NPM Sample Questions & Answers
Node discovery and daily administration carry the most weight, next to network protocols and flow basics, custom polling and alert setup, mapping the network with NetPath, cross-referencing metrics through PerfStack, capacity planning, and module integration.
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Real questions from the Network Performance Monitor practice test — answers and explanations included. Showing 10 of 20 free samples.
- Question 1Beginner
Network Management Fundamentals · UnDP Capabilities
True or False: The Universal Device Poller (UnDP) can be configured to poll metrics from Windows servers using WMI credentials.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
This is correct. The Universal Device Poller (UnDP) is limited to the SNMP protocol for custom polling. WMI polling is a separate mechanism primarily associated with the SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) module.
- Question 2Intermediate
NPM Core Features and Administration · Network Discovery Optimization
A Network Sonar Discovery job covering a large subnet (a /22 network) is taking several hours to complete, significantly impacting the polling engine's performance. Which action would most effectively reduce the discovery duration without sacrificing the goal of finding all relevant network devices?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
A major time sink in discovery is testing multiple SNMP credentials against every IP in the range. By refining the list to only the known, valid community strings for that subnet, the discovery can proceed much faster. It avoids waiting for timeouts on incorrect credentials for each potential device.
- Question 3Intermediate
NPM Core Features and Administration · Node Dependencies
To reduce alert noise from downstream devices during a core switch outage, an administrator decides to configure dependencies. A distribution switch (DSW-1) is connected to a core switch (CSW-1). Several access switches (ASW-1, ASW-2) are connected to DSW-1. How should the dependency be configured?
graph TD CSW1[Core Switch CSW-1] --> DSW1[Distribution DSW-1] DSW1 --> ASW1[Access ASW-1] DSW1 --> ASW2[Access ASW-2]Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
This correctly models the network topology. Making DSW-1 a child of CSW-1 ensures that if CSW-1 goes down, DSW-1 enters an 'Unreachable' state, suppressing its own 'Down' alert. Subsequently, making the access switches (ASW-1, ASW-2) children of DSW-1 ensures that when DSW-1 is down or unreachable, alerts for the access switches are also suppressed. Using a group for the access switches is an efficient way to manage this second dependency.
- Question 4Beginner
NPM Core Features and Administration · Custom Properties
An administrator is creating a custom property to classify nodes by their environment (e.g., 'Production', 'Staging', 'Development'). What is the primary purpose of defining a custom property in this manner?
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Correct answer: B
Custom properties act as metadata tags. Their main purpose is to allow for flexible organization of monitored entities. Once defined, you can use these properties to create dynamic groups, build targeted alert conditions (e.g., 'only alert on 'Production' nodes'), create specific views, and generate filtered reports.
- Question 5Intermediate
NPM Core Features and Administration · SNMPv3 Troubleshooting
A newly added Cisco router is showing a status of 'Unknown' in NPM. The administrator has verified the following:
- The node is reachable via ping from the polling engine.
- The SNMPv3 credentials (username, auth/priv protocols, and passphrases) are identical on the device and in the Orion credential set.
What is a common, often-overlooked configuration mismatch on the Cisco device that would cause this issue?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
SNMPv3 uses a unique engineID for each device. Orion discovers and uses this ID for communication. If the device's configuration is changed, or if it's a clone of another device, it might have a duplicate or incorrect engineID. This mismatch prevents the cryptographic keys from working correctly, leading to authentication failures that manifest as an 'Unknown' status even when credentials appear correct. Forcing a rediscovery of the node in Orion often resolves this.
- Question 6Advanced
NPM Core Features and Administration · User Account Security and Multi-tenancy
A consultant for a managed service provider (MSP) is designing the Orion user account structure. The MSP has multiple customers, and each customer's network team should only be able to see and manage their own devices. They must not be aware of any other customers on the platform. Which combination of Orion features is required to implement this multi-tenant security model?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
This is the standard and most effective method for achieving multi-tenancy in Orion. First, a custom property (e.g., 'CustomerName') is used to tag every object (nodes, interfaces, etc.) with its owner. Then, for each customer's user account, an 'Account Limitation' is created. This limitation acts as a filter on the database, restricting the user's view to only show objects where the 'CustomerName' custom property matches their assigned value. This ensures strict data segregation.
- Question 7Advanced
Monitoring and Alerting · Complex Alert Conditions
A network engineer wants to create an alert that triggers only when a router's CPU utilization exceeds 90% for a continuous period of 15 minutes. The alert should reset automatically once the CPU drops below 70%. Which of the following describes the correct alert trigger logic?
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Correct answer: C
This configuration correctly implements the requirements. The 'Condition must exist for more than 15 minutes' setting is applied only to the trigger condition, preventing alerts for brief spikes. The reset condition is separate and correctly set to trigger when the CPU load drops below the 70% threshold, providing a clear hysteresis loop.
- Question 8Beginner
Monitoring and Alerting · Alert Logic
What is the primary function of the 'Reset Condition' in an Orion alert definition?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
The Reset Condition defines the state that indicates the problem has been resolved. When the monitored object meets the reset condition, the alert is moved from 'Active' to a cleared state in the system, and any configured 'Reset Actions' (like sending a 'RESOLVED' email) are executed.
- Question 9Intermediate
Monitoring and Alerting · Alert Action Troubleshooting
An administrator configured an alert with a trigger action to 'Execute an External Program'. The action is supposed to run a PowerShell script located on the main Orion server. However, when the alert triggers, the script does not execute. The alert's trigger condition is confirmed to be working correctly. What is a likely reason for this failure?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
External program actions are executed by the SolarWinds Administration Service. This service runs under a specific user account (often Local System or a dedicated service account). If this account does not have permissions to read and execute the PowerShell script file, or if the script itself tries to access resources the account can't, the action will fail silently. This is a very common cause for such issues.
- Question 10IntermediateSelect 3
Monitoring and Alerting · Alert Suppression
A device needs to be taken down for a two-hour maintenance window starting at 2:00 AM. A network administrator wants to prevent any alerts from being triggered for this device during that time. Which of the following are valid methods in NPM to achieve this? (Select THREE)
Show answer & explanation
Correct answers: A, C, F
This is the primary and most direct method. Scheduling a node to be 'Unmanaged' tells Orion to stop polling it and suppress all alerts for the specified duration.
This feature, often called 'Mute Alerts', allows an operator to suppress a specific active alert for a defined period. It stops escalations and repeated notifications for that single alert instance.
This is a valid, though less common, method. Alerts can be configured with time-based conditions to only be active during certain hours. This could be used for recurring maintenance windows.
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