Administer > Monitor Network Health > Configure NNMi Monitoring Behavior > Default Settings (Monitoring)

Default Settings for Monitoring

The choices you make for "defaults" apply only to devices with interfaces, IP addresses, chassis, cards, SNMP agents (Management Addresses), Web Agents, Tracked Objects, Router Redundancy Groups, Node Sensors, or Physical Sensors that are not covered by any monitoring Interface Settings or Node Settings.

To establish default NNMi monitoring behavior:

  1. ClosedNavigate to the Defaults Settings tab.
    1. From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
    2. Expand the Monitoring folder.
    3. Select Monitoring Configuration.
    4. Locate the Defaults Settings tab.
  2. To prevent NNMi from generating any traffic to Nodes that are not covered by Monitoring Configuration's Node Settings. See Enable SNMP and Web Polling of Node.

  3. Locate the Default Fault Monitoring group box.

    1. Configure the Default Fault Monitoring behavior for ICMP traffic (see Default Fault Monitoring table ICMP Fault Monitoring).
    2. Configure the Default Fault Monitoring behavior for NNMi (see Default Fault Monitoring table's Fault Monitoring).
    3. Configure the Default Fault Monitoring: interval (see Default Fault Monitoring: table Fault Polling Interval).

  4. (NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) If the Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Metrics Software is installed, locate the Default Performance Monitoring group box.

    Configure the Default Performance Monitoring behavior (see and Default Performance Monitoring table).

    Note Performance monitoring of a Virtual Machine (VM) requires the VM to be managed by an SNMP agent. In this case, NNMi counts the VM as one node, rather than 1/10 node when calculating license limits. For more information about licensing, see Track Your NNMi Licenses.

  5. By default, NNMi monitors only interfaces that are connected to other interfaces. When polling is enabled, NNMi automatically detects most connections. See Add or Delete a Layer 2 Connection for information about manual overrides.

    Optional. If you want to expand default monitoring behavior to include unconnected Interfaces, indicate your choices in the Default Extend the Scope of Polling Beyond Connected Interfaces group box

  6. Optional. Configure the Default Change Detection Monitoring (see Default Change Detection Monitoring table).
  7. Optional. To establish custom monitoring behavior for one or more groups of interfaces, configure Interface Settings, see Interface Settings for Monitoring.
  8. Optional. To establish custom monitoring behavior for one or more groups of nodes, configure Node Settings, see Node Settings for Monitoring.

  9. Click  Save and Close. NNMi applies your changes. The next regularly scheduled monitoring cycle uses the new settings.

    Caution When you establish monitoring configuration settings, NNMi must recalculate the settings for all affected objects. This can take some time and slow down your system. Consider making this change during a slow time in your network environment.

Default Monitoring
Attribute Description
Enable SNMP and Web Polling of Node

If  enabled, NNMi contacts the SNMP AgentSimple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet-standard protocol used to manage devices on IP networks. The SNMP Agent uses this protocol to report information to authorized management programs. or Web AgentThe Web Agent represents a management service running on a device and contains the settings NNMi uses to communicate with the device. on each node in your network to gather data for monitoring purposes (unless the Monitoring Configuration's Node Settings specifically disables monitoring for the nodes in a specified Node Group).

If  disabled, NNMi does not contact the SNMP Agent or Web Agent on nodes for monitoring purposes (does not generate traffic to the nodes). NNMi continues to generate ICMP traffic to the node unless ICMP monitoring is disabled (see below).

If you use Auto-Discovery, NNMi might detect Nodes and add them to the NNMi database as non-SNMP nodes.
Default Fault Monitoring
Attribute Description
ICMP Fault Monitoring Enable Management Address Polling

If  enabled, State Poller only issues ICMP (ping) requests to the management address for a node.

Note In the Global Control section of the Monitoring Configuration form, the Enable State Polling attribute must be enabled, too.

If  disabled, State Poller does one of the following:

  • If neither this attribute nor Enable ICMP Fault Polling is selected, State Poller does not use ICMP to monitor nodes covered by this configuration setting.
  • If Enable ICMP Fault Polling is selected, State Poller uses ICMP to monitor ALL IP addresses covered by this configuration setting.

Changing the default monitoring settings for the management addresses takes effect immediately. To verify the change, see Verify the Monitoring Settings.
Enable IP Address Fault Polling

Note This monitoring option is useful for devices that do not support SNMP. By default, this feature is enabled for the "Non-SNMP Devices" Node Group.

