What happens to flow data when the collector is offline?

Question

Hi. In the scenario where approx 500 routers export flow to a Solarwinds server NTA flow collector, what happens to the flow packets if the flow collector is offline, down or disconnected from the network?

sum_giais · Accepted Answer

They ‘re UDP so they just dissolve into the network path and disappear. Regardless of if the network device sends the flow, if the server or service are not available to receive that data... it’s not going anywhere.

I’ve sent the flows to multiple collectors before which is where HA could be a solution to this as well. Send the flows to both the active/standby polling engines.

HerrDoktor · Answer

The flow will be sent to the collector but it won’t be stored in the DB. You will get a message that a Flow From an unknown source has been discarded and you should add the node and interface to the orion platform.

hope that helps