Implemented

Network Atlas Overhaul

Think it's time for Network Atlas to adopt new features as well as a new interface !!

It seriously lacks graphical capabilities.

Features to be added -

  • New icon libraries with the feature to add custom ones
  • Selection of graphics for a group of devices (eg all routers) - currently it is one at a time.
  • Sizing of graphics
  • Align object icons to grid
Parents Comment
  • It is great that you have added some other mapping features. It feels like SolarWinds is out-of-touch with what your user a screaming for - a fixed version of Network Atlas. I would swap this new mapping for Network Atlas v2 in a heartbeat. Really- stop adding fancy new features before you fix the one that are embarrassingly outdated and thin on features.

Children
  • mcbridea - We certainly appreciate your feedback and perspective, however I am going to respectfully disagree.  As stated in the blog post included with the latest releases;  ORION PLATFORM 2018.2 IMPROVEMENTS - CHAPTER TWO - INTELLIGENT MAPPING - This is the first step in the next generation of Orion mapping.  I further go on to explain, that this is a MASSIVE project. 

    While I can certainly understand that an updated version of Atlas can't come fast enough, fortunately we are taking the time to ensure that we are "in touch" with what our users have been asking for, and want to make certain we deliver features that resonate well across both existing customers and new.  As much as we would like to flip the switch and have a new version of Network Atlas available today, many of you have all shared improvements and enhancements that you would like to see come to fruition.  These requests cover almost every facet of functionality that Network Atlas has built in to it today (which is a lot!).  Re-tooling or re-vamping all of those features alone, aside from adding anything new, just takes time.

    As an example, something as seemingly trivial as adding object to a map turns into quite a large project if we are going to do this the right way.  How this is handled in Atlas today is a massively large scrolling list of entities, which a user has to constantly expand, then drag and drop elements on to the canvas.  In our discussions with many of you, this is a huge headache.  It takes so much time to hunt down the desired objects before you even begin to build the map!  This is something that we have to do better with, and plan to do so!!!

    The latest releases hopefully demonstrate that we are making progress toward an eventual Network Atlas replacement, and that this is not just a line on a WWWO post.  If you would like to share some specific improvements which mean the most to your organization, we would love to hear it.  If you would prefer to discuss via a phone call, I can certainly schedule a meeting for us to chat offline.  We are also happy to include you in future UX sessions if you would like to provide feedback on mockups, or prototypes when we have them available.       

         

    We are listening, and we absolutely care.  We have to start somewhere, and are working tirelessly to get these updates to you as quickly as possible. 

  • When do the project managers at Solarwinds think this update will be ready? emoticons_wink.png

  • acmtix​ - unfortunately the Product team is not able to share time frames or dates for release cycles.  Stay tuned for beta announcements and RC notifications.  As mentioned above, we are happy to reach out during sessions in which we are looking for input on prototypes and mock-ups.  If you would like to be a part of those please let myself and kbongi know. 

  • Intelligent mapping is definitely the way to go. I love creating diagrams but if Solarwinds will do it for me and I never have to touch Network Atlas again i'll be glad. Trying to align all the text and the icons makes me sad. I am finding more and more that I just use network atlas for displaying groups on dashboards. I find other ways to display data in views without using Network Atlas.

  • jblankjblank​ Thanks for the reply. I do understand that updating Network Atlas is a big task but as a customer it is frustrating to see dev hours going into new features while Network Atlas has had no major upgrade in 10 years. It is also frustrating to have support tell me that the bug I am dealing with (tool tips broken) is corrected in April then see the new release candidate does not have the fix.

  • Hopefully you can see that the Dev hours spent on the Orion Maps elements are items that can be commonly shared as an initial framework, and steps to an updated and enhanced version of Network Atlas.  If you would like to share the case in which you were having issues will tool tips, I can take a look to review what was lost in translation. 

  • As far as specific improvements that would mean the most to our organization, as already mentioned, we would like to be able to see link utilization when only one end is monitored.  This is especially helpful for IPSec tunnels over the Internet between sites.  It's kind of frustrating because Orion has the data available - we can click the link and see interface details and utilization data.  But the link will not change color based on the utilization.  This requires some manual configuration - selecting the correct interface when drawing the link between sites - so intelligent mapping likely would not work in these situations.

  • Thank you for sharing.  This is certainly a well known request and we are absolutely working on providing this ability in a future release.