SCP-NPM SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) Exam Questions and Answers

Capacity usage trends are calculated based on historical data. By default, the longest time period taken into account for calculating the capacity forecast is 180 days. The more historical data up to 180 days are available, the more precise is the calculated forecast. Forecast calculation methods include peak calculation and average calculation, which can be set globally or customized for individual objects. Capacity forecasting is available for nodes, interfaces, and volumes that meet certain requirements, such as being managed in NPM and having enough historical data in the database. References: Monitor capacity usage trends on the network and forecast capacity issues in NPM, Forecast capacity for nodes, interfaces, or volumes in NPM, Real-Time Network Monitoring Tool

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.

To allow the finance department to view select reports from NPM without a user account, you can enable the Link only option on the report. This option allows you to generate a direct link to the report that can be shared with anyone who has access to the Orion Web Console URL, even if they do not have a user account or login credentials. The Link only option also bypasses any report limitations or account restrictions that might apply to the report. To enable the Link only option on a report, you need to edit the report and select the Link only option in the Report Properties page. You can then copy the link and send it to the finance department via email or other methods. The finance department can then view the report by clicking the link and opening it in a web browser1. References: Share a web-based report with non-Orion Platform users

Account limitations are a way of restricting the access of Orion user accounts to specific network objects, such as nodes, interfaces, groups, maps, or alerts. You can use account limitations to limit a user to only monitor Windows servers and not be able to view other devices that NPM monitors. For example, you can create a custom limitation based on the node property Operating System, and select only Windows as the value. Then, you can apply this limitation to the user account or user group that you want to restrict. The other options are not effective ways of limiting user access to specific devices, as they either affect the visibility of the entire view (view permissions), the layout of the view (account views), or the scope of the alerts (alert limitations). References:

• Limit user access to network areas with account limitations
• Create custom account limitations

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. References: 1: Change the polling method for a node3, 2: Manage pollers using Device Studio4

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

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. References: Monitor firewalls with NPM, Calculate bandwidth utilization on an interface

The best way to reduce false alerts for high traffic utilization is to configure the alert trigger condition to be more specific and accurate. By setting the alert to trigger only when traffic utilization remains high for a sustained period, you can avoid getting alerted for short-lived spikes that are not a cause for concern. You can use the Time of Day and Trigger Condition options in the alert configuration wizard to define the duration and threshold of the high traffic utilization condition. For example, you can set the alert to trigger only when traffic utilization is greater than 80% for more than 10 minutes during business hours. References:

• How do I create a high transmit percent utilization alert to monitor interface bandwidth - Forum - Network Performance Monitor (NPM) - THWACK Products
• How alerts work - SolarWinds
• SCP Study Aid - SolarWinds (page 8)

 SolarWinds NPM can monitor various metrics on an Ethernet switch, including configuration changes, duplex mismatches, and CPU utilization. Configuration changes are tracked by the Network Configuration Manager (NCM) integration, which allows you to view, compare, and restore configuration files, as well as receive alerts on configuration changes1. Duplex mismatches are detected by the topology polling feature, which collects and displays the duplex mode of the connected devices and interfaces, and alerts you when there is a mismatch2. CPU utilization is monitored by the SNMP polling feature, which collects and displays the CPU load of the switch, as well as other performance metrics such as memory utilization, interface statistics, and more3. Buffer misses are not monitored by NPM, as they are not part of the standard SNMP MIBs that NPM supports. References: Monitor configuration changes on network devices with NPM; Detect and predict duplex mismatches in NPM; Monitor CPU load, memory utilization, and buffer usage on switches and routers; [Buffer Misses - Forum].

