Documentation forSolarWinds Platform Self-Hosted

Common Packet Analysis Sensor deployment scenarios

This topic applies only to the following products:

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted

NAM — NPM

After you install your SolarWinds Platform product, deploy network sensors on a server dedicated to monitoring a network switch or deploy server sensors directly on physical or virtual servers or workstations.

If you select QoE during the installation, a sensor is already on your SolarWinds Platform server collecting data about applications that SolarWinds Platform is using.

Based on how you want to aggregate the returned QoE metrics, there are three main deployment scenarios per sensor type.

Aggregation level Sensor Deployment Configuration
I have access to my network (NPAS)
Per application Deploy an NPAS to a port mirror that monitors all traffic to and from the application Automatic
Per site Deploy an NPAS to a port mirror that monitors all traffic to and from the site Add a sampling of endpoints to the NPAS as managed nodes
Per client Deploy an NPAS to a port mirror that monitors all traffic to and from the site Add all of the endpoints to the NPAS as managed nodes
I have access to my application servers (SPAS)
Per application Deploy the SPAS directly on the application server Automatic
Per site Deploy the SPAS to select endpoints Automatic
Per client Deploy the SPAS to all endpoints Automatic

  • When deploying both network and server sensors on the same network, ensure that you do not monitor the same node with multiple sensors. This impacts the QoE metrics.
  • All monitored nodes must be managed by your SolarWinds Platform product before they can be monitored by sensors.
  • Applications and nodes are detected by default if the node is managed by your SolarWinds Platform server. If packet data is not collected, navigate to Settings > All Settings, and click on QoE Settings. Click Manage Global QoE Settings, and activate the auto-detect option. You can also manually monitor applications and managed nodes or ignore them.

Aggregation per application

This deployment scenario provides a broad indication of the overall response time between computers and the monitored application.

Aggregation with access to network (NPAS)

  • Create a port mirror, SPAN, or network tap on the switch with all the network traffic to or from the application. See Quality of Experience requirements for more information.
  • You can monitor multiple applications using the same NPAS.
  1. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.
  2. Click QoE Settings > Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors > Add Packet Analysis Sensor.
  3. Select the Network option, and then click Add Nodes.
  4. Choose the node with the port mirror, SPAN, or network tap setup to monitor your network switch.
  5. Assign and test the credentials for the selected node.
  6. Click Add Nodes and Deploy Agents to deploy the network sensor to the node.

Aggregation with access to application servers (SPAS)

  1. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.
  2. Click QoE Settings > Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors > Add Packet Analysis Sensor.
  3. Select the Server option, and then click Add Nodes.
  4. Choose the nodes with the application you want to monitor.
  5. Assign and test the credentials for each node.
  6. Click Add Nodes and Deploy Agents to deploy a sensor on the node.

Aggregation per site

This deployment scenario provides an aggregated response time per monitored site or network to the application. For example, the response time from your Detroit office to your datacenter is one second, but the response time from Boston to your datacenter is seven seconds. If you used the aggregation per application deployment method, the response time for the application is four seconds.

This method requires you to identify users who best represent how the application is used. You then use the users' computers as data points to monitor with Packet Analysis Sensors.

Aggregation per site with access to network (NPAS)

  • Create a port mirror, SPAN, or network tap on the switch with all the network traffic to or from the application. See Quality of Experience requirements for more information.
  • You can monitor multiple applications using the same NPAS.
  • Identify a sample set of users whose computers are monitored by the NPAS.
  1. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.
  2. Click QoE Settings > Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors > Add Packet Analysis Sensor.
  3. Select the Network option, and then click Add Nodes.
  4. Choose the node with the port mirror, SPAN, or network tap setup to monitor your network switch.
  5. Assign and test the credentials for the selected node.
  6. Click Add Nodes and Deploy Agents to deploy the network sensor to the node.

Aggregation per site with access to application servers (SPAS)

Identify a sample set of users whose computers are monitored by the SPAS.

  1. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.
  2. Click QoE Settings > Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors > Add Packet Analysis Sensor.
  3. Select the Server option, and then click Add Nodes.
  4. Choose the nodes with the application you want to monitor.
  5. Assign and test the credentials for each node.
  6. Click Add Nodes and Deploy Agents to deploy a sensor on the node.

Aggregation per computer

This deployment scenario provides highly granular response times for the application because metrics for each computer are recorded.

One or two workstations can experience long response times, which may not be caught when aggregated per site or per application.

This method requires all workstations to be managed within your SolarWinds Platform product.

Aggregation per computer with access to network (NPAS)

  • Create a port mirror, SPAN, or network tap on the switch with all the network traffic to or from the application. See Quality of Experience requirements for more information.
  • You can monitor multiple applications using the same NPAS.
  1. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.
  2. Click QoE Settings > Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors > Add Packet Analysis Sensor.
  3. Select the Network option, and then click Add Nodes.
  4. Choose the node with the port mirror, SPAN, or network tap setup to monitor your network switch.
  5. Assign and test the credentials for the selected node.
  6. Click Add Nodes and Deploy Agents to deploy the network sensor to the node.

Aggregation per computer with access to application servers (SPAS)

  1. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.
  2. Click QoE Settings > Manage QoE Packet Analysis Sensors > Add Packet Analysis Sensor.
  3. Select the Server option, and then click Add Nodes.
  4. Select the all user computers to monitor.
  5. Assign and test the credentials for each node.
  6. Click Add Nodes and Deploy Agents to deploy an agent on the node.