Node Group Form

[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Node Group form.]

Island Node Groups are a special kind of Node Group that NNMi manages internally. Therefore, NNMi administrators should not modify Island Node Group configurations. NNMi overrides any user changes the next time NNMi updates the Island Node Group discovery information. See "Help for Administrators" for more information about Island Node Groups. This topic includes the following sections:

• Device Filters Tab (NNMi Administrators only)
• Additional Filters Tab (NNMi Administrators only)
• Child Node Groups Tab (NNMi Administrators only)
• Status Tab

Membership in each node group is determined by a number of factors specified on the Node Group form. The NNMi administrator can create and modify Node Group definitions. The NNMi administrator can also configure Node Groups as filters for views. NNMi monitors the status of each Node Group over time. NNMi also provides a map of each Node Group (Actions → Node Group Map).

Each Node Group definition includes one or more of the following:

• Device Filters (by any combination of category, vendor, family, profile)
• Additional Filters (based on current object attribute values in the NNMi database)
• Additional Nodes (specific nodes identified by case-sensitive Hostname)
• Child Node Groups nest into this Node Group.

For information about each tab: See Also

Special Actions are available within the Node Group view and Interface Group view.

If you are an NNMI administrator, you can create Node Groups and use Node Groups in several ways: See Also

Node Group Basic Settings

Attribute	Description
Name	The name of this group (text string specified by the NNMi administrator). This name is a maximum of 255 characters. Alpha-numeric, spaces, and special characters (~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _+ -) are permitted.
Calculate Status	NNMi Administrators only. If disabled , NNMi does not calculate the Status for this Node Group. NNMi sets the Node Group Status value to No Status. If enabled , NNMi calculates the Node Group Status according to the Status Configuration settings. See "Configure Node Group Status" for more information.
Status	Overall status for the specified node group. NNMi follows the ISO standard for status classification.
Add to View Filter List	NNMi Administrators only. If disabled , this node group does not appear in any node group filter lists for node, interface, IP address, and incident views. If enabled , this node group is available as a filter for all node, interface, IP address, and incident views.
Notes	Optional. If your role permits, enter any information that might be useful to you and your team. Type a maximum of 1024 characters. Alpha-numeric, spaces, and special characters (~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _+ -) are permitted.

NNM iSPI Performance

Attribute

Description

Add to Filter List

NNMi Administrators only. Using this feature is entirely optional. The NNM iSPI Performance software, such as NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics or NNM iSPI Performance for Traffic, can monitor your network without any exported filter. Enable only for groups that are needed as filters in NNM iSPI Performance reports. It might take up to an hour before the results are visible in the NNM iSPI Performance reports. Choose wisely because establishing a filter requires significant NNM iSPI Performance software processing time. If disabled , this group is not available as a filter in NNM iSPI Performance reports. If enabled , this group appears in the Optional Filters selection panel of the NNM iSPI Performance reports. Requires Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Metrics Software (NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) -- click here for more information. Requires Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Traffic Software (NNM iSPI Performance for Traffic) -- click here for more information.

Device Filters Tab (NNMi Administrators only)

[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Node Group form, Device Filters tab.]

Optional: Determine Node Group members by vendor, family, model, or other device characteristics such as SNMP object identifiers.

NNMi combines the results of all Node Group configuration settings in the following manner:

• NNMi first evaluates Device Filters. If any exist, nodes must match at least one specification to belong to this Node Group.
• NNMi then evaluates any Additional Filters. Nodes must also pass all Additional Filters specifications to belong to this Node Group.
• Any Additional Nodes specified are always included in the Node Group, regardless of any filters.
• Any Child Node Group results are treated the same as Additional Nodes.

The Node Group Form provides details about the selected node group. 

For information about each tab: See Also

Device-Characteristic Filters Table

Attribute	Description
Device Filter	Table view of the device category, vendor, product family, or product model filters associated with the selected node group. Double-click the row representing the node that has the Node Device Filter Form (NNMi Administrators only) you want to see.

Node Device Filter Form (NNMi Administrators only)

[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Node Device Filter form.]

Optional: Node Group definitions can specify membership using combinations of Device Profile attributes for device category, vendor, family, and profile. If you provide more than one Node Device Filter specification for a particular Node Group, the Node Group includes devices that pass any one of the Device Filters.

NNMi combines the results of all Node Group configuration settings in the following manner:

• NNMi first evaluates Device Filters. If any exist, nodes must match at least one specification to belong to this Node Group.
• NNMi then evaluates any Additional Filters. Nodes must also pass all Additional Filters specifications to belong to this Node Group.
• Any Additional Nodes specified are always included in the Node Group, regardless of any filters.
• Any Child Node Group results are treated the same as Additional Nodes.

Each Node Device Filter specifies one or more criteria that devices must meet to qualify for inclusion in the Node Group (see table below). If more than one criteria, devices must meet all of the criteria to pass that Node Device Filter and join the Node Group.

