NTA Installation

Question

Dear All,

I have planned to implement Solarwind NPM, NCM, NTA, SAM for my company. I had read the installation guide from Solarwind for system requirement specification. What I found is we need to install the Solarwind(NPM, NCM, NTA, and SAM) in one server, MS SQL Server(DB) in one server and NTA Flow Storage Database in one server. Because I haven't install Solarwind before, so I have some point that make me not clear. I tried to understand what is NTA Flow Storage Database? how to install and configure it? what is the installation file?

Thanks,

Putmano Keo

sayalirevalkar · Answer

Ok thanks.

So if I want to use separate new Server for NTA Flow Storage Database considering future DB performance issues, then first I will have to install MSSQL on the new server and then run the NTA installer setup to install NTA FSDB. After that, i will install NTA module on the main and additional solarwind servers with NTA installer.

Please let me know if these steps is correct.

jreves · Answer

sayalirevalkar​, the current versions of NTA do require an SQL database for flow storage. The features we need are available in SQL beginning with SQL 2016 SP1, or later.  You can build this database in the same instance as your Orion database; we're recommending that customers house both Orion and the Flow Storage database in the same SQL instance wherever possible.

Previous versions of NTA required a dedicated server for the flow storage database.  Beginning with 4.4, we eliminated that requirement and we build a separate database for flow in SQL alongside the Orion database used by the platform.

Here's some useful information on the system requirements:

NTA 4.5

NTA 4.5 introduces a set of netflow-specific alerts. You can create alerts on recently processed flows to quickly identify and solve quality issues.

* NTA 4.5 release notes
* NTA 4.5 system requirements

NTA SQL platform recommendations: https://support.solarwinds.com/Success_Center/Netflow_Traffic_Analyzer_(NTA)/What_are_the_hardware_recommendations_for_the_NTA_4.4_SQL_Flow_Storage_database

NTA 4.4 Adoption FAQ: https://support.solarwinds.com/Success_Center/Netflow_Traffic_Analyzer_(NTA)/NTA_4.4_Adoption_Frequently_Asked_Questions

NTA 4.4 Installation FAQ: https://support.solarwinds.com/Success_Center/Netflow_Traffic_Analyzer_(NTA)/NTA_4.4_installation_FAQs

Orion multi-module system guidelines: https://support.solarwinds.com/Success_Center/Orion_Platform/Orion_Documentation/Orion_Platform_Administrator_Guide/Orion_multi-module_system_guidelines

Databases used by Solarwinds modules: https://support.solarwinds.com/Success_Center/Orion_Platform/Knowledgebase_Articles/Databases_used_by_SolarWinds_modules

Recommendations for sizing: https://support.solarwinds.com/Success_Center/Netflow_Traffic_Analyzer_(NTA)/Knowledgebase_Articles/What_are_the_hardware_recommendations_for_the_NTA_4_4_SQL_Flow_Storage_database

(Contains link to the corrected multi-module system guidelines that live in our Success Center)

User scenario based on performance tests:

https://support.solarwinds.com/Success_Center/Netflow_Traffic_Analyzer_(NTA)/Knowledgebase_Articles/User_scenario_Recommended_SQL_server_disk_configuration

THWACK Posts:

https://thwack.solarwinds.com/docs/DOC-202178

https://thwack.solarwinds.com/thread/119297

2018.4 Consolidated Release Notes

https://support.solarwinds.com/Success_Center/Orion_Platform/Orion_Documentation/Orion_Network_Management_product_releases

jreves​

neomatrix1217 · Answer

The new NTA staring with 4.4 and currently on 4.5 does require MS SQL 2016 or above in order to take advantage of the column store technology. The NTA database can be installed on the same SQL server as the other Orion applications it will just create another instance please see below.

NTA 4.4 System Requirements - SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. Help and Support