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) is a comprehensive monitoring solution designed to provide a wide range of metrics for network devices. For an Ethernet switch, NPM can monitor configuration changes, buffer misses, duplex mismatches, and CPU utilization1

 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

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

 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. References: 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

To add a new subnet of 500 devices for monitoring, the first step is to perform a network discovery using the Network Sonar Wizard in NPM. This wizard allows you to scan your network by IP address range, subnet, or seed device and automatically discover and add nodes and interfaces to NPM for monitoring. You can also specify credentials, polling settings, and custom properties for the discovered devices. Performing a network discovery can help you quickly and efficiently incorporate new devices into NPM without manually adding them one by one. References: Discover your network devices, Specify subnets, Discover devices by subnets

 SNMP traps are unsolicited messages sent by network devices to report events or issues. If NPM receives too many traps from devices that are not managed by NPM, or traps that are not relevant for monitoring, the performance of the Orion Web Console can be affected. To resolve this issue, you can point the devices to a trap manager, such as Kiwi Syslog Server, and configure it to filter out unwanted traps before forwarding the remaining ones to the Orion Platform. This way, NPM will only process the traps that are important for monitoring and alerting, and reduce the load on the database and web server. References: Configure SNMP traps in NPM, Filter traps in Kiwi Syslog Server, [Forward traps to another host in Kiwi Syslog Server]

An OID (Object Identifier) is a unique identifier for a specific variable in a MIB (Management Information Base) that can be polled or monitored by SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). However, not all OIDs are supported by all devices or SNMP agents, which are software components that collect and report the MIB data. If you select an OID that is not supported by the device or the SNMP agent, you will get an “OID not supported” error when you try to create a custom poller for that device in NPM (Network Performance Monitor). This means that the device or the SNMP agent does not have the information for that OID or does not respond to the SNMP request for that OID12.

To resolve this issue, you can try the following steps34:

• Verify that the device supports the OID that you want to monitor. You can use the MIB Browser or the MIB Walk tool to browse the MIB tree of the device and find the OID. You can also check the device vendor’s documentation or website for the supported OIDs and MIBs.
• Verify that the SNMP agent on the device is configured properly and has the latest version. You may need to update the SNMP agent or enable some features or extensions to support the OID. You can also check the SNMP agent’s logs or status for any errors or warnings.
• Verify that the SNMP credentials and settings are correct and match the device’s configuration. You may need to use a different SNMP version, community string, port, or timeout value to communicate with the device. You can also test the SNMP connectivityusing the SNMP Test tool or the Test button in the UnDP (Universal Device Poller) application.
• Verify that there are no network issues or firewalls that are blocking the SNMP traffic between the NPM server and the device. You may need to allow the SNMP protocol and port on the firewall or router, or use a different network path or interface to reach the device. You can also use the Ping or Traceroute tools to check the network connectivity and latency.

References: 1: What is an OID?5, 2: The OID is not supported, 3: Troubleshoot Unknown Nodes, 4: Troubleshoot SNMP issues

 One possible cause of this issue is that the user account has the No Reports limitation applied to it. This limitation prevents the user from accessing any reports in the Orion Console, regardless of the report group or category. To resolve this issue, you need to edit the user account and change the report limitation to either No Limitation (to allow access to all reports) or a specific report limitation category (to allow access to only the reports with that category). You can also create custom report limitation categories and assign them to the reports and users as needed. References: Restrict who can access reports in the SolarWinds Platform, Define what users can access and do in the SolarWinds Platform.

To identify the custom poller within the trigger condition, you need to use the Unique Name of your UnDP. The Unique Name is a user-defined identifier that you assign to your custom poller when you create it using the Universal Device Poller tool. The Unique Name is also used to reference the custom poller in the Orion database and the web console. When you select “I want to alert on: Custom Poller” in the alert configuration, you can choose the specific custom poller by its Unique Name from the list of available pollers. You can also use the Unique Name to filter, group, or sort the custom poller data in reports, charts, or tables. References: Create a custom poller, Create an alert for a custom poller, View custom poller data

NPM requires only one agent for Quality of Experience, NetPath, and system monitoring on the same Windows server. The agent is a software component that collects data from the server and sends it to the Orion server1. The agent can perform multiple tasks, such as packet analysis, network path analysis, and system health monitoring, depending on the configuration and the license2. You can install the agent on the server either manually or remotely from the Orion Web Console3. References: 1: Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide - Agents 2: Network Performance Monitor Getting Started Guide - Monitor with agents 3: Network Performance Monitor Installation Guide - Install agents

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