Network Device Monitoring

Network Device Monitoring

Network

Network Device Monitoring

Monitor routers, switches, firewalls, and any SNMP-enabled device in your network. Track availability, response time, interfaces, system metrics, and configuration changes from a single view.

Overview

Cloudmon uses SNMP to monitor network devices, collecting availability, performance, interface, and system metric data at regular polling intervals. Any device that supports SNMP can be monitored, including routers, switches, firewalls, wireless controllers, printers, and IoT devices. Navigate to Network → Network Device to view all monitored devices.

The device list gives an immediate picture of the environment: total devices, down count, critical count, and the number of devices enabled for Netflow, NCM, Syslog, and SNMP Traps. Distribution charts break the fleet down by state, vendor, and category, and a Top 5 by Response Time chart highlights the slowest-responding devices.

Prerequisites

Before adding a network device to Cloudmon, confirm the following requirements are met:

RequirementDetails
SNMP is enabled on the deviceSNMP must be enabled in the device configuration. Most network devices ship with SNMP disabled by default. Refer to the device vendor documentation to enable it.
UDP port 161 openUDP port 161 must be open between the Cloudmon probe and the device. Confirm that no firewall is blocking this port on the network path between them.
SNMP credential created in CloudmonCreate an SNMP credential before adding the device. Navigate to Settings → Configurations → Credentials → SNMP and select Add. Both SNMPv2c and SNMPv3 are supported. For SNMPv3, you will need to provide the username, authentication protocol and password, and encryption protocol and password.
Cloudmon probe reachableThe Cloudmon probe must be able to reach the device on the network. For devices on remote segments or branch networks, assign the probe that is local to that segment.

Adding a Network Device

To add a device, navigate to Network → Network Device and select Add. Complete the form using the field references below, then click Save. Cloudmon will begin polling the device immediately.

FieldDescription
ProbeThe Cloudmon probe that will poll this device. Select the probe closest to the device on the network.
Hostname or IPThe hostname or IP address of the device to be monitored.
Display NameA friendly name for the device as it will appear in Cloudmon. Optional.
PortThe SNMP port on the device. Defaults to 161 if left blank.
SNMP CredentialThe SNMP credential to use for polling. Use the Test button to verify the credential against the device before saving. Credentials are created under Settings → Credentials.
Alarm RuleAn alarm rule to apply to this device. Optional.
Monitoring IntervalHow frequently Cloudmon polls the device. Defaults to 1 minute.
Monitoring TemplateDefines which metrics are collected from this device. If left blank, Cloudmon will attempt to auto-detect the correct template based on the device type.
Depends OnSets a dependency between this device and a parent device. If the parent goes down, alarms for this device will be suppressed to avoid alert noise.
TagsOptional tags for grouping and filtering devices in the list view.
Syslog / SNMP Traps / NetFlowEnable any of these optional capabilities for the device. Interface monitoring is enabled separately after the device is added, from the device's Interfaces tab.

What Cloudmon Monitors

Each device has a detailed view showing availability, downtime count, and response time in the summary header, alongside device information including system name, description, vendor, model, and SysObjectID. The side panel shows the assigned probe, credential, groups, boot time, first seen, last polled timestamps, and current status.

The Interfaces section provides full visibility into every interface on the device, with a colour-coded Port View for instant status summary and a table listing each interface with its IP, MAC, speed, TX rate, RX rate, TX and RX utilisation, and operational state. Use the Discover Interfaces action to automatically enumerate all interfaces on the device.

The System Metrics section surfaces SNMP-collected metrics specific to the device type, such as CPU utilisation, memory usage, and disk. The Network Interfaces list page under Network → Network Interfaces provides a cross-device view of every interface across all monitored devices. Additional tabs per device include Netflow, Syslog, Traps, NCM, Alarms, Events, and Outages.

Interface Monitoring

Cloudmon automatically discovers all interfaces on an SNMP-monitored network device and lists them under the Interfaces tab of the device detail page. For each discovered interface, Cloudmon can track traffic utilisation (inbound and outbound), packet transmission and reception, and traffic loss or error rates. Unlike system metrics which are monitored automatically, interface monitoring on SNMP devices must be enabled individually for each interface before data collection begins.

Enabling Interface Monitoring

  1. Navigate to Network → Network Devices and click the device you want to configure.
  2. Open the Interfaces tab. A list of all discovered interfaces on the device is displayed.
  3. Locate the interface you want to monitor and toggle the monitoring switch on. Repeat for each interface you want to track.
  4. Once enabled, Cloudmon begins collecting traffic and error metrics for that interface at the next polling cycle.

To discover interfaces that were added to the device after it was first monitored, click the Discover Interfaces button in the top right corner of the Interfaces tab. Cloudmon will scan the device and populate any newly detected interfaces into the list.

Disabling Interface Monitoring

To stop collecting data for a specific interface, navigate to Network → Network Devices → [Select Device] → Interfaces and toggle the monitoring switch off for that interface. Disabling monitoring does not delete historical data already collected for that interface.

Setting Alarms on Interfaces

Alarms can be configured on any monitored interface metric directly from the Interfaces tab. Click the alarm icon next to the interface you want to alarm on. The Add Alarm panel opens, allowing you to configure a trigger on Interface State, Transmit Rate, or Receive Rate.

Bulk Interface Actions

When managing devices with many interfaces, you can perform actions on multiple interfaces simultaneously. Select the checkboxes next to the interfaces you want to act on, then click the settings icon next to the selection count. The following bulk actions are available:

ActionDescription
EditEdit the properties of all selected interfaces simultaneously.
Enable MonitoringEnable monitoring for all selected interfaces in a single action, instead of toggling each one individually.
Disable MonitoringDisable monitoring for all selected interfaces in a single action.
Add Alert RuleAssign an alarm rule to all selected interfaces at once, instead of configuring each interface alarm individually.

Alarms

Alarm triggers can be configured per device to alert on a range of conditions. Common alarm triggers for network devices include:

  • Device availability is going down
  • Response time exceeding a defined threshold
  • Interface operational state changes, such as a port going down
  • System metrics such as CPU utilisation or memory usage crossing a threshold

Syslog, SNMP Traps, and Netflow can also be enabled per device from the device settings, allowing Cloudmon to receive and correlate log messages, trap notifications, and traffic flow data alongside the standard polling data. Learn more.

Troubleshooting

SymptomLikely CauseFix
Device not appearing after addingCredential test failed, or the probe cannot reach the device on UDP port 161Verify the IP address, confirm SNMP is enabled on the device, check that port 161 is open, and re-test the credentials before saving
Device showing as DownThe device is unreachable from the probe, or SNMP has been disabled, or the credentials have changedCheck network connectivity between the probe and the device, and confirm the SNMP credential is still valid
Interfaces not appearingInterface discovery has not been runNavigate to the device Interfaces tab and use the Discover Interfaces action
Interface data not populating after enabling monitoringMonitoring was just enabled and has not completed a polling cycle yet, or the interface toggle was not savedAllow one full polling cycle after enabling monitoring. If data still does not appear, verify the monitoring toggle is on and that the probe can reach the device.
High response time on a deviceNetwork congestion between the probe and the device, or the device is under high CPU loadCheck the network path between the probe and the device, and review the device CPU and memory metrics
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