If  enabled, State Poller issues ICMP (ping) requests to verify the availability of discovered IP address. 

Note In the Global Control section of this form, the Enable State Polling attribute must be enabled, too.

If  disabled, State Poller does the following:

  • IP addresses (both previously discovered and newly discovered) have a State attribute value of "Not Polled" and a Status attribute value of "No Status" with the color of the IP address map-symbol set to beige. See Layer 3 Neighbor View.
  • If both ICMP and SNMP are disabled for a Node, the Node has a Status attribute value of "No Status" and the color of the Node map-symbol background shape is set to beige.

Tip To turn off ICMP polling within a subset of your network environment, use the Communication Configuration workspace Region definitions. You can define your own Regions that identify any unreachable addresses in your management domain (for example, the private IP addressesThese are IPv4 addresses that can be reused in home and office local area networks (LANs). Following the standards set by RFC 1918 and RFC 4193 (10.*.*.*, 169.254.*.*, 172.16-31.*.*, and 192.168.*.*)).
Fault Monitoring Enable Interface Fault Polling

If  enabled, State Poller monitors all interfaces by issuing SNMP read-only queries to devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy. 

By default, any connected interface is monitored for MIB-II ifAdminStatus and ifOperStatus. (ifAdminStatus is set by the device administrator. ifOperStatus indicates the operational status of interface health.) If you have unconnected interfaces that you want to monitor, expand NNMi monitoring behavior with the Poll Unconnected Interfaces and the Poll Interfaces Hosting IP Addresses attributes.

Note The following attributes must also be enabled:

If  disabled, for devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy:

  • Causal Engine calculates Status based only on IP address State.
  • The Interface objects previously discovered change to a State attribute value of "Not Polled" and a Status attribute value of "No Status" (plus any related map-symbol changes to a beige color).
Enable Card Fault Polling

Use this attribute to poll fault metrics for cards. Card fault metrics include Administrative State, Operational State, and Standby State.

Note Card Fault Polling is enabled by default.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers fault data related to the card fault metrics in devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not extend data collection behavior to include card fault data about devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

Tip NNMi uses the same polling interval set for the Fault Polling Interval.
Enable Chassis Fault Polling

Use this attribute to poll fault metrics for chassis. Chassis fault metrics include Administrative State, Operational State, and Standby State.

Note Chassis Fault Polling is enabled by default.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers fault data related to the chassis fault metrics in devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not extend data collection behavior to include chassis fault data about devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

Tip NNMi uses the same polling interval set for the Fault Polling Interval.
Enable Node Sensor Fault Polling

Note Node Sensor Fault Polling is disabled here by default.

Use this attribute to poll Node Sensor fault metrics.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers fault data related to the Node Sensor fault data in devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not extend data collection behavior to include Node Sensor fault data about devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

Tip  NNMi uses the current setting for the Fault Polling Interval in combination with this setting.
Enable Physical Sensor Fault Polling

Note  Physical Sensor Fault Polling is disabled here by default.

Use this attribute to poll for Physical Sensor faults on fan, power supply, temperature, and voltage. Only the health of the power supply and fan Physical Sensors are propagated to the Node level to affect Node Status.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers fault data related to the Physical Sensor fault metrics in devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not extend data collection behavior to include Physical Sensor fault data about devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

Tip  NNMi uses the current setting for the Fault Polling Interval in combination with this setting.
Fault Polling Interval

The time that State Poller waits between issuing queries to gather information for any of the following that are enabled: ICMP Polling, SNMP Polling, Poll Unconnected Interfaces, and Poll Interfaces Hosting IP addresses.

The default Fault Polling Interval is 5 minutes, except for the Node Group named Microsoft Windows Systems which is 10 minutes.

