Out of the Box Alerts

nato

How many of you use the out-of-box alerts? I asked recently and received some good hints on what they do like making a copy of an out of box alert and editing it.  Now I am wondering- what do you all use and how do you use them. Here is a spread sheet that shows what alerts Im using (They are being evaluated) and how I am using them.

Would appreciate any discussion. I am beginning to realize "Alerts" are an ever changing entity.....

Solarwinds alerts.xlsx

wluther

nato​ For me, it's more about what I need the alerts to do, than it is about which alerts I use. I mean, I could use them all, but if they are not doing something for me, then they are likely just causing more noise than they are worth.

For example, I have been on, what seems like, a never ending journey to find a better way to auto-provision graphs on my views. I didn't (and still don't) like the default/native way to add graphs and charts to a page. I think it is clunky, and I think it takes way longer than it should. So, for this specific problem, I used the alerts framework to build out a fairly simple method in which I can easily add various charts, and settings, to a view in bulk.Using PowerShell To Automatically Provision A Series Of Graphs Per View

For another issue I was running into, I needed a very simple way to mitigate our DNS servers randomly having services stopped. So, once again, I went back and visited my trusty friend, the alert engine!

This time, I utilized the NCM portion of my alert, and had the alert restart the service on our DNS servers whenever SolarWinds detected the service(s) had stopped.

Using NCM To Manage Our Linux Servers

These are a couple of our more useful alerts, as they can save a bunch of time. Instead of building a view, graph by graph, we can now use the custom property editor page, edit interfaces/nodes in bulk, and update everything in just a couple of minutes. Additionally, when our DNS servers had an issue, instead of depending on someone to read the email and then take action, the action has already been taken, and that someone is reading the results of the action.

So, if I were to cast my vote one way or the other, I supposed I'd vote toward the value of alert actions, rather than just the alert itself. And don't let adatole​ or KMSigma​ hear otherwise, or else they are likely to chase you down!

Thank you,

-Will