Documentation forSolarWinds Platform

Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors

This SolarWinds Platform topic applies only to the following products:

Hybrid Cloud Observability EssentialsHybrid Cloud Observability Advanced

NAMNPM

Nodes that are defined as QoE Sensors appear on this page, as well as the nodes and applications that are being watched by each node.

  • Each sensor can support up to 50 applications.
  • PPPoE packets are not processed by QoE sensors.

Add a Packet Analysis Sensor to a node

Use the Add Packet Analysis Sensor wizard to select the nodes on which you want to deploy packet analysis sensors.

  1. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.
  2. Click QoE Settings > Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors.
  3. Click Add Packet Analysis Sensor.
  4. Select either the Server or Network sensor type option.
    • Server sensor - Installs an agent and QoE sensor on the selected Windows servers, then collects data locally on those servers.
    • Network sensor - Installs an agent and QoE sensor on dedicated Windows servers monitoring SPAN or mirror ports. Collects packet data for any specified nodes/applications sending traffic through the monitored port.
  5. Click Add Nodes.
  6. Choose the Windows nodes that you want to deploy your sensors on.
  7. Test the credentials for each node.
  8. Click Add Nodes and Deploy Agents to deploy an agent on the node.

    Deployment may take some time and will run as a background process.

    QoE automatically chooses settings such as interface to capture traffic data, as well as memory and CPU limits, during agent deployment. You can change these settings once deployment is complete by selecting the sensor and clicking Edit.

    When deployment is complete, a message is added to the notification area.

    You can also check the status on the Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors page.

  9. Specify which nodes and applications to monitor. The steps for specifying nodes and applications can be found in Monitor QoE applications and nodes.

Disable a sensor

Sensors are enabled by default. You can disable a sensor as a troubleshooting tool or to disable a sensor if it is overloaded with traffic. A disabled sensor will not collect traffic information about any of the nodes listed for that sensor.

  1. In the Manage Quality of Experience (QoE) Packet Analysis Sensors page, select the sensor and click Disable Sensor.

Delete a sensor

Deleting a sensor also deletes all of the nodes and applications associated with the sensor. It does NOT delete the nodes from Orion or the applications from the Manage QoE Applications page).

  1. In the Manage Quality of Experience (QoE) Packet Analysis Sensors page, select the sensor and click Delete Sensor.

Delete nodes from Network sensors

Nodes cannot be deleted from Server sensors since they only record traffic on the node the sensor is installed on.

View the status of the Sensor

A status can be whether sensor is connected or not, if it is in the process of being deployed, and so forth. You can also access the Manage Agents page from here by clicking Manage Agent next to the sensor’s status.

  1. In the Manage Quality of Experience (QoE) Packet Analysis Sensors page, view the Agent Status column.