Device Attribute Filters Table

Attribute	Description
Device Category	Optional: A particular category of devices. The drop-down list displays all available choices.
Device Vendor	Optional: A particular vendor. The drop-down list displays all available choices.
Device Family	Optional: A particular family of devices. The drop-down list displays all available choices.
Device Profile	Optional: The text string for Device Model from the Device Profile. According to industry standards (RFC 1213, MIB-II), each combination of vendor, category, and model is assigned a unique SNMP system object ID number (sysObjectID). NNMi provides a Device Profile for each of these. The Device Profile allows you to customize NNMi behavior for specific device models. If you want to know the actual SNMP system object ID number, use  Quick Find (see below). If your role permits, click the  Lookup icon and select one of the options from the drop-down menu:  Show Analysis to view Analysis Pane information for the currently selected Device Profile.  Quick Find to view and select from the list of all existing Device Profiles.  Open to display the details of the currently selected Device Profile.  New to create a new Device Profile definition.

Additional Filters Tab (NNMi Administrators only)

[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Node Group form, Additional Filters tab]

The Additional Filters Editor requires that your user name be assigned a role of Administrator. If you are an NNMi Administrator, see Specify Node Group Additional Filters for more information about how to use the Additional Filters editor.

The Additional Filters tab enables the NNMi administrator to use expressions to refine the requirements for membership in a Node Group.

NNMi combines the results of all Node Group configuration settings in the following manner:

• NNMi first evaluates Device Filters. If any exist, nodes must match at least one specification to belong to this Node Group.
• NNMi then evaluates any Additional Filters. Nodes must also pass all Additional Filters specifications to belong to this Node Group.
• Any Additional Nodes specified are always included in the Node Group, regardless of any filters.
• Any Child Node Group results are treated the same as Additional Nodes.

 The Node Group Form provides details about the selected Node Group. 

For information about each tab: See Also

If an NNMi administrator created any Additional Filters for the selected Node Group, NNMi displays the Additional Filters expression.

Additional Nodes Tab (NNMi Administrators only)

[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Node Group form, Additional Nodes tab.]

Optional: Determine Node Group members by specifying each device hostname (or address when hostname is not available).

Nodes that are specifically listed are always included in this node group.

The Node Group Form provides details about the selected node group. 

For information about each tab: See Also

Specific-Device Filters Table

Attribute	Description
Node Hostname	Table view of the case-sensitive Hostnames for the additional nodes added as members of the selected Node Group. Double-click the row representing the node that has the Additional Node Form you want to see.

Additional Node Form (NNMi Administrators only)

[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Additional Node form.]

Optional: Node Group definitions can specify members by case-sensitive Hostname (on the Additional Nodes Tab (NNMi Administrators only).

Nodes that are specified as Additional Nodes are always included in the Node Group.

To add more than a few additional nodes to the Node Group, create a Custom Attribute for the nodes. Use the Additional Filters tab with the Custom Attribute value to group the nodes together. See Custom Node Attribute Samples and Add Custom Attributes to Multiple Objects for more information.

Specific Node Group Member

Attribute

Description

Node Hostname

The current value of the fully-qualified, case-sensitive Hostname attribute as it appears on the Node form. NNMi follows a set of rules to dynamically generate the value stored in the NNMi database for each Node's Hostname. Click here for details. If the Node supports SNMP, NNMi requests the Hostname using the IP Address of the associated SNMP agent (the Management Address attribute value on the Node form). When the NNMi administrator chooses Enable SNMP Address Rediscovery  in the Communication Configuration: If the SNMP Agent does not respond, NNMi checks for another Management Address to request the Hostname, and the Hostname could change. If the SNMP Agent associated with the node changes, the Management Address and Hostname could change. When the NNMi administrator disables Enable SNMP Address Rediscovery  in the Communication Configuration, when the current management address (SNMP agent) becomes unreachable, NNMi does not check for other potential management addresses. If the Node does not support SNMP, no Management Address is available. NNMi requests a Hostname starting with the lowest IP Address associated with the node (a Discovery Seed value or an IP address value gathered from a neighboring device). NNMi uses the first Hostname provided. The Hostname might change during a future discovery cycle. NNMi administrators can use NNMi property file settings to change the way NNMi determines Hostname values: nms-topology.properties file settings: If DNS is the source of the Node's Hostname, there are three choices. By default NNMi uses the exact Hostname from your network configuration. It is possible to change NNMi behavior to convert Hostnames to all uppercase or all lowercase. nms-disco.properties file settings: The Hostname is either requested from the Node's lowest loopback interface IP address that resolves to a Hostname or requested from the Node's designated Management Address (SNMP agent address). With either choice, when no IP address resolves to a Hostname, the IP address itself becomes the Hostname. See Access Node Details and for a description of the ways to verify node details.

Child Node Groups Tab (NNMi Administrators only)

[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Node Group form, Child Node Groups tab.]

The Node Group Form provides details about the selected Node Group.

A set of Node Groups can be hierarchically configured, for example, based on geographical location. The Parent Node Group might be named North America to represent all of the nodes on that continent. Additional Node Groups might exist for each country in which your business offices reside (for example Canada, Mexico and United States). Each of these individual Node Groups are configured as a Child Node Group of the North AmericaNode Group.

