Universal Device Poller – Define Your Universal Device Poller

 

More about Object Identifiers (OIDs)

More about Historical Data

About Advanced Options‑MIB Value Types

About Advanced Options‑Poller Formats

About Advanced Options‑MIB Polling (SNMP GET) Type

About Advanced Options‑Device Polling Type (Node or Interface)

The Define Your Universal Device Poller window is the first step in creating a Universal Device Poller. If you already know the OID that you want to poll, provide it in the OID field, and then the Name and Description fields will auto‑fill. If you do not know the OID you want to poll, click Browse MIB Tree, and then either walk or search the MIB tree to find the OID you want to poll.

Note: A Name is required to define a new Universal Device Poller, but a Description is not required.

The following sections provide more detailed information about each of the fields and options available in the Define Your Universal Device Poller window.

Object Identifiers (OIDs)

OIDs are standardized references that are assigned to both network objects and some characteristics of these objects, allowing you to directly access specific data about virtually any network device. Device characteristics may be represented as either individual values or as tables of values. In either case, each value or table is represented by a unique OID. Orion NPM and, specifically, the Orion NPM Universal Device Poller use these standardized OIDs to access a variety of settings and performance statistics for any device on your network. For more information about OIDs, see the OID documentation of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T) Study Group 17.

Name

This is the registered name assigned to a provided OID. If you provide an OID, Orion NPM pulls the associated name from the registered OID details and fills this field automatically.

Note: You must provide a name for any new Universal Device Poller. If you are duplicating an existing poller, you must provide a different name for the poller copy.

Description

This is the description provided with a registered OID. If you provide an OID, Orion NPM pulls the associated description from the registered OID details and fills this field automatically.

Note: The description is not required

Historical Data

The ability to record, report, and chart network performance statistics is a primary feature that Orion NPM provides. Orion NPM continuously polls your network for performance data, and enabling the option of keeping historical data allows Orion NPM to generate charts and reports that give you insight into performance trends on your network. If you have configured your Orion NPM installation with recommended amounts of memory, the costs of storage are greatly outweighed by the benefits of access to continuous historical information about the performance of your network. For more information about configuration requirements and recommendations, see “Requirements” in the SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.

Advanced Options‑MIB Value Types

MIB values and tables are classed by data types, and these MIB value data types are usually stated in the OID details of respective MIB values and tables Each MIB value data type maps to a specific poller type in Orion NPM. The following sections describe the three available poller types:

Rate

Rate pollers correspond to MIB values of the following data types: Integer, UInteger, UnsignedInteger32, Gauge, and Gauge32. These data types are typically used for MIB values and tables that return rate data. The rate units are generally indicated in the OID description. An example of a rate‑type MIB value is OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.5, which reports an estimate of current bandwidth, in bits per second, on an interface.

Notes:

•	If you set the MIB Value Type as Rate, you must provide the appropriate Unit and Time Frame for the rate MIB value.

•	As an example, a Rate value corresponds to the value, in miles per hour, returned by a car speedometer.

Counter

Counter pollers correspond to MIB values and tables of the following data types: Counter, Counter32, and Counter64. These data types are typically used for MIB values and tables that return counter data that typically keeps track of the number of times a defined event is detected in a defined period of time. Both the detected event and the time frame of detection should be noted in the OID description of a counter MIB value or table. OID group 1.3.6.4.1.2352.2.25.1.1 contains many examples of counter‑type MIB values that typically report transmission errors.

Notes:

•	If you set the MIB Value Type as Counter, you must provide an appropriate Unit and Time Frame for the counter MIB value.

•

As an example, a Counter value corresponds to the value, in miles, returned by a car odometer. To produce results equivalent to a speedometer‑type rate poller, create a clock poller that returns another Counter value, in hours, and then create a poller transform that divides the result of an odometer poller by the result of the clock poller.

Raw Value

MIB values that return raw values when polled can report numerical or textual data, including temperatures, interface names, addresses, port numbers, and memory sizes, for the polled device. A raw value, like a rate, is meaningless unless the data format is defined, typically in the corresponding OID description.

Note: If you set the MIB Value Type as Raw Value, you must provide the appropriate Format for the MIB value. For more information about poller formats, see “Advanced Options‑Poller Formats”.

Advanced Options‑Poller Formats

The OID details of any MIB value should indicate the format of the data returned by a poller. Pollers of MIB values that return raw values are capable of returning data in any of the formats listed in the following table.

Raw Value Format	Description
Text	Also referred to as Display String, this is a string of alphanumeric characters, often used for providing short descriptions, object and device names, serial numbers, or locations, as shown in the following examples: SanJoseLab, SN123456, Main Office VoIP Router
Enumeration	Used for OIDs that return numerical values mapped to strings. Click Map Values to map raw values to meaningful strings of text. For example, a node status OID may return 1, 2, or 3, corresponding to Down, Up, and Unknown. Click Map Values, enter Raw Values of 1, 2, and 3; enter Text Values of Down, Up, and Unknown, respectively, and then click OK. Note: Press Enter after either of the final entries in your enumeration map to create an additional row.
MAC Address	Used for polled OIDs that return MAC addresses including separators, as shown in the following examples: 4576.d53a.df2c, 45-76-d5-3a-df-2c, 45:76:d5:3a:df:2c Note: Separators may be periods (.), hyphens (-), or colons (:), depending on the convention observed by the polled OID.
MAC Address (clean)	Used for polled OIDs that return MAC addresses without separators, as hsown in the following example: 4576d53adf2c
IP Address	Used for polled OIDs that return IP addresses, as shown in the following examples: 209.85.135.103, 65.89.32.67
True/False	Used for polled OIDs that return either 0 or 1, where 0 maps to the value True and 1 maps to the value False.
False/True	Used for polled OIDs that return either 0 or 1, where 0 maps to the value False and 1 maps to the value True.
Time Ticks	Used for polled OIDs that return time measurements in hundredths of a second.
Administrative Status	Used for polled OIDs that return the administrative status of a device.
Operation Status	Used for polled OIDs that return the operational status of a device.

 

Advanced Options‑MIB Polling (SNMP GET) Type

SNMP Get Type defines the SNMP polling method used by your Universal Device Poller. The polling method is determined primarily by the type of object that you want to poll. MIB values require either GET or GET NEXT, and MIB tables require GET TABLE. The SNMP get types available for Universal Device Pollers are described in the following sections.

GET

SNMP GET is used with an OID to retrieve the value of the object with the given OID.

For example, SNMP GET 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.1.0 retrieves the value of RFC1213-MIB:snmpInPkts (OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.1) for instance 0 of the polled device.

GET NEXT

SNMP GET NEXT is used with an OID to retrieve the value of the object with the OID immediately following the given OID.

For example, SNMP GET NEXT 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.1.0 retrieves the value of RFC1213-MIB:snmpOutPkts (OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.2) for instance 0 of the polled device.

GET TABLE

SNMP GET TABLE is used with a MIB table OID to retrieve the table with the specified OID.

For example, SNMP GET TABLE 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.22.0 retrieves the table of values RFC1213-MIB:ipNetToMediaTable (OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.22) for instance 0 of the polled device.

Advanced Options‑Device Polling Type (Node or Interface)

The polling type of your Universal Device Poller is determined by the type of network device you want to poll. If you are creating a Universal Device Poller to poll an OID on a node, select Node. If you are creating a Universal Device Poller to poll an OID associated with an interface, select Interface.

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