Network Configuration Manager Central-Probe Connectivity

Network Configuration Manager enterprise edition follows a Central-Probe architecture that allows IT admins to monitor an entire distributed network from a single console.

Data transfer between a Probe and the Central

The entire data communication between a Probe and Central takes place via the push-pull mechanism to ensure that the connectivity between the Central and Probe is robust.

Push

The probes present in remote sites monitor the network and send (push) the data to the Central.

In turn, the Central collects the data from all the connected probes and offers a consolidated view of the geographically distributed networks that are monitored individually by the probes.

Pull

Configuration changes done in the Central will be reflected in the Probes. Once a configuration change is made, say, adding a new device template, the Probes will fetch (pull) the configuration update.

During the Probe installation process, users have to specify the Central URL details in the installation shield to establish connection between the respective Probe and the Central.

Accessing device snapshot data

The device snapshot page in Network Configuration Manager presents data about availability, response time, associated monitors and other relevant information particular to a monitored device. To access the device snapshot page, go to Inventory → Devices and click on the device name.

When users access the snapshot page of a device, the Central presents the data by fetching it from the respective Probe through an API request. Here, as the Central and Probe are in the same network and are capable of accessing the monitored information, the communication approach followed is bidirectional.

Prerequisites

To ensure proper Probe-Central connectivity, the following must be configured:

• The protocol used by the probe to communicate with the client device.
• The port used by the device must be rightly mentioned in the probe.
• If SSL Configuration is enabled the common name (CN) of the client must be mentioned rightly.
• If it is self signed SSL, that certificate should be trusted/imported in respective browser.

Users can change the Probe name after installation from the Central UI (If you are planning to scale your network, it is advisable to read the Scalability Recommendations to facilitate the scaling process).