Understand connections on Intelligent Maps in the SolarWinds Platform

Intelligent Maps show you how entities are connected.

Click a connection on the map to display more details in the Inspector Panel.

Intelligent Maps display the following connection types, based on the seed entity:

• Dependency connections
• Application dependency connections
• Topology connections

View SolarWinds Platform dependencies

A dependency connection shows that a relationship exists between two entities. It could be a user-defined dependency, or a dependency identified through its ancestry.

SolarWinds Platform dependencies are displayed as lines.

Requirements for displaying dependencies on Intelligent Maps

• SolarWinds Platform dependencies are available on all Intelligent Maps.
• The "seed entity" must have inherited or user-defined dependencies. If you see only the entity, there are no connections.

Example: Inherited dependency on Intelligent Maps

For example, if you select a virtual machine (VM), the VM (1) can have a relationship to its host (2), which can have a relationship to its cluster (3).

View Application Dependency connections

Application Dependency connections display applications or systems communicating with each other.

The information available on the map and in the Inspector Panel depends on the Application Connection Settings.

Requirements and recommendations for Application Dependency connections

• SAM
• Connection Quality Polling enabled (recommended)

Enable Connection Quality Polling to see TCP latency, packet loss, and other details on Intelligent Maps

If Connection Quality metrics aren't enabled, the relationship on the canvas is represented by a light blue line with no metric pill.

1. Click Settings > All Settings, and then click Application Connection Settings in the Product-specific grouping.

2. Ensure that Connection Quality Polling is enabled.

   

View Application Dependencies on Intelligent Maps

1. Go to the Details view for an application.

2. Click the Map icon on the left.

3. Pay attention to red or yellow connections on the map. The colors highlight that latency or packet loss are breaching the warning (yellow) or critical (red) threshold. See Thresholds for more details.

   

4. Click an Application Dependency connection to display a list of the processes communicating between the two entities in the Inspector Panel.

5. To display the Connection Details page for a connection, double-click the connection on the map or an item in the inspector panel.

Topology connections

Topology connections show the network traffic between entities.

To quickly identify if bandwidth is properly distributed across the environment, review the width of the topology connections. The width represents interface bandwidth, so that you can easily determine differences between a 1 GB link, 10 GB link, or 100 MB link across the map.

Requirements for displaying topology connections

• NPM

• Topology Polling enabled

  In SolarWinds Platform products, it is enabled by default.

  To verify, go to the Node Details view, and click List Resources in the Management widget. Make sure that boxes for Topology: Layer 2 and Topology: Layer 3 are selected.

  

View topology connections

1. Go to the Details view of the entity.

2. Click the Map subview on the left.

3. Review details in the metrics pill. By default, the metric pills highlight outbound traffic and utilization details on either side of the connection.

4. Review the connection colors. Based on thresholds set in NPM, the connections change to yellow when the warning threshold is exceeded, or red for an exceeded critical threshold. See Thresholds for more details.

   

5. Review the connections between the entities in the Inspector Panel on the right.

6. Click a connection to display more details.

   If the texts in the Inspector Panel are too close together or even cut off, consider expanding the Inspector Panel. Grab the handle and drag the Panel to the left.

   

Example: Topology on the Map

In the example below, the map shows a problem link, indicating that a threshold has been met. The Inspector Panel displays all data between interfaces for each connection.

On either side in the panel, you can see the interfaces associated with the device above, along with the most recent polled data for traffic, errors & discards, utilization, and the maximum bandwidth.