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In this section, we'll discuss the Orion® Network Atlas tool
used to create maps and diagrams
that are then used in the web console
to show the status of the network or systems
in a logical or geographic layout.
We will begin by looking at how to design and create basic maps.
Then we'll take a deeper look
at more advanced mapping, such as hyperlinking,
nested maps, and utilizing backgrounds.
The Orion Network Atlas tool is accessed through the
SolarWinds Orion program group:
Alerting, Reporting, and Mapping.
Or it can be installed locally on the admin's PC
so remote desktop to the server isn't necessary.
The user interface of the Network Atlas tool is tabbed
with ribbon views providing different configuration options.
On the left side of the window,
a navigation tree provides access to all maps,
as well as Orion objects such as
groups, nodes, interfaces,
and applications depending on which modules are installed.
The drag and drop interfaces
allow the designer to quickly and easily
create great looking maps
that also provide insight on the network topology,
as well as its geographic distribution.
As mentioned, the Orion Network Atlas
is set up with a drag and drop interface
for organizing the different configuration options available.
We'll start with the basic introduction to the different views.
The Home tab contains map creation and customization options,
including map backgrounds
and the Connect Now feature, which we will discuss a little later.
The Edit tab contains features used to manipulate the map layout,
including options for changing the arrangement
and alignment of objects embedded in a map.
The View tab allows you to customize the map view,
and finally, the Help tab provides help features for Orion Network Atlas.
At any time, you can right-click on a map to edit additional configurations
such as appearance, adding additional objects,
backgrounds, and properties.
The map properties gives you the options to override account limitations
and remove nodes that certain users do not have permissions to see,
as well as configuring the percent threshold for the map object status.
The default is the map will be up if
100% of the objects are up,
but you can use this slider to change the percentage.
New maps can be created by going to the File menu
and selecting "New Map."
Maps can also be saved, exported, and printed
from this menu.
Basic maps can be quickly created and in turn,
used immediately in the web console.
Next, we'll take a look at more complex maps
and nesting objects and maps into one another.
Nesting maps allows you to create multiple levels of detail
within one master map.
This allows you to have one map
showing the Web console with clickable objects,
letting you drill down into details in linear fashion.
For example, you may have a geographical map
with multiple locations embedded as objects.
Clicking one of those locations can take you to an overview
of the location
with yet more embedded objects
representing different facilities in that location.
Each facility, in turn, could also be a clickable object
taking you all the way down into the details of the network environment
within that facility.
In this case, the master map gives you a high-level look
at your facilities across a wide geographical area
while still providing the functionality
to drill down into specific networks.
Nesting maps, while it sounds complicated,
is actually pretty straightforward.
The first step is to create each separate map that you need,
save the maps, and they will be available under maps
in your navigation tree on the left side
of your Orion Network Atlas window.
Once the maps are created,
open the top-level map and precede to drag and drop
the child maps into the map, in that order.
For example, if I wanted to display the status of my locations around the world,
I would start with a high-level map
displaying a world view.
I could then add my US and PLS network,
and then my Austin datacenter to this map.
This will allow me to drill down from a world view
with various networks and sites,
all the way US and PLS network,
and then out to the status of my datacenter.
Once completed, I can save the master map
containing all the nested objects
and then add it to the maps area of the web console.
This is done by clicking the "Edit" button
in the Maps area of the web console
and selecting the desired map.
Click "submit", and the map is added to the map view.
The ConnectNow™ features a handy way to easily draw connectivity lines
directly between objects in a map.
While ConnectNow is very convenient and a fast way to map connections,
there are a couple of items to keep in mind when using this feature.
First, ConnectNow cannot draw indirect connections
between nodes.
Additionally, all nodes used in ConnectNow
must have the topology resource selected.
If you are unsure, you can select the node in the web console
and hit the "List Resources" button before the performance gauges.
In order to use ConnectNow,
simply drag and drop nodes into your current map
and click the "ConnectNow" button
found on the home tab.
Internally identified connections will automatically be drawn
and Orion Network Atlas will inform you
of how many connections were made.
Map backgrounds can also be images from URL links,
such as radar or satellite images from weather websites
or network diagrams.
When using a link background map in the web console,
the map image will refresh from the designated webpage
every time the web console refreshes.
In the case of using the radar image,
this can provide valuable information
on weather conditions that may affect availability
of a specific location.
To create a link map,
first navigate to the website
and obtain the hyperlink for the desired map.
From the Home tab ribbon
on the Orion Network Atlas,
click "Linked Background" on the right side of the window.
Paste the URL for the map
into the space provided
and click "Validate" to check the link.
Once the link is validated,
click "OK" and save the map.
From here, you can add this map to the web console view
in the same manner as any other map.
The Edit button in the map resource offers some
additional customization options.
Click "Edit", and you are given the option to customize titles,
subtitles, and scale of the map,
as well as removing the Network Atlas download link.
You can also select whether or not to show a cache map
to improve performance on maps containing a large number of objects.
To the right is the option to customize the map tooltip.
This pops up when you hover over an embedded object on the map.
Click on "Customize Map" tooltip
and that will take you to the Edit screen.
Here you can choose the tool tip you wish to edit
and add the appropriate text
or variables, which will provide CPU
or bandwidth information
on a mouse over.
In my example, I want to customize the tooltip
for all nodes on the map.
I'm going to go to the Orion nodes area
and add my customization.
In this case, I want to add the word CPU
followed by the variable for CPU load.
Now let's go ahead and add memory utilization
using the variable for memory usage.
When you are finished, click "Submit" at the bottom of the page.
Now returning to the NPM Summary page,
we can now hover over our map objects
and see this CPU and memory statistics
in the tooltip message.
[©2012 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All Rights Reserved.]