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Orion V7

I have yet had time to play with the version 7 beta. I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to do so and what their thoughts are of the new version. Likes? Dislikes? Etc? Was the remote management client installed in this version?

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Network_Guru

Bryan,

I have downloaded the Beta, bust have not installed it yet.
This version is NOT for production deployment, only for testing,
according to the included readme.txt file.

I did however read through the Admin pdf.
There is most likely more than this in the full release, but these were the hi-lights I could see right off the bat:

- Assigning custom properties/fields to nodes in the database
- Grouping Web objects by creating custom views & custom properties
- Much improved Mapmaker with basic drawing functionality built-in
- Ability to select & view Report Writer reports in Web interface
- Much improved alerting can now send syslog, snmp traps, custom web page, etc.
- Direct Link login from embedded URL's links

Again, this is only from reading the Admin PDF doc.

I am going to try and find a server I can install this on
sometime this week.

-=Cheers=-
NG

dimonet

NG

Has something changed since yesterday. I couldn't find mention of beta anywhere in the admin guides and there was no readme file when I downloaded the install.

Network_Guru

Yes, Today's download is the Full Version.
No more Beta!

-=Cheers=-
NG

bleearg13

On Monday, the Beta README was packaged with the download and the website updates had not been done yet. They must have updated the download and the website at the same time on Monday night or Tuesday morning.

My initial findings of 7.0:

- Map Maker is *greatly* enhanced, but finding a problem already;
(custom LEDs don't show up on the Orion website as they do on the
map.
- Account Limitation Builder is nice, but you cannot assign views
based on Custom Properties configured on interfaces - only nodes.
Still a very handy feature, though.
- Can't wait to use the Report Scheduler, which is due out next
week.
- Not sure if 6.0 had this functionality, but when you list a node's
resources, you can hold Shift or Ctrl and select multiple
interfaces, volumes, etc. - very handy when you have Juniper
routers with those darn 'inet' interfaces or Catalysts with
many VLANs.
- Solarwinds provided a handy utility to stop/start/restart the
various Orion services.
- Haven't messed around a lot with the alerts, but plan to sometime
tomorrow.

./evt

jonchill

I've been running the beta for about a week. The biggest improvement I fell with this version is the mapmaker it has been truelly rewritten and there is now no need to use visio or others to do the basics it can all be done from mapmaker now.

Other points that are useful is the ability to run reports from the web site and being able to attach filters to the top 10 listings etc.

Overall I think it is an excellent improvements but there is still room for added features and improvement

pugwash285

The new full version has been released since the 24/11/2003

darkoblues

Hi,
Does new 7.0 version have possibilities to add own mibs?

Greets

Darek Pawlak

Network_Guru

I've been running V7 in Production for 2 days now.

I haven't played around with the mapmaker yet, although it looks interesting.

I'm still waiting for the remote console app for this, so I don't have to use PCanywhere or play around with the gif files.

The web service (IIS) crashed yesterday. I restarted it, but the web site was still not available. I had to re-boot the server.
It crashed again today, but the site came back after restarting IIS.
I think it's related to the web based reports function which seems
somewhat buggy. Reports which display fine in Report Writer either don't display or have all the database fields displayed.
When it works correctly, this is a great feature.

The OR function (display "any" of the following) does not work when trying to nest below the AND funtion (display "all" of the following) in the Report Writer.

Grouping Objects in the Web interface is now possible, although there is no built in function to group by Nodename. We have all our nodes named by Province, then location. If you assign custom properties to each node (asset#, serial#, region, etc) you can group them with this.

There is also supposed to be a polling engine tuning util in the customer section of the Solarwinds.net web site ubder "unsupported",
but I can't see it there.

The on-line and context sensitive help is much improved. It is a lot easier to get info on how to implement new features now with one click of the mouse.

I was hoping for customized MIB support, but can't see anything new.

There's still a lot to play around with in order to use all the new features available.

-=Cheers=-
NG

Network_Guru

Just an update regarding the grouping feature.

Previously we were grouping devices by prefixing the nodename with the province and then the building or function. By creating web accounts with access to only certain provinces or functions, we were able to "group" devices in a crude manner of speaking.

Now you can enter this info into the custom property editor, and then apply filters to the web view so that devices can be grouped in any manner, including sub-groups, based on whatever properties you have entered in the custom property editor.

