Manage Network Flow Processing

You can enable and disable network flow processing for your
DX NetOps Network Flow Analysis
(NFA)interfaces.
When NFA is configured as a data source in
NetOps Portal
, as a network administrator, you can manage (enable, disable, edit, merge, and delete) network flow processing for your NFA interfaces. For example, you can create and delete custom virtual interfaces (CVIs), merge interfaces, and edit properties.
Complete the following procedures on the target routers or interfaces:

View Network Flow Processing

Follow these steps:
  1. Log in as an Administrator.
  2. Hover over
    Administration
    ,
    Data Sources
    , and then select the Network Flow Analysis data source.
  3. Select
    Manage Monitoring
    in the
    Managed Interfaces
    menu.
    The
    Manage Monitoring
    page appears showing the list of routers and interfaces.
You can search and sort the list of interfaces. Searching and sorting works on the whole data instead of the current page data. Filter text searches the original values of speed and data columns. It does not search the modified values.

Search for a Router, Interface, or CVI

Use the search functionality to locate routers, interfaces, or CVIs. From the
Manage Monitoring
page, enter a text string in the search field, and then click the search icon. You can search for whole or partial text strings that match the addresses, names, or descriptions of routers, interfaces, or CVIs.
Do not use wildcards.
The resulting list is filtered to display only the matching entries. To clear the search, remove the text string.

Manage an Interface

You can manage (view, add, edit, and delete) interfaces using
NetOps Portal
.
Follow these steps:
  1. From the list of routers and interfaces, in the right pane, click the
    All Interfaces
    tab.
    A list of interfaces display.

Enable or Disable an Interface

By default, the application settings that are listed on the
Application Settings
page are enabled. In some cases, you might want to enable interfaces manually, such as in the following example scenarios:
  • Interfaces have been disabled temporarily and you want to re-enable them.
  • Newly-discovered interfaces are not enabled automatically (the
    Auto-Enable Interfaces
    option on the
    Application Settings
    page is set to
    False
    ).
    For more information about the settings on this page, see Flow Administration.
Follow these steps:
  1. From the list of interfaces, select the interface that you want to enable or disable, and then click
    Enable
    or
    Disable
    .
    You can select multiple interfaces to enable or disable in bulk.
  2. Click
    Yes
    at the prompt.
The interface is enabled or disabled.

Edit an Interface

You can edit the properties of an interface.
Follow these steps:
  1. From the list of interfaces, select the interface that you want to edit, and then click
    Edit Interface
    .
    You can select select multiple interfaces to perform a bulk edit. However, only some fields are editable in the bulk edit option. To edit all editable fields, select only one interface at a time.
  2. Set the desired interface parameter (field) values, and then click
    Save
    .
Your changes are saved.

Merge an Interface

You can merge interfaces, which merges their data. You can merge only two interfaces at a time. You may want to do this whenever major logical changes to a device cause a new interface to be created in the system.
Consider the following guidelines when you merge interfaces:
  • You can merge two interfaces, which can be on different routers.
  • The data collection period for the interfaces can contain gaps.
  • If you merge interfaces that have overlapping time frames, the overlapping data is discarded. Precedence is given to the newer interface (the interface that has the later start date).
    For example, suppose you merge Interface A and B. Interface A has collected data that starts at 1:00 P.M. and ends at 5:00 P.M. on the same day. The data collected for Interface B starts at 3:00 P.M. The merged data consists of Interface A data from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. and Interface B data from 3:00 P.M. onward.
  • You cannot merge interfaces that started collecting data at the same time.
Follow these steps:
  1. From the list on the
    Manage Monitoring
    page, in the left pane, select the device (router) related to the interface that you want to merge.
  2. In the right pane, click the
    Active Interfaces
    tab.
  3. Select the interfaces that you want to merge, and the click
    Merge
    .
    The
    Merge Interface
    dialog appears.
  4. (Optional) To merge a different interface than the selection, change the interfaces that you want to merge:
    • Add the interfaces that you want to merge to
      Active Interfaces
      .
    • Remove the interfaces that you do not want to merge from
      Selected Interfaces
      .
  5. (Optional) To delete the source interface after the merge, click
    Delete Source
    .
  6. (Optional) To merge the interfaces that have overlapping timeframes, click
    Merge overlapping interfaces
    .
  7. Click
    OK
    .
The interfaces are merged.
Example:
For example, suppose that your 512-Kbps link that has been running for a year is upgraded to a T1 link (a 1.54-Mbps link). Using the new T1 link causes the interface
ifindex
to change. For example, the previous
ifIndex
of 5 changes to 13--the next available
ifindex
for the T1 link. Other settings are changed or created, such as the
ifdescr
and
ifAlias
settings.
These changes cause the program to see the interface as a new interface. You enable the new interface so the program can collect its data.
At this point, the history of the interface is divided. To unify the history, you merge the two versions of the interface. After the merge, the history includes the data that was collected previously from the interface on the slower link and the data from the interface on the new link. The data is combined end-to-end with no overlaps or duplication.

Delete an Interface

Deleting an interface deletes its historical data, related CVIs, and traps, and affects any aggregations, views, and reports that previously included the interface.
Follow these steps:
  1. From the list of interfaces, select the interface that you want to delete, and then click
    Delete
    .
    You can select multiple interfaces to perform a bulk delete.
  2. When prompted, click
    Yes
    .
The interface is deleted.

