Monitoring Agent Networks

    What you are going to learn:

  • What is a Network
  • How to add and remove agent from network
  • When to use Networks

One of the features our customers love is the ability to monitor agent connectivity using both private and public (Internet) IP addresses without having to specify it. At Obkio, we use the network to specify which agents are able to communicate with each other with private IPs. When you create a network, you can associate agents to it, and these agents will then use their private IP addresses to communicate with each other. If two agents are not in the same network, they will communicate using their public IP.

When to configure a Network?
When to configure a Network?

A network must be used if some agents are able to communicate together with private IPs. This is the case for agents in the same LAN (Local Area Network) but also inside a private WAN such as MPLS VPN, SD-WAN or VPNs. To know if some agents must be in the same network, the question is: Should the agents communicate with private IPs? If the answer is yes, they must be configured in the same network.

How to add or remove agents from networks?
How to add or remove agents from networks?

You can select the networks when you create an agent or any time you modify it. You can also access all the networks and modify the membership (Menu -> Networks).

Screencapture Agent Networks

How many Networks should I have?
How many Networks should I have?

Usually, it's either 0 or 1. In some complex architectures (such as MPLS VPN Extranets), it is required to have multiple networks. That being said, the rule is the same. If two agents must communicate with private IPs, they must be in the same network. If not all the members of a network can communicate through private IPs, they should not be in the same network. In that case, it makes sense to have multiple networks.