It takes a bit of work to enter this info, but it is well worth the time.

-=Cheers=-
NG

BryanBecker

I upgraded to V7 today...so far so good. My thoughts :

Good - New Map Maker tool is sweet and it appears they have mad alot of development in this tool. Running reports off the website is nice, still like to be able to create reports without having to log into the server. Account Manager/Limitations is nice to have. Device grouping is great.

Bad - Still does not support the PortName variable for Cisco Catalyst switches. You still have to rename the interface to reflect what's in the description field...still a major pain. I cant get the NT pass-thru security to work..must be something I'm doing wrong.

Still waiting on the remote administration tool and the ability to collect syslogs and display them thru Orion.

V7 looks like good and the development is noticed. Hopefully some of out feature requests will be answered eventually.

ldkha

I really like the sound and text to speech alert. That's good!

Kha

Network_Guru

Well after having used V7 for a week, I must say it is behaving quite well,
after the initial issues with IIS.

PROS:

I have added custom properties for all nodes and have the grouping working quite nicely
in the web page.
I have created a number of new custom reports which display on the web page now.
This is a huge feature for us.

I have enabled pass-thru NT authentication, which works fairly well. The on-line dox
for enabling this feature did not work for me. I had no "administrative" web site,
only a default. I ended up changing the NetPerfMon web site, and enabled both basic
and integrated authentication. I selected the default domain in the basic authentication
as well. Then I went into the webadmin interface - account manager and added users as per
the following:

domain\user - no passwords

Now I get logged in automatically from my desktop PC, but if I'm browsing from a PC
which is not logged into the domain, I get prompted to enter my NT user, pass & domain.
Users logged into the domain, but not setup in account manager get the old web login
prompt page. This page is also accessible if you hit the logout button.

Mapmaker seems to work from an RDP session now. When the background is first selected
the map is all Black. After going in an over-writing the gif with the original, I can
see the background, even after the map is saved. (I have only done this with one map so far. Perhaps it's a 16 color Gif?)

The extra alerting features are nice - sending Windows Net Messages to your screen is very
nice. No need to rely on mailservers. You get instant alerting on your screen now!

Improved MIB support. The CPU & Memory utilization stats are now available for our Nortel
Passport 8600 switches.

CONS:

Some of the Report Writer reports have to be redone, as there are new tables & fields in
the database now.

The Server has become sluggish - increased load. We will be upgrading to a dual CPU P4 2.4
from a dual CPU P3 933Mhz. (The database is running on the same server).

NO MIB SUPPORT FOR CATALYST SWITCH PORT DESCRIPTIONS - Running CatOS.
It does pick-up the port descriptions for CATs running IOS (2950-24).
We have over 1000 ports (Cat 6500s) to name. They must be updated twice.
Once on the switch, and again in Orion. Most times Orion does not get updated immediately
(or at all) when ports change or are added. Incorrect information is worse than none at all.

Custom MIBs - Where are they? We should be able to get any stats available from SNMP.
N-bar stats would be just exceptional!

-=Cheers=-
NG

rix

quote:Originally posted by Network_Guru
PROS:

I have enabled pass-thru NT authentication, which works fairly well. The on-line dox
for enabling this feature did not work for me. I had no "administrative" web site,
only a default. I ended up changing the NetPerfMon web site, and enabled both basic
and integrated authentication. I selected the default domain in the basic authentication
as well. Then I went into the webadmin interface - account manager and added users as per
the following:

domain\user - no passwords

Now I get logged in automatically from my desktop PC, but if I'm browsing from a PC
which is not logged into the domain, I get prompted to enter my NT user, pass & domain.
Users logged into the domain, but not setup in account manager get the old web login
prompt page. This page is also accessible if you hit the logout button.

-=Cheers=-
NG

!CAUTION!

I had the same thing until I realized the following:

No password (blank) means I can use your login name with no password to login
at the old solarwinds login page, and get access!
We put in a long complex password instead for each domain\user within Orion
and NT pass-thru authentication still works correctly.

Always be weary of blank anything.

BryanBecker

I too notice a general "slowness" to the site. It's ok for now but we'll have to monitor as we add nodes, etc.

I emailed SW about the catalyst port issue. I've been complaining for sometime now and just sent them another email about it. It is a big pain and doesn't seem to hard to implement.

Still waiting to hear about the remote admin tool and when that will be out.

Network_Guru