Documentation forSolarWinds Platform

Automatically connect objects on Network Atlas maps in the SolarWinds Platform with ConnectNow

This SolarWinds Platform topic applies only to the following products:

Hybrid Cloud Observability Essentials — Hybrid Cloud Observability Advanced

DPAIM — EOC — NAM — NCM — NPM — NTA — SAM — SRM — UDT — VMAN — VNQM

Using the ConnectNow tool, Network Atlas can automatically draw lines between directly connected nodes on your network.

ConnectNow displays connections based on data polled for nodes with enabled L2 and L3 topology pollers, and for unidentified nodes.

An unidentified node is a node that was found on the network but which is not managed by Orion. These devices might be switches, hubs, routers, or other devices without names or addresses.
Unidentified nodes can be virtual, generated to signify an indirect connection in your map. For example, when a topology calculation cannot find any direct connections between two nodes, an unidentified node is generated between the two known nodes.

  • The ConnectNow tool cannot draw indirect connections between nodes. For example, if nodes A and C are connected indirectly through node B, you must manually add node B to the map to create the connections.
  • If you have connections based on Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP data) between nodes, make sure CDP is enabled.
  • Orion Enterprise Operations Console (EOC) does not support ConnectNow.

Connect objects on maps automatically using ConnectNow

  1. In Network Atlas, add the nodes to an open network map.

    See Add objects on a Network Atlas map for the SolarWinds Platform.

  2. Click ConnectNow () in the Home ribbon.

Update the Topology

ConnectNow displays data stored in the TopologyConnections database table. By default, the data is re-calculated every 30 minutes. You can update the data manually.

  1. Log in to the SolarWinds Platform Web Console as an administrator.
  2. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.
  3. In the Node & Group Management grouping, click Manage Nodes.
  4. In the More Actions drop-down list, select Update Topology.

The values in the TopologyConnections table will be re-calculated and your topologies will be updated.