The MIB Walk tool scans the SNMP tree for a specified device and drops the information—including device, network settings, and hardware specificatons—into a table. I pointed the tool to a Win2K server, and within 2 minutes, I was at looking more than 1600 detailed entries. I could then select fields for future analysis.
Watch It! is an applet that monitors servers, routers, and other network devices. The applet uses audible alerts to notify administrators if a network response begins to degrade or if a device goes down. The tool would be more useful if, in addition to the audible alerts, the applet sent email messages or pop-up window notifications to the administrator. You can add a Watch It! icon to your desktop for information at a glance; when a device stops responding, the icon turns red, and when performance begins to degrade, the icon turns yellow. Buttons launch Telnet and the Trace Route, Ping, and IP Network Browser tools from the applet; these tools facilitate alert diagnoses.
Management Tools
I also tested several management tools that are useful to administrators. The DNS Audit tool scans a range of IP addresses for DNS errors. The tool performs a forward and reverse DNS lookup on each address and highlights errors it encounters.
The DNS/Who Is Resolver tool retrieves information host names, URLs, email addresses, domain names, and IP and network addresses. The Network Address Recovery tool determines IP address utilization in a particular subnet. The tool is handy for reclaiming unused IP addresses.
The DHCP Scope Monitor tool scans your DHCP scopes to determine which scopes are low in available addresses; the tool alerts you by address levels you specify. The tool’s interface doesn’t display the DHCP scope options you might have configured on your servers, and you need to make sure that the DHCP servers you plan to scan have SNMP installed.
SolarWinds 2000 also includes a series of tools for managing Cisco routers. The Router CPU Load tool is useful to engineers who want to monitor realtime processor loads on networked routers or switches. You can configure alerts to notify you if CPU load surpasses a threshold you define. The tool doesn’t archive data.
The Router Password Decryption applet decodes Cisco type 7 passwords. I entered an encrypted password string from a Cisco 2600 series router configuration file, and the tool displayed the true password.
The Config Viewer tool uses a TFTP server and SNMP to list Cisco router and switch configuration files. To facilitate comparisons, the tool color-codes differences between files. This feature is useful when you need to reconfigure routers on the network.
The Proxy Ping tool can initiate a Ping test from a remote Cisco router. For example, if you manage several sites from your location in San Francisco, you can use Proxy Ping to test connections between branch offices in New York and Miami, Florida. I’d like to see SolarWinds.Net include a Proxy Trace Route tool; although version 2.2 doesn’t offer such a tool, the vendor has one in the works.
Worth It!
SolarWinds 2000 is a moderately priced, well-designed, powerful tool suite that offers functionality similar to that of more expensive, higher-end diagnostic applications. The product’s separate tools offer functionality similar to that of many shareware tools; however, shareware tools lack this product’s integration and high performance. SolarWinds 2000’s consistent and easy-to-use interface also reduces the time you’ll need to learn the product and generate meaningful network information. This product belongs in every serious network engineer’s toolbox.
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