Basic Features

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This section introduces the basic WhatsUp Gold features that let you create maps, set monitoring and notification options, and generate reports.

Mapping the Network

WhatsUp Gold can map your network in several different ways, including an automatic "discover and map" capability that can:

• Scan the Windows network to which your computer is connected
• Read SNMP information from a router and scan the network connected to the router
• Scan a specified range of IP addresses
• Load a hosts file, which lists host names and IP addresses

Each of these automatic "discover and map" methods identifies any TCP/IP, NetBIOS, or IPX devices, identifies services on the devices, and displays the results. Before the map is created, you can select the devices (and services) that you want to include. For each device, the map displays an icon that reflects the device type (such as a workstation, server, or router).

If your network is arranged in a hierarchy using subnets, the "discover and map" feature can read information from a specified router and create a top-level map with subnet maps for each network segment.

You can set the "discover and map" capability to run in "active discovery" mode, which means your maps will be updated when changes are made in the network.

To find out more about mapping your network, see "Chapter 2: Creating Network Maps".

Monitoring the Network

Once you have created or loaded a network map, you can set WhatsUp Gold to continuously monitor the network, or you can initiate a single "poll" of the network. One poll of the network involves checking each monitored device in the network map. Each "check" consists of WhatsUp Gold sending a poll request to a device and tracking the response.

For each monitored device, you can choose from a set of options in the device properties to determine how the device is monitored and define what action to take if the device does not respond to a check.

On each TCP/IP device in your network map, you can determine which services are running on that device (such as HTTP, SMTP, POP3, DNS) and you can select those services you want to monitor; WhatsUp Gold monitors a service by communicating with the default port that the service runs on.

When you open the network map window, WhatsUp Gold automatically begins monitoring the network.

Note: Unless you have the express permission of the owners of particular devices, do not monitor host systems, workstations, or other devices that you do not control.

WhatsUp Gold is in either Monitor Mode or Edit Mode. Monitor Mode is the mode in which WhatsUp Gold polls the network. Edit Mode is the mode in which you make changes to the map; you can use Edit Mode to refine the network map, add devices, draw connecting lines, and convert icons to a different icon type. For more information, see "Manually Drawing a Map" .

Getting Information from the Network Map

In Monitor Mode, the map gives graphic indication of potential and actual problems on your network. If an event occurs such as a device going down, the name of the device becomes highlighted on the map.

In addition, colors and shapes indicate the status of the various devices. By default, devices that respond to polls are displayed in green, those that have missed one poll are light green, those that have missed two polls are yellow, and those that are not accessible (or have not responded to four polls) are red. You can change the default colors and shapes. See "Setting Map Colors and Views".

Getting Status for a Device

In Monitor Mode, you can display up-to-the-minute status information about a device by right-clicking the device icon, then selecting Quick Status, and then clicking Status.

Getting Information via Notifications

Notifications can let you know what is happening on your network when you are away from your office. When a device or service fails to respond to polling, WhatsUp Gold can send a message to a beeper, pager, or e-mail address. It can also send a voice message, or a Windows broadcast. You set options to determine the information (such as device name, IP address, service name) that will appear in the message.

You can configure different notifications and assign them to all devices, or selected devices. You can also configure a "recurring notification" to send you a network status on a scheduled basis.

For more information, see "Chapter 3: Setting Up Notifications".

Logs and Reports

WhatsUp Gold logs two types of data: changes in network status (called events), such as a device going down; and, polling statistics for each device. You can use the Log Manager to filter out specific network events by searching on IP address, device name, or event description.

From this logged data, WhatsUp Gold can create several reports and graphs that show the status of your network in different ways. From the Reports menu, you can create the following:

Performance Graphs. Show devices by best or worst performance based on aggregated polling statistics. The graphs can show summaries of device and service availability and response times.

Event Reports. Show device up and down events, service up and down events, and WhatsUp Gold events such as map open and close.

Statistics Reports. Show the accumulated polling statistics by device.

For more information, see "Chapter 6: Logs and Reports".

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