Note NNMi monitors SNMP agents (Management Addresses) according to this Fault Polling Interval, even if ICMP Polling, SNMP Polling, Poll Unconnected Interfaces, and Poll Interfaces Hosting IP addresses are all disabled. To prevent an SNMP Agent's address from being monitored, one of the following must be true: State Polling is disabled, current Communication Configuration settings turn off SNMP for the SNMP agent's address, the parent Node is set to Not Managed or Out of Service, or the parent node belongs to a Monitoring Configuration's Node Group with  Enable SNMP and Web Polling on Node disabled.
Default Performance Monitoring (NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics)
Attribute Description

Requires Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Metrics Software (NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics). To populate performance data in the dashboard views or enhance NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics reports by sharing NNMi configuration settings, install the optional Network Performance Server (NPS).
LAN Performance Monitoring

Enable Interface Performance Polling

(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this attribute to extend the range of polling data that NNMi collects. NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics uses the additional data in a series of performance reports. See Purchase Network Node Manager i Smart Plug-ins and More for more information. When enabled, network traffic increases on your network because NNMi gathers performance data about each member of this group on a regular schedule.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers basic Interface performance data from Interfaces in devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not extend data collection behavior to include performance data about Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

Note The Enable State Polling field must be enabled, too. By default the performance of connected interfaces and addresses is monitored. If you have unconnected interfaces that you want to monitor, expand NNMi monitoring behavior by enabling Poll Unconnected Interfaces.
WAN Performance Monitoring Enable DSx Interface Performance Polling

(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this attribute to extend the range of polling data that NNMi collects. NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics uses the additional data in a series of performance reports. When enabled, network traffic increases on your network because NNMi gathers performance data about each member of the DSx Interfaces interface group on a regular schedule. See Interface Groups Provided by NNMi for more information.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers DSx performance data from DSx Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not gather DSx performance data from DSx Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.
Enable SONET Interface Performance Polling

(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this attribute to extend the range of polling data that NNMi collects. NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics uses the additional data in a series of performance reports. When enabled, network traffic increases on your network because NNMi gathers performance data about each member of the SONET Interfaces interface group on a regular schedule. See Interface Groups Provided by NNMi for more information.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers SONET performance data from SONET Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not gather SONET performance data from SONET Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.
Enable ATM Interface Performance Polling

(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this attribute to extend the range of polling data that NNMi collects. NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics uses the additional data in a series of performance reports. When enabled, network traffic increases on your network because NNMi gathers performance data for each ATM Interface.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers ATM performance data from ATM Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not gather ATM performance data from ATM Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

Note  
Enable Frame Relay Interface Performance Polling

(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this attribute to extend the range of polling data that NNMi collects. NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics uses the additional data in a series of performance reports. When enabled, network traffic increases on your network because NNMi gathers performance data for each Frame Relay Interface.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers Frame Relay performance data from Frame Relay Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

If  disabled, NNMi does not gather Frame Relay performance data from Frame Relay Interfaces assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

This option gathers the following types of metrics:

  • Circuit in and out octets, errors, and discards
  • Committed Information Rate (CIR) and Extended Information Rate (EIR) utilization
  • Forward Error Congestion Notification (FECN) and Backward Error Congestion Notification (BECN) counts

See also Configure Discovery of ATM/Frame Relay Interfaces.

Sensor Performance Monitoring Enable Node Sensor Performance Polling

Note  Node Sensor Performance Polling is disabled here by default.

(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this attribute to poll Node Sensor performance. An NNMi administrator can set the threshold for Node Sensors related to the buffer, CPU, disk, and memory metrics.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers performance data related to the Node Sensors performance metrics in devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy. 

If  disabled, NNMi does not extend data collection behavior to include Node Sensors performance data about devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

Tip NNMi uses the current setting for the Performance Polling Interval in combination with this setting.
Enable Physical Sensor Performance Polling

Note  Physical Sensor Performance Polling is disabled here by default.

(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this attribute to poll for Physical Sensor performance on backplanes. An NNMi administrator can set thresholds related to Physical Sensor performance metrics for backplanes. The backplane's health is not propagated to the Node level to affect Node Status.

If  enabled, NNMi gathers performance data related to the Physical Sensor performance metrics in devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy. 

If  disabled, NNMi does not extend data collection behavior to include Physical Sensor performance data about devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy.

Tip NNMi uses the current setting for the Performance Polling Interval in combination with this setting.
Performance Polling Interval

(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this field to set the time period that NNMi waits between issuing network traffic to gather performance data for the NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics.

