Generic Cisco Device extension

[Taihei]

We are currently using the Generic Cisco Device extension.

I would like to clarify whether metrics will still be collected by Dynatrace and be subject to billing even if the network interface is administratively down.

Additionally, is there a way to avoid being billed for this scenario?

[AntonPineiro]

Hi,

You pay for metrics ingested, if extension ingests metrics, it is billed.

If not metrics ingested in Dynatrace, it is not billed.

Best regards

[Taihei]

As I understand it, charges are incurred when counters are returned by SNMPwalk.

In other words, even if an interface is administratively down, SNMPwalk counters will still return zero.

This means that charges are incurred even though the interface is not operational.

Is there any workaround in Dynatrace to avoid being billed in this scenario?

For reference, here’s a sample output:

$ snmpwalk -v 2c -c <community> <IP> IF-MIB::ifHCInOctets

IF-MIB::ifHCInOctets.14 = Counter64: 0

[Mizső]

Hi @Taihei 

I am not an expert of this extesbion but I thnik you should filter out the down interfaces from te collection (only active interfaces should be collected).

Generic Cisco Device extension — Dynatrace Docs

"Some metrics are required and cannot be disabled. These metrics will be in the "default" feature set. Take extra caution configuring devices and interfaces for which you are collecting data. Make use of Interface filters to limit the number of interfaces, otherwise, all interfaces on the device will be collected. In case you do not wish to collect interfaces on your device, enter $eq(!) in the Interface filter field."

Maybe it is not enough. Try these ones for filter out down status. It is uesd another network device extension (F5).

F5 BIG-IP LTM monitoring — Dynatrace Managed Docs

Customize the monitoring

The next step in extension activation is to customize monitoring. See the complete list of feature sets and the metrics collected.

Filters match entity names to include/exclude instances from monitoring. This makes the data more relevant and saves unnecessary license consumption. Filters work with a specific entity type and support the following syntax:

• $eq(<str>) – check if <str> matches what you're filtering,
• $prefix(...) – must begin with …
• $suffix(...) - must end with …
• $contains(...) – must contain …
• $and(<expr1>, <expr2>) – can be used to chain two or more of the above expressions with AND operator
• $or(<expr1>, <expr2>) – can be used to chain two or more of the above expressions with OR operator
• $not(<expr>) – can be used to negate an expression

For example, to exclude all Pools from the Common partition, you can add a filter: $not($prefix(/Common/))

 I hope it helps,

Best regards,

János