About device groups
In WhatsUp Gold, devices are organized in groups to allow you to quickly find and diagnose problems. You can create as many device groups as you wish to organize your network in a way that is meaningful to you and your monitoring needs.
Device group types
Two types of device groups exist in WhatsUp Gold:
- Non-dynamic groups
- Dynamic groups
Non-dynamic groups are simply referred to as "device groups." Each time you discover devices on your network, a new device group is created containing the devices found in the scan that you choose to monitor. The group is named using the type of scan you used during discovery, and the date and time the scan took place. For example, "SNMPScan (2007-08-03 10:24:37)." Devices that are already in the database are added to the new group as a shortcut to the original device reference. This is only to relay that there are more than one reference in the My Network tree, as you configure devices by clicking either the original reference icon or the shortcut. Functionally, they serve the same purpose and display the same device status.
Dynamic groups are created by using SQL queries that search for devices based on user-specified criteria. By default, all devices discovered on your network are placed into a dynamic group named All devices. Similarly, each time a router is discovered it is placed into a similar dynamic group named All routers.
Device group icons
Just as devices in WhatsUp Gold, device groups use icons to display the current state of the group, or to indicate the type of device group.
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All of the monitors on all devices in the group are up. |
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The device group contains at least one device that is considered down. |
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The device group is empty, or devices have not been polled due to a dependency on another device. |
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Indicates a dynamic group. |
Device group maps
The Map View is based on device group folders, meaning that each device group will have a separate map. If a device group folder contains a subfolder, or subgroup, you can double-click on the folder in Map View to display the subfolder's map.
Device group reports
Device groups are particularly important when you are viewing full and workspace reports pertaining to a specific group, or group reports. When viewing Group Reports, you choose one specific device group in which to view network data. It's a good idea to think of ways to easily distinguish device groups from one another for this reason. An easy way to distinguish groups is using group names that are meaningful, such as "Atlanta Developers" and "Atlanta Tech Support." As a result, you can easily tell what each device group is when choosing a group on which to view Group Report information.
Device Group Access Rights
Similar to user rights are the WhatsUp Gold group access rights which link permissions to device groups. For more information, see About group access rights.