The default Performance Polling Interval is 5 minutes, except for the Node Group named Microsoft Windows Systems which is 10 minutes.
Default Extend the Scope of Polling Beyond Connected Interfaces
Attribute Description
Poll Unconnected Interfaces

If  enabled, NNMi monitors all interfaces within discovered devices (both connected and unconnected). All interfaces are monitored for MIB-II ifAdminStatus and ifOperStatus. (ifAdminStatus is set by the device administrator. ifOperStatus indicates the operational status of interface health.) 

Note The Enable State Polling field must be enabled, and SNMP polling of some type must be enabled (for example, Enable SNMP Fault Monitoring and Enable SNMP Performance Polling).

If  disabled, State Poller polls according to other configuration settings.

Tip Your discovery configuration choices might need to be adjusted to get the results you want. For example, to meet the “connected” criteria for interfaces in switches that do not have an IP address you must add the device to which the interface is connected as a discovery seed. See Specify discovery seeds.
Poll Interfaces Hosting IP Addresses

Note This monitoring option is useful for Router interfaces. By default, this feature is enabled for the "Routers" Node Group.

If  enabled, any unconnected interface that has one or more addresses associated with it is monitored for MIB-II ifAdminStatus and ifOperStatus. (ifAdminStatus is set by the device administrator. ifOperStatus indicates the operational status of interface health.) 

Note The Enable State Polling field must be enabled, and SNMP polling of some type must be enabled (for example, Enable SNMP Fault Monitoring and Enable SNMP Performance Polling).

By monitoring the Interface (in addition to the IP address), NNMi can make more informed decisions about the health of each IP address associated with an unconnected interface.

If  disabled, State Poller polls according to other configuration settings.

Tip The Communication Configuration workspace provides a method of overriding this setting for specific Regions. You can define your own Region to easily turn off polling to any unreachable addresses in your management domain (for example, the private IP addressesThese are IPv4 addresses that can be reused in home and office local area networks (LANs). Following the standards set by RFC 1918 and RFC 4193 (10.*.*.*, 169.254.*.*, 172.16-31.*.*, and 192.168.*.*)).

Poll Link Aggregation Interfaces

(NNMi Advanced)

If  enabled, NNMi monitors any unconnected Link AggregationProtocols used on Switches to configure multiple Interfaces (Aggregation Member Interfaces) to function as if they were one (an Aggregator Interface). When two Aggregator Interfaces establish a connection, that connection is an Aggregator Layer 2 Connection. The Aggregator Layer 2 Connection appears on Layer 2 Neighbor View maps as a thick line with an Interface icon at each end (representing the Aggregator Interface). or Split Link AggregationLink Aggregation with more than two endpoints. Some vendors refer to this as Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation, SLAG, MLAG, or MC-LAG. member interfaces in switch-to-switch and server-to-switch connections:

  • Aggregate member interfaces not connected outside the context of the Aggregator membership.
  • Aggregate member interfaces connected to an undiscovered node (for example, the SLAG upstream switch stack).

Tip NNMi calculates the Aggregator status based on current status of all members. This means NNMi changes the status of the Aggregator when one member interface is down, even though the Aggregator is currently functioning well by using the other member interfaces.

If  disabled, you must ensure that other Monitoring Configuration settings allow NNMi to manage each Aggregator member interface (none accidentally excluded or missed). Otherwise, NNMi calculates Aggregator status based on overall Aggregator behavior.
Default Change Detection Monitoring
Attribute Description
Enable Number of Interfaces (ifNumber) Polling

Tip For more information, see Detect Interface Changes.

When enabled , NNMi polls for the number of interfaces using the ifNumber value for the node. If the number of interfaces has changed, NNMi initiates a rediscovery of the node. Polling is suspended until the discovery is complete.

When disabled , NNMi does not actively poll for a change in the number of interfaces. The change is detected the next time the node is rediscovered.
Enable Entity Change Time (entLastChangeTime) Polling

When enabled , NNMi polls for the last change time from the ENTITY-MIB entLastChangeTime value. If the time has changed, NNMi initiates a rediscovery of the node. Polling is suspended until the discovery is complete.

When disabled , NNMi does not actively poll the entLastChangeTime MIB value. The change is detected the next time the node is rediscovered.
Change Detection Polling Interval

The time that State Poller waits between issuing queries to gather information for the Number of Interfaces (ifNumber) and Entity Change Time (entLastChangeTime) settings enabled for Change Detection Monitoring.

The default Change Detection Polling Interval is 4 hours.

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