Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Topology This PDF file contains content from the Unified Monitoring Portal (UMP) Online Help system. It is intended only to provide a printable version of the topics. Therefore, the links in these topics will not work from the PDF file. To access the links you must view the online help system installed with your UMP product.
Table Of Contents Introduction to Topology Manager...1 Overview...1 Architecture...2 See Also...3 Topology Manager Window...4 Overview...4 Toolbar...4 Panes...8 Dialogs...10 See Also...13 Creating a Map...14 Overview...14 Creating a New Map...14 Saving an Auto Discovered Map...14 See Also...15 Root Cause Analysis...16 Overview...16 Designating and Viewing Root Cause Analysis Maps...17 See Also...17 Index...19 ii
Introduction to Topology Manager This topic contains the following information: Overview Architecture See Also Overview With Topology Manager, you can gain comprehensive, real-time visibility into your distributed IP networks, allowing you to more effectively optimize network performance and availability. Topology Manager automates the process of defining an extensive network topology of even the most complex networks and delivers intuitive, visual diagrams of the entire IP network. It also offers sophisticated root cause analysis (RCA) that enables faster discovery of the source of a network problem while reducing unnecessary or redundant alarms. Topology maps provide visual clarity into network relationships and dependencies among core business devices (virtual or physical), applications and services. This allows you to more rapidly perform network expansion, consolidation and repairs. Auto discovered maps automatically regenerate once a day to reflect changes on the network. You can duplicate and then edit auto discovered maps. Customization is accomplished through the drag-and-drop interface, featuring interactive palettes, menus, and accordion drawers. Nodes representing physical and virtual devices can be dragged onto appropriate locations on a map or auto-arranged through topology discovery. You can edit or draw new dependency connections between devices. You can also add background images, such as geographic maps, to the topology maps. You can use either a set of maps provided with the product or upload your own images. You can use filters to view only specified devices on the topology maps. You can drill down to information about each device in the topology map by hovering over the device with the mouse or view more detailed information about the device by double-clicking it. Maps can be printed. Automated network topology discovery uses automated link layer technology to support the discovery and diagramming of complex networks. The discovery process models non-managed devices such as hubs, dumb switches, or devices without SNMP. Physical connectivity and dependency relationships among all devices and servers on an IP network are depicted. The discovery process generates a log with statistics about the discovery process such as duration of run, current status, root topology node, number of bridges or hosts, and errors, as shown below. 1
Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Root Cause Analysis (RCA) uses real-time fault evaluation with designated topology maps to determine the cause of an outage. The RCA engine analyzes all paths from the monitoring robot to an affected device, identifying the root cause of an outage and suppressing alarms from sympathetic nodes. This prevents floods of alarm, emails, or pager calls from downstream devices, sending notifications only for the root cause device fault. For more information, see Root Cause Analysis. Return to Top Architecture The RCA and Topology Manager has the following probes: topology_server Network Topology Discovery Server (centralized at the Primary Hub) topology_agent Network Topology and RCA Agent (for distributed, remote networks) rca_server Root Cause Analysis (RCA) engine (centralized at the Primary Hub) wasp_netmon Topology Map & Visualization web application (deployed as a standard J2EE "webapp" extension to WASP) The following is a diagram of the deployment architecture: 2
Topology The net_connect probe must be deployed to each of the remote distributed networks in order to test and evaluate device faults and availability in real-time. The net_connect probe is used to issue ICMP ping requests to monitored devices on a local network. Return to Top See Also Creating a Map Topology Manager Window 3
Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Topology Manager Window This topic contains the following information: Overview Toolbar Panes Dialogs See Also Overview This topic describes the graphical user interface of the Topology Manager application. Toolbar Press the Tab key to remove tool bars from the display to maximize the space for viewing the map. 4
Topology Action buttons: New Map icon Open Map icon Save Map icon Field or Button Description Displays the Create New Map dialog, where you can create a new map, including adding markers and background images. Displays the Open Map dialog, where you can choose an existing map to display in the current window. Displays the Save Map dialog, where you can choose settings for the map and save it to the database. Search Devices icon Allows you to search using the node browser for discovered devices. 5
Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Insert Map Background Image icon Displays the Add Background Map Image dialog, where you can add or upload background image to the map. Only administrators can upload images. Tool buttons: Arrow tool Hand tool Manual Link tool Allows you to drag-and-drop devices and background images on the map canvas. Hover over a device with this tool to display information about the device. Ctrl+click a device to display a web page with details about the device. Hover over a device or background image and press Delete on the keyboard to remove the device or image from the map. You can drag devices from the open Devices Drawer to the map. The arrow tool is available only to users with write permission for the map. Also, you can drag background images only if the Map Background Image Lock is toggled to off. Allows you to drag the map to reposition it if the map extends beyond the window (if there are scrollbars present). Hover over a marker with this tool to display information about the marker. Doubleclick a marker to display a web page with details about the marker. Allows you to create directional links between two devices. Magnifier tool Zoom slider Allows you to zoom in or out of an area of the map. Click on the map to zoom in, or shift+click on the map to zoom out. You can also use this tool to scale your imported background images. Ctrl+click on a background image to increase its size slightly. Shift+Ctrl+click on a background image to decrease its size slightly. The position of any markers placed on the background image are lost when you Ctrl+click or Shift+Ctrl+click. This functionality is available only if you have write permission for the map and the Map Background Image Lock is toggled to off. Allows you to move quickly between 6
Topology zoom levels, which range from 1 to 15. Drag the slider to the left to zoom out or drag it to the right to zoom in. Or, you can click anywhere along the slider. Map Background Image Lock icon Delete icon Locks the background images on a map in place so the images are not accidentally moved when placing markers on them. The background images cannot be dragged, re-sized using Ctrl+click, or deleted. This button is disabled if the user does not have write permission for the map. Deletes the current map. Print icon Prints the current map. Discovery Log icon Root Cause Analysis (RCA) icon Auto Discovered (AD) icon Displays a log file with information about the device discovery process. The log file is located at: C:\Program Files\Nimsoft\probes\service\ topology_agent\topology_agent.log Indicates the map is a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) map. An RCA map indicates which device is the root of the problem when one device causes dependent devices to be unavailable. Nodes that are down are marked with a red "X". Dependent nodes that are unreachable are marked with a yellow exclamation point. You designate a map as an RCA map when you create the map. Maps that contain nested maps cannot be used for RCA. See Root Cause Analysis for more information. Indicates the map was Auto Discovered (AD). This map is read only. To edit this map, first save it as a new file. 7
Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Panes The Canvas The map canvas displays your maps and allows you to edit them. You can connect devices or rearrange them by dragging them. You can also hover the mouse over a device to see information about the device, or you can double-click the device to see more detailed information. You can also zoom in and out by using the zoom slider. You can drag devices from the Devices Drawer onto the canvas. After deleting a device from the canvas, click Refresh to see the device in the Devices Drawer. Drag maps from the Maps Drawer onto the canvas to nest another map within the map. Double-click the nested map on the canvas to view it. To delete icons or map background images, hover the mouse over them and click delete. The Mini-Map Use the mini-map to scroll the viewable area of the canvas. Move to another part of the map with the mini-map by pressing the orange square, dragging it, and releasing it. 8
Topology The Devices Drawer The Devices Drawer is a container for the list of discovered devices which have not been placed as units on the topology map. Drag devices from this drawer onto the map. After deleting a device on the map click refresh to load the deleted device back into the drawer. Maps Drawer and Nested Maps The Maps Drawer contains a list of maps. Double-click a map to open it. You can nest maps by dragging a map from the Maps Drawer onto an open map on the canvas. However, some maps may not be available for nesting. Maps may not be nested within themselves or within other maps that are contained within them. Nested maps are represented on the canvas by globe icons. Physical Link Properties Drawer Click the check boxes next to the link attributes to hide and show data about links. 9
Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Filters Drawer Click the check boxes next to the device types to hide and show entities on the map belonging to the different device types. Dialogs Create New Map Dialog Field or Button Map Name text field Enter a name for the map. Description Discovery Agent pull down menu Marker Type radio buttons Choose the NMS agent you want to use for auto discovery for the map. Choose the type of markers you want to use to represent devices on the map. Label Behavior radio Choose whether labels should always be displayed or only when 10
