Monitor Internet availability

You should be able to do what you need by deploying net path probes at the key junctions in your network.  this could also be done using Cisco IP SLA functions if you have the vnqm module and routers that support IP SLA. 

There are lots of ways to verify & track availability.  Here are two of them:

• Configure NPM's NetPath so it points at an Internet destination that should always be available.  You could pick 8.8.8.8, or something your customer actually needs to see.  Remember to configure your firewall to allow the necessary ports out.
• Tell NPM to monitor 8.8.8.8 via ICMP only, and alert when it's not available.  That's probably simplest, and you can always point at a different destination if you're concerned about it.  Remember to adjust your firewall to allow outbound ICMP from NPM source & to defined destination--don't leave ICMP open from inside to any destination--that's just an invitation to infect the universe with your viruses & Trojans & wyrms.

Hey guys!

Much thanks for the responses! NetPath looks like it will do exactly what I want.

I have a followup up question though. We have about 4 proxies that we use for management, guest, staff and SaaS. How do I direct NetPath to you different proxies?

I would say the easiest way to accomplish that would be to deploy the NetPath agent to different servers that use the different proxies, then build a NetPath to the same target IP from each of the agents.

You might configure the proxies to allow NetPath to bypass them--unless you wanted NetPath to monitor the Proxies as part of the solution.

I'd probably just monitor the proxies separately so each has their own alert, and ask Security to allow your NPM to bypass the proxies.

Of course, if you send your NetPath info through the proxies, and set the proxies as Parents to Child Dependencies that are the actual monitored Internet destinations, then you'd have everything in one alert.

Depending on how your proxies and your NetPath are set up, you may see some variation in setup & mileage.  For example, if your NetPath ports are NOT automatically proxied, but port 80 or 443 ARE proxied, it will be challenging to troubleshoot.  Ideally, everything that goes to the Internet, which is monitored by NetPath, should either be proxied or NOT proxied.

Netpath may work, make sure you have the latest version 12.1 or the latest hotfix if you're on 12.01 because it is unstable otherwise

The WPM module also can be used if you're so inclined to purchase and install another product

Hello folks,

Just posting an update. I did not go with NetPath. Instead I used an HTTP monitor to test if a website is available and configured it use the respective proxy. So far it seems to be doing the job.