Orion Maps - Inclusion of Line (Draw a Line between two objects)

Hi All, If this has been already requested please ignore the feature request. Orion Maps are cool, but it would be great if you can add a LINE along with RECTANGLE and CIRCLE, I understand there is a connector but that only works if we have the relevant interfaces discovered in Orion. Now say suppose I just want to depict a connection between my router and other devices on the map I should be able to create a dummy link on Orion map between the two objects. (This feature was available in Network Atlas).

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jblankjblank

This is a highly requested feature. I am curious if you could elaborate on some of the ideal functionality you would need to make this work. Is this more of a basic connector between objects or do you think its more important to be able to draw a line in general, even if it doesn't connect to any endpoints? What would occur after you draw this line? What would you hope to be able to do? Are there multiple lines drawn between two objects? Do you have to be able to change styling? Any other thoughts?

vinay.by

I just want to depict a connection between 2 objects by drawing a line and maybe also adding a text onto a line. say suppose I am not discovering all interfaces in my environment and I am only monitoring critical interfaces or connections, in such a scenario by L2/L3 topology is not fully populated within SolarWinds and 'connect object' will not work. When I know there is a interface in reality between two devices but since its not discovered in SolarWinds I wont be able to showcase a dummy connector on the map.

vinay.by

1. Even if it doesn't connect to any endpoints? Either ways I am ok, but I should be able to draw a dummy line/dummy connector between two end points, if it acts like a dummy connector or if it is as well just a line which can show that any two objects are interconnected (kind of logical grouping) on a map.

2. What would occur after you draw this line? What would you hope to be able to do? Do you have to be able to change styling? (My other replies cover this query, not very keen on styling except if I can add additional text on it, I wouldn't mind if its just a blue/grey line as well)

3. Are there multiple lines drawn between two objects? (If a dummy line is allowed, I should be able to add multiple lines between same 2 end points, but just in case if this is too much to ask I am happy with a single dummy connector/line between the endpoints -> provided I can add some text on that line)

4. Any other thoughts? (That's all for now )

Karthik.A

must needed feature and it's a basic one, don't know how this got missed!!

hope it will be added soon..

jblankjblank

Thanks for adding feedback @Karthik.A - This wasn't missed, simply not added yet. Much like above, I would be curious if you can expand on your use cases. Is this more of a basic connector between objects or do you think its more important to be able to draw a line in general, even if it doesn't connect to any endpoints? What would occur after you draw this line? What would you hope to be able to do? Do you need to be able ot see multiple lines drawn between two objects? Do you have to be able to change styling? Any other thoughts?

Sc0ttty

One scenario I have is for showing how sites are connected, for example over SD-WAN or internet on a high-level map, where this depiction is inside a circle with the respective text manually added. So in my case it would either be a line going from a live object to a shape, or between two created shapes. In terms of features, essentially it would be good to see the exact same functionality as seen in Atlas as this has everything needed anyway, hopefully that makes sense!

flackovic

I agree. I find myself using rectangles to underline titles of maps as well, since there doesn't appear to be a way to underline text, despite there being a Bold and Italics option (I'm still using 2020.2.4 though so YMMV).

As a quick work around for now, I find that using rectangles set to a pretty low height (2-5 px) with a matching Fill and Border color seems to work... okay. I just hope you have a protractor handy or are better with on-the-fly degrees than I am

If this feature is looking to be implemented, I would also suggest adding the option for rays as well, that way we can point to things similar to how Parent/Child auto-dependency connections currently work on Orion Maps. Lines could also be helpful for visualizing DEMARC points. For example, I currently have an Orion Map that shows the status of a WPM transaction, but it also includes the WPM steps and player, the VM node hosting the web application, the Hyper-V host for said VM, and the disk volumes of the VM - all on the same Orion Map. These different components are handled by different sections of my organization - some by the SolarWinds admins, some by our Apps team, and some by drive capacity and storage technicians. I've used my rectangle method to draw dotted lines separating each group's responsibilities on the Orion Map. To that point... if it isn't too much to ask, it would be great to include a copy/cut/paste function for shapes as well if that isn't already supported.

For those interested in my super amazing aforementioned rectangle method:

dmritchie2

I would like to have the ability to draw a dotted line between two objects that are not being monitored but are important for understanding the drawing like the globes indicating multiple access paths to the internet but are not monitored by SolarWinds connecting to the switch in the office as well as the Wireless Access Points to connect to the proper switches.

mick.gilbourne

I see this as a basic requirement. We have nodes managed by third parties who don't allow SNMP polling so can't get interface information to allow us to connect objects together.

crazyitguy

This is much needed. We also need to connect "dummy" objects depicting Internet or Private cloud environments. I don't want to create meshed connections between all our sites using the standard connectors, that is way too much work and is way to busy. This can't be automate because for instance for AT&T private cloud we don't have knowledge or insight into their backbone, neither are we allowed to discover it. Simple lines would allow us to create a hub and spoke to show a global connections overview.

rbone58

At our organization we have multiple Network Assurance Engines (NAE) and UPS devices that show up as Nodes fine, but there is no way to show the connection because the devices do not have interfaces that SW can detect.(just NIC's). I have the interface information for the connected switch but no way to connect visually. Drawing connection lines would help greatly.

zagwill

Please add me to the list. This functionality is definitely needed; the ability to draw lines, directional areas, and comment bubble boxes, very similar to what is available in notepad++ would be fantastic. In it's current state, Orion Maps is not going to be a slam dunker replacement for Network Atlas.

crazyitguy

Any Solarwinds employees want to chime in? Is this something in the roadmap, if it is, when will it happen? Is there a different thread we should be looking at?

Karthik.A

@jblankjblank, any updates on this request and is there any roadmap for including wlc access points to the entities.

LVTNick

Still no updates? This is a HUGE request, this is basic feature parity with Atlas.

Not being able to draw lines on our own, or the ability to bend connections so they're not all straight lines is a huge downfall and what is ultimately preventing us from moving to the new maps (and we'd love to but can't because of this).

jonathanswift

And me, why hasn't this been actioned yet? It's a vital additional. We'll never give up Network Atlas at this rate, Network Team use connecting lines all the time when metrics are not available, many logical diagrams have connecting lines but not metrics. This is an essential.