For information about each of the columns displayed in the Child Node Groups table, see Node Group Hierarchy (Child Node Group) Form.

By default, each Child Node Group is represented by a hexagon symbol that appears with the other Node objects of the Parent Node Group in the Node Group Map. Child Node Group objects can be moved and have their locations saved with other Node objects in the map. Unlike other Node objects, double-clicking a Child Node Group object displays a map of the nodes in the Child Node Group rather than the object's form.

Alternatively, an NNMi administrator can configure the map to display all nodes in a Child Node Group as though its contents are directly in the Parent Node Group by setting the Expand Child in Parent Node Group Map attribute. An NNMi administrator must set this option for each Child Node Group that should be expanded. See Node Group Hierarchy (Child Node Group) Form for more information.

For information about each tab: See Also

Node Group Hierarchy (Child Node Group) Form (NNMi Administrators only)

Child Node Groups associate groups of nodes in a hierarchical order. For example, the Parent Node Group might be named United States to represent all of the nodes in the United States. Additional Node Groups might exist for each state in which your business offices reside (for example Colorado and California). Each of these individual state Node Groups can be a Child Node Group of the United States Node Group.

The following table describes each of the Basics attributes in the Node Group Hierarchy form.

Basics Attributes

Attribute	Description
Child Node Group	Indicates the name of a Node Group that is below the current Node Group in the hierarchical order. For example, Colorado could be a Child Node Group to a Node Group named United States. This attribute appears as the Name column in the Child Node Groups table view.
Expand Child in Parent Node Group Map	Used to indicate whether all of the nodes contained in a Child Node Group are displayed in the Node Group Map as though they were directly contained in the parent node group. If enabled, each node in the group appears as a separate node on the Node Group Map. If disabled, a single object represents a Child Node Group on the Node Group Map. Note the following: If the current Node Group has one or more Child Node Groups, each Child Node Group is also displayed. Child Node Groups are indicated using a hexagon as shown below: If any Child Node Group is a parent to other Child Node Groups, those Child Node Groups are also displayed on the map as follows: If the Child Node Group has the Expand Child in Parent Node Group Map attribute disabled, the Child Node Group appears as a hexagon. If any Child Node Group has the Expand Child in Parent Node Group Map attribute enabled, NNMi displays each of the nodes in that Child Node Group. This attribute appears in the Expand column in the Child Node Groups table view.

Status Tab

[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Node Group form, Status tab.] 

NNMi calculates the Node Group status based on the status of the nodes within the group. NNMi follows the ISO standard for status classification. Your NNMi administrator chooses a strategy for calculating Node Group Status. Possible strategies are:

• Propagating the Most Severe Status
• Configuring percentage thresholds

By default, NNMi uses the strategy for Propagating the Most Severe Status. NNMi sets the Node Group status equal to the most severe Status of any node in the Node Group.

When propagating Node Group status, NNMi uses the following severity order (from lowest to highest):

No Status

Normal

Unknown

Warning

Minor

Major

Critical

NNMi can also use the alternative Percentage threshold strategy. NNMi sets the Node Group status according to rules defined by your NNMi Administrator. When more than one Status percentage exceeds the threshold, NNMi propagates the most severe status. For example using the settings below, if the percentage of nodes with Warning Status exceeds 30 percent and the number of nodes with Minor Status exceeds 20 percent, NNMi assigns the Node Group a Status of Minor.

The following list shows an example of using the alternative Percentage strategy:

  No Status — The Node Group has just been added and NNMi has not yet calculated the status.

  Normal — All nodes in the Node Group have a status of Normal or the threshold specified for this Target Status has not been reached.

  Unknown — All nodes within the Node Group have a status of Unknown.

  Warning — At least 30 percent of the nodes within the Node Group have a status of Warning.

  Minor — At least 20 percent of the nodes in the Node Group have a Status of Minor.

  Major — At least 10 percent of the nodes within the Node Group have a status of Major.

  Critical — At least 5 percent of the nodes in the group have a status of Critical.

These example percentages might not match your NNMi Administrator's choices. See "Help for Administrators" for more information.

The Node Group Form provides details about the selected Node Group.

For information about each tab: See Also

Status Attributes

Attribute	Description
Status	NNMi calculates the Node Group status based on the status of the nodes within the group. Your NNMi administrator chooses a strategy for calculating Node Group Status. Possible strategies are: Propagating the Most Severe Status (NNMi default setting) Configuring percentage thresholds Possible status values are as follows. The status icons are displayed in table views. All other locations use status colors (instead of icons): No Status Normal Unknown Warning Minor Major Critical
Status Last Modified	Date and time indicating when the status was last set.

 

Status History Table

Attribute	Description
Status History	List of up to the last 30 changes in status for the selected node. This view is useful for obtaining a summary of the node group status so that you can better determine any patterns in behavior and activity. Double-click the row representing a Status History. The Status History form displays all details about the selected Status.

Related Topics

Position Nodes on a Node Group Map

Node Group Maps