Create a Custom Virtual Interface for a Device or Router

Create custom virtual interfaces (CVIs) to separate traffic on a particular interface and subnet from other traffic on the interface. You can create a CVI from an existing physical interface. You can also modify an existing CVI.
Follow these steps:
  1. From the list of interfaces, in the left pane, select the device (router) related to the interface from which you want to create a CVI.
  2. In the right pane, click the
    Active Interfaces
    tab.
  3. Select a
    physical
    interface, and then click
    Add Custom Virtual Interface
    .
    The
    Class
    column distinguishes interface type, physical or virtual.
    The
    Add Custom Virtual Interface
    dialog opens.
  4. Enter values for the following fields:
    • Interface Name
      Replace the default value in the
      Interface Name
      field with a meaningful name for the interface list.
    • Description
      (
      Optional
      )
      Enter a text string to help identify the interface.
    • In Speed
      and
      Out Speed
      (
      Optional
      )
      Identify the speed of data that is inbound to the parent interface and outbound from the parent interface.
    • Interface Type
      (
      Optional
      )
      Select the interface type from the list.
    • Subnet
      Enter a subnet and mask identification for each subnet filter that you want to use for this CVI, then click
      Add
      . Use the format:
      <subnet IP address/subnet mask>
      Enter one or more subnet filters.
    • Click
      Save
      .
    The CVI is automatically deployed. The
    Class
    column for the new CVI distinguishes it from a physical interface.

Custom Virtual Interface Priorities

CVI priorities are set according to how narrowly you specify the subnet mask. Subnet masks that are most specific have the highest priority. A CVI that has a single-node subnet mask (such as 192.168.20.2/32) has higher priority than a CVI that has a multiple-node subnet mask (such as 192.0.0.0/8). Establishing priorities in this way helps ensure that CVI traffic remains separate from other traffic, especially for a host on a large subnet.
Reports for traffic between two CVIs with the same priority can be inconsistent.

Examples of Custom Virtual Interface Definitions

If you define the following CVIs:
  • CVI-A: 192.168.0.0/16
  • CVI-B: 192.168.100.0/24
  • CVI-C: 192.168.100.123/32
The following reporting is enabled:
  • CVI-A reports traffic that involves subnet 192.168.
    x
    .
    x
    except traffic that involves subnet 192.168.100.
    x.
  • CVI-B reports traffic that involves subnet 192.168.100.
    x
    except traffic that involves host 192.168.100.123.
  • CVI-C reports traffic that involves host 192.168.100.123.
If you add 192.168.100.124/32 as CVI-D, either CVI-C or CVI-D reports the traffic between 192.168.100.123 and 192.168.100.124. Only one of the CVIs reports the traffic.
If you add 192.168.200.0/24 as CVI-E, either CVI-B or CVI-E reports the traffic between 192.168.100.
x
and 192.168.200.
x
. Only one of the CVIs reports the traffic.

Manage an SNMP Profile for a Device or Router

Prerequisite:
You have indicated that you want to perform SNMP polling on devices (SNMP polling is enabled). For more information about how to enable SNMP polling, see Flow Administration.
You can manage SNMP profiles for devices (routers) using
NetOps Portal
in the following ways:

Test an SNMP Profile for a Device or Router

You can test the SNMP profile of the device or router using the
Test Profile
action. Selecting an SNMP-profile-assigned router enables this option. The test fails if the SNMP profile is not assigned to the router that you have selected. In such cases, you can assign an SNMP profile to the specified router, and then test the router profile.
For more information about how to assign an SNMP profile for a specified router, see the "Edit a Device (Router)" section.

Discover an SNMP Profile for a Device or Router

You can discover SNMP profiles for devices or routers. The discovery process is asynchronous. Only the task is scheduled, as it might take a long time for discovery to complete. You can view the current state of discovery from the
Discover Profile State
column in the
Devices
list (hidden by default). Initially, discovery is in "Scheduled" state, and then it moves to "Running".
After discovery is complete, the profile state changes to one of the following states:
  • Profile Found:
    Discovery is successful. The
    SNMP Profile
    column displays the newly found profile for the device (router).
  • Profile Not Found:
    Edit the existing SNMP profiles or add a new SNMP profile to poll the device.
  • Failed:
    You can view the reason for the failure from the
    <NFAInstallPath>\REPORTER\Logs\DiscoverProfileLog<timestamp>.log
    file, and take corrective action.
Discovery does not discover SNMP profiles for retired devices.
To get the latest state of discovery, refresh the devices list.

Refresh an SNMP Router

Follow these steps:
  1. In the left pane, select the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) router that you want to refresh, and then click
    SNMP Refresh
    .
    You can refresh only one router at a time.
  2. When prompted, click
    Yes
    .
The SNMP router is refreshed.

Manage a Device (Router)

You can manage devices (routers) using
NetOps Portal
in the following ways:

Enable or Disable a Device (Router)

Follow these steps:
  1. In the left pane, select the device (router) that you want to enable or disable, and then click
    Enable
    or
    Disable
    .
    You can select multiple devices (routers) to perform a bulk enable or disable.
  2. When prompted, click
    Yes
    .
The device (router) is enabled or disabled.

Edit a Device (Router)

Follow these steps:
  1. In the left pane, select the device (router) that you want to edit, and then click
    Edit
    .
    You can select multiple devices (routers) to perform a bulk edit. However, you can edit only some fields when selecting devices (routers) in bulk. To edit all allowed fields, select only one router.
  2. Set the desired device (router) parameter values, including assigning an SNMP profile to the device (router), and then click
    Save
    .
Your changes are saved.

Delete a Device (Router)

Deleting a router removes its interfaces, CVIs, 15-minute (historical) data, and traps, and affects any related aggregations, views, and reports.
Follow these steps:
  1. In the left pane, select the device (router) that you want to delete, and then click
    Delete
    .
    You can select multiple device (router) to perform a bulk delete.
  2. When prompted, click
    Yes
    .
The device (router) is deleted.