basic help!

1.  wheres a good place to get MIBs from and how do i install and implement them?

To poll specific OIDs in private MIBs, you can use the Universal Device Poller:

www.solarwinds.com/.../index.html 

2.  i want to setup alerts for when server's etc. go down how do i achieve this easily, the options seem overwhelming to an extent!

There are some alerts installed by default which perform what you are trying to achieve.

In the Advanced Alerts: Alert Me When A Node Goes Down

You should read the chapter 9 Creating and Managing Alerts of the administration guide:

www.solarwinds.com/.../OrionAdministratorGuide.pdf
 

HTH,

 Yann
 

MJ81,

Are you possibly interested in some Orion training options? If so, I can contact you by private message. Let me know.