Frequently Asked Questions About Orion
How is Orion NPM licensed?
Orion NPM is licensed by the largest number of the three following object types:
- Interfaces: interfaces include switch ports, physical interfaces, virtual interfaces, sub-interfaces, VLANs, and any other single point of network traffic. The number of interfaces is typically the highest of the three objects in most deployments.
- Nodes: nodes include entire devices, for example, routers, switches, servers, access points, and modems.
- Volumes: volumes are equal to the logical drives you monitor.
The following list provides the different types of Orion NPM licenses available:
- Up to 100 objects (SL100)
- Up to 250 objects (SL250)
- Up to 500 objects (SL500)
- Up to 2000 objects (SL2000)
- Unlimited objects (SLX)
Can I buy multiple licenses of Orion NPM (e.g., an SL-100 and an SL-250) and monitor all 350 network elements from the same web console?
No. An Orion NPM license allows you to install a single Orion database, and each database is associated with a single Orion web console.
Can Orion NPM monitor NetFlow?
Yes, Orion NPM can monitor NetFlow traffic data if you purchase the optional Orion NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Module.
Which vendors does Orion NPM support?
Orion NPM includes out-of-the-box monitoring for thousands of vendors and operating systems, including Cisco®, Foundry®, Extreme Networks®, Motorola®, ARRIS®, Linux, Solaris®, HP-UX®, AIX®, Windows® 2000, Windows 2003, and Windows XP devices.
How does Orion NPM collect data?
Through ICMP, SNMP, and syslog communication and data collection, Orion NPM continuously monitors network health and performance. No agents install on your mission critical servers; no services take vital resources from critical applications; no security holes open through the installation of unmanaged or outdated code.
How many objects can you monitor with Orion NPM?
Typically you can monitor between 8,000 and 10,000 interfaces with a single polling engine, but this depends on the system hardware, polling frequency, and types of devices monitored. This number can be significantly increased through the use of the Orion Scalability Engines or by consolidating views of multiple Orion NPM instances via the Orion Enterprise Operations Console.
Can I view Orion NPM fault and performance data within Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager 2007 or Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007?
Yes, SolarWinds provides a FREE Orion Management Pack that enables you to view detailed Orion NPM data and Orion NetFlow Traffic Analyzer data within Microsoft System Center. Learn more at http://www.solarwinds.com/systemcenter/
Q: Does Orion NPM monitor VMware®?
Yes, Orion NPM monitors VMware ESX Servers and guest virtual machine instances. Orion NPM cannot monitor VMware ESXi in the same way because ESXi does not support SNMP, however you can leverage Orion NPM’s trap server to receive ESXi traps.