Network Atlas / Orion Maps and port channels

This bug where status is misrepresented has been addressed as of 2019.4 HF2 which is available.  HF3 is actually out as of this post and available via your customer portal.

superfly99​

I did some testing and clearly the down interface issue is in fact a bug - I have logged this internally and will be sure this gets taken care of. 

To answer your question we can certainly setup a call if you would like - send me an email to jeff.blank@solarwinds.com and let me know some times next week when you have availability and what time zone you are in

Question:

I am still confused about when a link shows red. Here's a link with lots of errors on it which the map shows but it makes half of the link red. Where can I set what shows up on the link details? I only want to see half go red if there's a link issue, not when errors are high.

JB - we bubble up issues associated to any problems we may discover.  If you are not interested in seeing errors and discards, then I would recommend investigating that interface and adjusting the threshold.  Currently the threshold is critical for that metric which is why you are seeing the link change status. 

Question:

And one last thing I noticed is that when I place an image on the map, I'm able to adjust the size of it. I can continue to adjust the size until such time I add a link to it. Once I've done that, I can no longer adjust the image size. Even if I delete the link attached to it.

JB - good find here - this is due to our current data model for the release and is currently by design. We have plans for changes in a following release but you are correct that once you "connect" anything to an image, it actually joins those entities at that layer and you can no longer adjust the size.  This will of course be addressed in the future when you have the ability to customize and scale any entity on the canvas. 

Thanks. Is there somewhere else where we can continue this conversation? I'm not sure if here is the most appropriate spot. I will go through what you've said and play around with it more but in regards to my port channels not showing any issues, here is what I see.

This is a port channel that has 1 interface down.

As you can see, I see no issues on the links. However in network atlas (as per my previous post), it shows the link as being down.

Another thing I noticed not everything is discovered correctly (N.B. all port channels and interfaces associated with the port channels are being monitored).

This is a working port channel.

Notice how the port channel information is not there? I noticed that on most port channels, there is no port channel information.

This is another port channel where there is only 1 interface down but when I click on the link I only see this.

It shows no port channel details, nor does it show the other link with the 1 interface down.

I am still confused about when a link shows red. Here's a link with lots of errors on it which the map shows but it makes half of the link red. Where can I set what shows up on the link details? I only want to see half go red if there's a link issue, not when errors are high.

And one last thing I noticed is that when I place an image on the map, I'm able to adjust the size of it. I can continue to adjust the size until such time I add a link to it. Once I've done that, I can no longer adjust the image size. Even if I delete the link attached to it.

Thanks for all your help!

I tried what you've suggested but as I'm creating the map after the fact that 1 of my port channel links is already down, the map won't draw the link in.  Even if I add in the interfaces manually, they don't link up together. So I have a down link, that I can't now put onto a map.

JB - automatic links are created based on what is detected through NPM Topology - you should be able to go to the node details page and find the NPM Topology Widget - If it does not exist here - then it would need to manually be created.

When I add in a custom link for this, the link between the 2 nodes still shows as green.

JB - The status of either side of the link is based on the interfaces you have chosen to represent that connection.  Are they both in a good status?  Either side of the link should show down if it is in fact down, or critical/ warning based on thresholds. 

And currently my links go half red when the utilization goes up too high. So how do I differentiate between a down link in a port channel and high utilization?

JB - That is based on thresholds, you should receive a down status on the line if a specified interface is down.

This is a node from network atlas, notice the red circle

JB - This is a node that has been changed to use the Cisco Icon with a Green Status Square behind it.  The Red dot is a child status contributor.  You can certainly use this if you would like, but you can also make the change to use Orion Platform 2019.2 - Enhanced Node Status which would give you a single status for both.  It is up to you. 

This is the same node in orion map. No circle of indication of an issue

JB - the ring around the icon is the Status indicator.  We do not provide a Child Status indicator like in Atlas. If you are not using Enhanced Node Status, then this will likely be green more than anything. I would certainly recommend reviewing the aforementioned post on status.

Is there a way to draw a link without having access to both ends of the link?

JB - This was described in the 2019.4 Post I shared with you -

As an example, many of you have requested the ability to show network utilization when only one side of the link is known.  Very often, the idea is to represent your utilization from the perspective of the edge devices out to your service provider or internet. To see how this might work, check out the examples below!

What you should have noticed is that you were able to connect the edge device to another image. Of course a cloud was selected for this demo. You can then assign interfaces to represent that connection. In this case, we only know about the interface from one side, so in reality you need to choose the same device and the same interface twice. The next step is to simply flip the "internet" side to ingress to ensure you aren't seeing the same performance stats on both sides of the link. Now you can see inbound and outbound traffic from the edge of your network displayed on the map!

I've just upgraded to 2019.4 so I've been playing around with the map.

"When you create those manually connected lines in Atlas - they never change status correct? You can specify an assignment but don't get any of the information actually bubbled up via the map itself without some sort of interaction correct?  In Orion Maps you could choose all connections rolled up into a single visual and worst status would get rolled up to the top.  Or if necessary, you could of course pull the interfaces out and visualize each individual connection. (By no means discounting your use case what so ever - just sharing options )"

Yes that's correct. In network atlas you have to put the end points in for your manually created link. I tried what you've suggested but as I'm creating the map after the fact that 1 of my port channel links is already down, the map won't draw the link in. Even if I add in the interfaces manually, they don't link up together. So I have a down link, that I can't now put onto a map. When I add in a custom link for this, the link between the 2 nodes still shows as green.

And currently my links go half red when the utilization goes up too high. So how do I differentiate between a down link in a port channel and high utilization?

" can't remove link statistics

JB - Curious - why would you want to remove link statistics?  Do you only want that if you interact with the map?"

The reason I want to remove statistics as space on the screen might be limited so most of the display is then on top of each other. So in this example the node name and the 2 link statistics are all on top of each other. Looks a bit messy

"nodes don't show rollup status (you can see the little status circle in network atlas but not in orion maps)

JB - The nodes absolutely have the ability to rollup status of child objects.  Check out this from the 2019.2 Release - Orion Platform 2019.2 - Enhanced Node Status"

This is a node from network atlas, notice the red circle

This is the same node in orion map. No circle of indication of an issue

"can't add unknown objects to orion maps such as a cloud and point an arrow to it

JB - of course you can!"

I tested this out and I can only do this if I have an end point for both end of the link. I don't necessarily have access or visibility of the remote end of some links. I can only see the link on my local end. Is there a way to draw a link without having access to both ends of the link?

"JB - Both of these have been taken care of! - Build a Map Faster and Easier!"

Yup I can see that my point 8 & 9 have now been taken care of. Works beaut!

Thanks!