Free SolarWinds Hybrid-Cloud-Observability-Network-Monitoring Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 2

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

SolarWinds determines node status by polling using ICMP (ping) and SNMP. If ICMP is blocked by a firewall or network device between the polling engine and the monitored node, the node will appear “down” in the web console even though it is actually up. Likewise, if the SNMP credentials configured in SolarWinds are incorrect, the polling engine cannot successfully query the device, leading to a false “down” status.

From the documentation:

“If ICMP packets are blocked or dropped, SolarWinds cannot determine node status, resulting in false down events.”

“Incorrect SNMP community strings or credentials will prevent node polling, and these nodes may appear down in the console.”

Changing the polling interval or node management settings does not directly cause this issue.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Only SNMP version 3 supports advanced authentication methods such as MD5, SHA1, SHA256, and SHA512 in SolarWinds and other SNMP-compliant platforms.

The documentation specifies:

"SNMP v3 provides secure authentication and encryption options, including MD5, SHA1, SHA256, and SHA512. Versions 1 and 2c only support community string authentication."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

If a node remains in “unknown” status:

A. Ping device from assigned polling engine: Verifies direct network connectivity from the poller to the node.

C. Verify the appropriate polling method is set for this node: Ensures SolarWinds uses the correct protocol (ICMP, SNMP, WMI, etc.) for monitoring.

D. Verify a ping response for this node is received through the ICMP: Confirms basic reachability and that the node is not blocking ping requests.

Running an SNMP walk (B) can help diagnose SNMP-specific issues but is not always directly relevant to a node simply being in “unknown” status unless SNMP is the configured polling method.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In NetPath visualizations, the thickness of the connection lines represents the likelihood or frequency of traffic using that path.

From the documentation:

“In NetPath, thicker lines between nodes indicate a higher probability that traffic will flow along that path. This visualization is based on the frequency of successful probes and actual traffic analysis.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Universal Device Pollers (UDPs) must be explicitly assigned to each node for which custom polling is required. Adding a new node does not automatically assign existing UDPs to that node, even if it’s the same device type as others already using the poller. Assigning the existing UDP to the new node will resolve the issue and enable polling of the desired data.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Disabling NetFlow/CBQoS stops flow data collection, resulting in gaps in graphs during the disabled period (A). However, historical data collected prior to disabling is retained in the database (C), so you can still view past flow information.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability (HCO) supports capturing flow data and CBQoS data using:

A. IPFIX: (IP Flow Information Export) is the IETF standard for exporting flow information, supported for both flow data and CBQoS.

C. NetFlow: Developed by Cisco, widely used for flow and CBQoS data collection.

J-Flow is primarily for flow data (from Juniper devices), and SNMP is not a flow export protocol.

The documentation states:

"NetFlow (including NetFlow v9) and IPFIX are supported for flow and CBQoS data collection. These standards provide extensive network traffic and QoS visibility within HCO."

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Device Studio pollers offer more advanced capabilities than traditional Universal Device Pollers (UDPs). While both can poll SNMP-enabled devices, Device Studio pollers can gather additional node details (such as chassis information and advanced device metrics) that UDPs are not able to access. UDPs are limited to polling OIDs and displaying simple numeric or textual values. The official documentation states that Device Studio expands the range of supported technologies and provides access to more detailed device information compared to UDPs.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To create a NetPath probe in SolarWinds, you need to specify a source (which requires a Windows-based agent or node) and a destination port. The documentation states:

“To deploy a NetPath probe, select a Windows node or agent as the source and specify the connection port for the service to be monitored. Linux nodes and agents are not supported for NetPath probes.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

A "no data" message in NetFlow charts usually indicates that the flow collector service is not receiving or processing flow data. One of the primary troubleshooting steps recommended in the SolarWinds documentation is to restart the collector service. This resolves issues caused by service interruptions, memory leaks, or flow processing errors.

The documentation states:

"If NetFlow charts display 'no data,' verify that the NetFlow collector service is running. Restart the collector service if necessary, as service interruptions can cause a lack of flow data display."