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VERIFYING NODE REPORTS

I am interested in bouncing an idea or two off others ... here goes.

1) I've stepped into a position that requires me to create reports.  I'm trying to verify the number of nodes within database - using web-based reporting.  Created a report that shows: node name, last polled.  Found out that a good portion of the database hasn't been polled in over a year.  Turns out customer wants to keep decommissioned in database...  so be it. 

Two ways I can go about this:  1) put in a Custom Field: Decommissioned (is there a way I can export ,1K records and apply a "Y" to Decommissioned and then import them; or 2) that means I always to have query "Last Polled" within the past 10 days (which I don't think I can do) or some other variable to make sure I'm not pulling invalid data.  

Is there a better way?  I'm working in a SW 2019.4.1 environment.

2) There are three kinds of people.  One is good at math and the other isn't.  

 
  • The last polled date-time can be polled. I'm at home without access to the Orion installation(s) I usually work on, so cannot look up the exact table/field. If memory serves, it was in NodesData a/k/a Orion.Nodes.

    That said, however, I'd still encourage you to create a custom property for Decommissioned on your system.For one, it makes for a simpler query when you wan to leave decommissioned nodes out of a search. For another, it will help you test for when polling or NCM config download fails -- if the node is marked as active and the last polling time or last successful config download is too long ago, it is worth investigating.

  • Copy on your suggestion.  Your thoughts were my initial thoughts on a solution.  Waiting to see if other's want to comment before starting down this road ... since I will be adding many more devices to the database ... just want to make sure it's manageable over time.  Thank you.

  • We have a custom property that defines the state of a device such as Production, Pre-Production, Test, Dev, UAT but we include Decommissioned/Retired in that because otherwise we could be investigating errors for devices that are being removed.

    in terms of bulk editing I would go down the Export/Import route via Custom Proerty Editor just because it gives you the control to externally verify that the node is decommissioned before you upload.

    in terms of maintaining that then it becomes a question of size, scale and frequency. How often are devices moved to decommissioned, and how often does that occur for you? Is there any defined process that helps inform you when a devices Operational State changes, and how quickly do they expect SolarWinds to be updated?

    i currently have a rather brutal script marking any device that is Down more than 45 Days as Unmanaged but that is because we are still working on that process. Eventually we hope to move to SNOW integration which will suck the state into SolarWinds and then I can change that script to Delete devices in that state after 7 days (to allow for mistakes).

    Hope this gives some ideas. It’s not uncommon for companies to want to retain device history for unmanaged devices, but you do need to highlight to them that unmanaged devices won’t be collecting new stats and as such any historical information will eventually be aged out as part of retention/dB maintenance. It might be that you change the node to External so that it’s just a placeholder but it might be easier to just run a report of all the modes in Decommissioned state and then delete them. The report becomes your reference.

  • Thank you very much.  Gathering all information to make recommendation to client.  Have a great day.  v/r  JIM

  • To my relief I was informed that we are controlling active and decommissioned devices via a "Site" field.  This accomplishes what I need.  Thank you all for your suggestions.