NetPath Network Path Analysis

Using distributed monitoring and path analysis, NetPath™ is designed to automatically create an end-to-end map of how applications are delivered to your end users. You can quickly identify network problems, locate paths to key applications or users who are down, and better understand how well your network delivers applications with the NetPath feature. However, NetPath goes beyond simply discovering the node-by-node network path traffic follows—it also quantifies each link and node’s performance. NetPath will even isolate the node responsible for suboptimal performance.

To start using NetPath to create a comprehensive map, deploy agents on Windows computers. Acting as synthetic users, these agents will map and test the paths traffic follows to network endpoints via advanced probing. For example, you can quickly discover the network path traffic takes on the way to your website, external websites, or your local file print server.

After mapping the network path and quantifying each node and connection’s performance, NetPath will provide additional performance data for your nodes. Not only is this tool capable of displaying performance details for your on-premises devices by incorporating data from SolarWinds^® Network Configuration Monitor (NCM), SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA), and SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)—it can also display details for those outside your network. If NetPath identifies an external issue, it’s built to provide you with the name and contact information of the company that owns the underperforming node.

A service represents an application and lies at the end of the path you’re mapping. As such, you should deploy a service for every application essential for your users.

Creating a NetPath service in NPM is simple. Just click My Dashboards, Network, NetPath Services, and Create New Service. Then enter a hostname (or an IP address and port) followed by the probing interval. Your probing interval tells NetPath the frequency and duration at which it should poll information from the network path, so employing an appropriate probing interval will ensure you have access to frequent and accurate data. If your probing interval is too low, NetPath won’t have enough time to complete the probe, and the map may not contain every route. If it’s too high, however, NetPath won’t update information as often. In most cases, SolarWinds recommends using a 10-minute probing interval.

Once you’ve decided on your probing interval, click Next, choose an existing probe from the list, and click Create. If you’d prefer to use a new source not on the list, you can also create your own NetPath probe.

NetPath services lie at the end of the path you’re mapping, and NetPath probes are at the start. Probes monitor NetPath services, are automatically installed on each polling engine by the Orion^® Platform, can be installed on any Windows computer, and should be deployed anywhere you have users.

In addition to creating probes when creating services, you can assign them after creating a service. Just click My Dashboards, Network, and NetPath Services. Once you’ve found the service you’d like to add a probe to on the NetPath Services list, click the + icon and Create New Probe. When the Create New Probe window appears, enter the required information, click Create, select the probe from the list, and click Assign.

When creating probes, remember probing more frequently results in quicker data updates but less accurate data. On the other hand, if you increase your probing interval, you’ll get more accurate data but less often. If you have an internal network path consisting of fewer than 10 nodes, you can set a lower probing interval to ensure you receive frequent data updates. If your network path is external and contains internet connections or more than 10 nodes, increasing your probing interval will lessen the load strain on your network, nodes, and Orion server. It will also save storage space.

If you’re experiencing probe deployment issues, try checking your probe’s status by clicking Settings and All Settings before clicking Manage Agents under Node and Group Management. Then, select the probe in question from the Agent/Node list and verify the agent status is Running and the connection status is Connected. To verify the NetPath Agent Plug-In is installed, click More Actions and View Installed Agent Plug-Ins.

If your network is experiencing performance problems, troubleshooting should be a top priority. With NetPath data, you can easily diagnose slow connections caused by your internal network. You can also identify any nodes not functioning properly due to a recent config file change.

If you need to locate a node within your internal network causing a network slowdown, click My Dashboards, Network, and NetPath Services. Expand the slow or unreachable service and click the probe from the location reporting the issue before locating and clicking the date and time your users reported the network issue under Path History. After clicking on the bar, you’ll see a map of the problem area. NetPath will display the underperforming nodes and connections in red and provide you with information about the node’s latency, packet loss, and transit likelihood. If the problem is a result of a configuration change, you can click the Config Change notification and scroll down in the config comparison window to find any highlighted configuration changes. You can then revert the config file using SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager or log in to your device to remove the problematic configuration.