Network Performance Management - Beta

Introduction

NPM utilizes flow technologies (sFlow, NetFlow v5/9, and IPFIX) to gain insight into network performance providing end-to-end visibility. With the ability to drill down to network hotspots, NPM enables Network Administrators to proactively handle network-based performance issues and plan for capacity updates. NPM is available as a Beta feature.

NPM depends on a Flow Collector Integration to be installed and provides out-of-the-box dashboards for Top Talkers with respect to the Conversations, Protocols, etc.

Key components of NPM are:

• Flow exporter: A network device (usually a router or firewall) collects and exports flow information to a flow collector.
• Flow collector application: An appliance or server that receives exported flow information.
• Flow ingester: An application that analyzes flow information collected by the flow collector.

Prerequisite

• Contact OpsRamp support to enable the NPM feature at the Partner or Client level.
• NPM supports sFlow, NetFlow v5, NetFlow v9, and IPFIX protocols.
• NextGen Gateway version 16.0.0 and above is compatible with this feature.

SNMP Discovery (Network Devices)

See SNMP Discovery for more details on SNMP discovery.

Install NPM Collector

See NPM Collector for more details.

Network Devices Monitoring

The Network Performance Management is your home base where you can view the information regarding flow records generated by network devices.
You can view a visual representation of the flow records, including top conversations, applications, source endpoints, destination endpoints, and protocols.

Callout	Description
1	You can filter the flow records by: Top N: You can select the top 5 or 10 results to display in the dashboards. Devices: Select the whitelisted resources configured for a client from the list for which you want to view the flow records. Interfaces: Select the interfaces from the list for which you want to view the flow records. Flow Type: You can select either Ingress or Egress flow type.
2	You can filter the flow records based on the duration.
3	Different widgets to select based on your requirements. The available widgets are: Summary: Displays all the sub-sections such as top conversations, top applications, top source endpoints, top destination endpoints, and top protocols. Top Conversations: Displays the utilization between source endpoints to destination endpoints. Top Applications: Displays the utilization related to the pre-defined applications based on the port numbers. Top Source Endpoints: Displays the utilization of the source endpoints. Top Destination Endpoints: Displays the utilization of the destination endpoints. Top Protocols: Displays the utilization information related to the protocols based on the protocol name.
4	The time series chart displays the information of the flow records updated at regular intervals. For example, if a user selects the last hour time, the flow records data is aggregated each minute and displayed in the chart.
5	The widget displays the network utilization with various visualization options. Click each widget to display the related information.
6	From the settings, you have the option to configure the retention period and size limit for the flow records. Retention Period: The retention period specifies how long the flow records are retained in the system before being automatically deleted. You can configure the retention period by selecting the number of days from the drop-down list. Size Limit: The size or count limit sets a threshold on the amount of storage allocated for storing flow records. You will receive warning/critical notifications when the storage size approaches the specified limit. For instance, a warning notification is triggered when the size or count reaches 80% of the specified limit, while a critical notification is generated at 90% of the specified limit. Note: In case both the size and count are configured, an alert will be issued if either of them crosses the threshold.

Available Widgets

You might want to know how your network has performed over a specific time. The monitoring dashboard displays a visual representation of the flow records based on the user selection. The available widgets are top conversations, applications, source endpoints, destination endpoints, and protocols.
For example, the top conversation widget displays information including source and destination endpoint conversation details, total bytes transferred, total packet details, and utilization percentage.