you want to edit or create a new alert.
• On the Trigger Condition tab, define the condition that triggers the alert, such as Percent Loss is greater than or equal to 50.
• On the Scope of Alert tab, select Limit the scope of this alert to a specific subset of objects.
• Choose the method to define the subset of objects, such as Select objects manually, Use a custom SWQL query, or Use a custom SQL query.
• Select or enter the criteria to filter the objects, such as the node name, IP address, group, custom property, or any other attribute.
• Click Add Selected Objects to add the objects to the alert limitation.
• Click Next and complete the rest of the alert configuration.

You can now save and enable the alert, and it will only notify you when packet loss meets or exceeds 50% for the nodes that you have selected in the alert limitation. References: 1: Limit the objects an alert applies to

PerfStack is a feature of the Orion Platform that allows you to compare and correlate performance data from multiple SolarWinds products and entities in a single view1. You can drag and drop metrics from different sources, such as NPM, SAM, NCM, NTA, and more, and create custom dashboards that help you troubleshoot complex network issues2. PerfStack can also show historical data and baselines for comparison3. References: 1: Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide - Use PerfStack to troubleshoot issues 2: Network Performance Monitor Getting Started Guide - Troubleshoot your network with PerfStack 3: SolarWinds Certified Professional Program - Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Exam Study Guide - Use PerfStack to troubleshoot issues

Universal Device Pollers (UnDPs) are custom pollers that allow you to monitor specific aspects of your network devices using SNMP. You can apply UnDPs to any object type that supports SNMP polling, such as interfaces, nodes, and volumes. You cannot apply UnDPs to applications, because they are not SNMP-based objects. Applications are monitored using Application Performance Monitor (APM), which uses different methods, such as WMI, scripts, or agents, to collect data. References: Monitor custom statistics based on OIDs with Universal Device Pollers in NPM, Assign Universal Device Pollers to devices monitored in NPM, Add and assign Universal Device Pollers

The Action Manager is a feature of the Orion Platform that allows you to create, edit, and delete actions for scheduled reports1. Actions are the tasks that are performed when a report is generated, such as sending an email, saving a file, or printing a report2. You can use the Action Manager to edit the email address for each action on each report schedule, without affecting the report content or schedule3. References: 1: Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide - Use the Action Manager 2: Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide - Schedule a report 3: SolarWinds Certified Professional Program - Reporting Exam Study Guide - Use the Action Manager

 Alert suppression is a feature that allows you to create conditions that prevent an alert from being triggered or sent if certain criteria are met. This can help you avoid receiving multiple or unnecessary alerts from a single event or a complex situation. For example, if you have a router that connects your SolarWinds server to a remote site with critical devices, you may not want to receive alerts about those devices if the router is down, as the problem is not with the devices but with the router. In this case, you can configure alert suppression to suppress the alerts for the devices if the router is down. To do this, you need to select the option “Suppress the alert if all of the following apply” and add the conditions “Node Name is equal to ‘target’” and “Node Status is equal to ‘Down’”. This means that the alert will be suppressed only if both conditions are true, i.e., the router with the name ‘target’ is down. If the router is up or has a different name, the alert will not be suppressed. References: Alert suppression - SolarWinds; Alert Suppression - Forum - Network Performance Monitor (NPM) - THWACK

Orion Maps 2.0 supports displaying Palo Alto firewalls as network devices, along with their interfaces, zones, policies, and traffic data. You can also view the firewall status, alerts, and events on the map. To add a Palo Alto firewall to an Orion Map, you need to have Network Insight for Palo Alto enabled in NPM, and discover the firewall using SNMP and API polling. References: Orion Maps 2.0, New Alerting, and Palo Alto Networks Monitoring - SolarWinds Lab Episode #77, SolarWinds Lab Episode 77: Orion Maps 2.0, New Alerting, and Palo Alto Networks Monitoring - Orange Matter, Network Insight for Palo Alto Networks in NPM

For any node you monitor, you cannot use Network Discovery to automatically add child volumes or interfaces for monitoring. Network Discovery is a tool that helps you identify and add new devices to your network, but it does not automatically monitor all the components of the discovered devices. You need to manually select the volumes or interfaces you want to monitor from the list of resources on each node. You can also use the Network Sonar Results Wizard to filter and add the resources you want to monitor after running a discovery job. References:

• Discover your network with NPM - SolarWinds (see the Monitoring Settings panel section)
• Network Discovery Tool - Automated Discovery Software | SolarWinds (see the Monitor Devices section)

Sometimes, the Orion Platform may not be able to automatically map the connection between your cloud server and on premise router, even if layer 2 and layer 3 topologies are being polled on the devices. This may happen if the devices are separated by a firewall, a VPN, or a NAT device that prevents the Orion Platform from discovering the link information. In such cases, you can manually create a custom connection between the cloud node and the on premise node on the Orion Map. You can also edit the properties of the custom connection, such as the name, the status, the bandwidth, and the utilization. By creating a custom connection, you can visualize and monitor the connection between your cloud server and on premise router on the Orion Map12. References:

• Create custom connections on Orion Maps - SolarWinds
• SCP Study Aid - SolarWinds (page 10)

NPM can monitor the virtualization host hardware health, VM sprawl, and virtualization host and VM performance metrics using the Virtualization Manager Integration feature1. However,NPM cannot display the virtualization environment tree, which shows the hierarchical relationship between the virtualization hosts, clusters, datastores, and VMs. This feature is only available in Virtualization Manager2, a separate product that can be integrated with NPM. References: 1: Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide - Monitor virtual infrastructure 2: Virtualization Manager Getting Started Guide - View the virtualization environment tree

The Discovery Ignore List is a feature that allows you to specify the IP addresses or hostnames of the devices that you do not want to monitor or discover in the future. You can add devices to the ignore list manually or automatically during the discovery process. Once a device is added to the ignore list, it will be skipped by any subsequent discovery. You can also remove devices from the ignore list if you change your mind and want to monitor them later. References: Add devices to the Discovery Ignore List in NPM, Remove devices from the Discovery Ignore List in NPM, How to View Devices on Your Windows Network and What to Do If You Can’t See Them

 When you configure a report in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console, you can limit access to specific users by assigning a report limitation category to the report and to the user account. A report limitation category is a custom label that defines which reports a user can see. For example, you can create a “finance” category and assign it to the reports and users related to the finance department. Users with the “finance” category can only access the reports with the same category, and not the reports with other categories, such as “marketing” or “IT”. You can also prevent users from accessing any reports by applying the “No Reports” limitation to their account, or allow administrators to see all reports by applying the “No Limitation” category to their account. References: Restrict who can access reports in the SolarWinds Platform, Define what users can access and do in the SolarWinds Platform.

 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. References:

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