Topology buttons Start button Cancel button you hover the mouse over a device. Click to start discovery for the map. Click to close the dialog without creating a map. Open Map Dialog Field or Button Maps pull down menu Open button Cancel button Description Choose the name of a map to open. Click to open the selected map. Click to close the dialog without opening a map. Save Map Dialog Field or Button Map Name text field Enter a name for the map. Description 11
Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Discovery Agent pull down menu Use Map for Root Cause Analysis check box Choose the NMS agent you want to use for auto discovery for the map. Check the box to display Root Cause Analysis (RCA) indicators on the map. An RCA map indicates which device is the root of the problem when one device causes dependent devices to be unavailable. Nodes that are down are marked with a red "X". Dependent nodes that are unreachable are marked with a yellow exclamation point. Maps that contain nested maps cannot be used for RCA. See Root Cause Analysis for more information. Marker Type radio buttons Choose the type of markers you want to use to represent devices on the map. Label Behavior radio buttons Save This Map as a Duplicate check box Choose whether labels should always be displayed or only when you hover the mouse over a device. Check the box to save the map as a duplicate map, keeping the original map intact without changes. Save Map button Cancel button Click to save the map. Click to close the dialog without saving the map. Add Background Map Image Dialog Field or Button Included pull down menu Uploaded pull down menu Add button Cancel button Upload New Image button Description Choose an image included with the application. Choose an image that you have uploaded to the system. Click to add the background image to the map. Click to close the dialog without adding the background image. Opens the Upload Background Map Image dialog, where you can upload an image to use as a background image. 12
Topology Upload Background Map Image Dialog Field or Button File field Browse button Display Name field Upload and Add to Map button Cancel button Description Enter the path and file name to upload. Click to navigate to the image to upload. Enter the name for the image to be displayed in the application. Click to upload the image and add it as a background to the current map. Click to close the dialog without uploading a background image. See Also Introduction to Topology Manager Creating a Map 13
Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Creating a Map This topic contains the following information: Overview Creating a New Map Saving an Auto Discovered Map See Also Overview This topic tells you how to create a new topology map and how to save an auto discovered (read only) map for editing. Creating a New Map 1. Click the New Map icon. 2. In the Create New Map dialog: a. Enter a name for the map. b. Choose the discovery agent you want to use for the map. c. Choose the Marker Type and Label Behavior that you want. d. Click Start. Now you can edit the map, clicking the Save Map icon to save your changes. For more information on changes you can make to the map, see The Canvas. Saving an Auto Discovered Map 1. Click the Save Map icon. 2. In the Save Map dialog: a. Enter a name for the new map. b. Choose the discovery agent you want to use for the map. c. If you want to use the map for Root Cause Analysis, check the box. d. Choose the Marker Type and Label Behavior that you want. 14
Topology e. Click the Save This Map as a Duplicate check box. f. Click Save Map. Now you can edit the map, clicking the Save Map icon to save your changes. For more information on changes you can make to the map, see The Canvas. Return to Top See Also Topology Manager Window 15
Unified Monitoring Portal Online Help Root Cause Analysis This topic contains the following information: Overview Designating and Viewing Root Cause Analysis Maps See Also Overview Root Cause Analysis (RCA) uses real-time fault evaluation with designated topology maps to determine the cause of an outage. The RCA engine analyzes all paths from the monitoring robot to an affected device, identifying the root cause of an outage and suppressing alarms from sympathetic nodes. This prevents floods of alarm, emails, or pager calls from downstream devices, sending notifications only for the root cause device fault. You can have multiple RCA maps. These maps can be auto discovered maps or manually created maps. RCA maps indicate the root cause device fault with a red "X" over the device. Downstream devices that cannot be reached are marked with a yellow exclamation point. RCA performance is dependent on the evaluation of map routes from the topology agent server to the affected node. Factors that may affect analysis time are the number of map routes and depth of the map routes. 16
Topology Because node neighbors are defined as directly attached dependents of a given node, and node dependents include every directly or indirectly attached dependent of a given node, neighbor/dependent count for an endpoint node is 0. Return to Top Designating and Viewing Root Cause Analysis Maps When creating or saving a map, select the Use Map for Root Cause Analysis check box. To view an RCA map, view the list of maps on the Maps Drawer. RCA maps are marked with an icon with a red dot in the middle. Double-click the name of the map to display it on the map canvas. Return to Top See Also Topology Manager Window Creating a Map 17
Index A architecture topology manager... 1 I interface reference topology manager... 4 M maps topology... 1, 4, 14 R root cause analysis...1, 16 T topology manager architecture...1 creating maps...14 interface reference...4 overview...1 topology maps...1, 4, 14 19