Observability-Self-Hosted-Fundamentals Practice Questions

Modern Dashboardsrepresent a significant evolution over the legacy "Classic" summary views in the SolarWinds Platform. According to theSolarWinds Platform Administrator Guide, there are several architectural differences designed to improve performance and flexibility.

Define visible data using SWQL (D): Unlike classic dashboards that rely on a fixed "Data Selection" wizard or pre-built resources, modern dashboards allow administrators tohand-edit SWQL (SolarWinds Query Language) queriesdirectly within the widget configuration. This provides near-infinite flexibility to filter and display data in ways that were previously impossible without custom coding.

Configure refresh rates (C): Classic dashboards typically rely on the global web console refresh interval (often 5 minutes) or a full page reload. Modern dashboards introduce the ability toset individual refresh intervalsfor each widget (from 1 second to 24 hours), or configure a "Modern Widget Refresh" default for the entire dashboard. This ensures that critical real-time data is updated more frequently than static inventory data on the same page.

While "NOC mode" (Option B) and "Account Limitations" (Option A) are compatible with the broader SolarWinds environment, they are standard platform features that have existed in classic views for years and are not "unique" new settings specific only to the modern dashboarding engine.

SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability provides robust reporting capabilities designed for both technical analysis and executive presentation. TheSolarWinds Platform Reporting Guidespecifies that reports generated through the Web Console can be delivered or manually exported in several standardized formats.

Excel (.xls/.xlsx): This format is primarily used for data-heavy reports where administrators need to perform further calculations, sorting, or external data manipulation. It allows the raw table data from the report to be easily ingested into other business intelligence tools.

PDF: This is the standard format for automated delivery and "executive-ready" documentation. It preserves the visual layout, including charts, logos, and specific formatting defined in the report builder.

While the platform usesJSON(Option B) for internal API communications and some dashboard configurations, andtxt(Option D) might be used for certain log exports, they are not standard selectable "export formats" within the primary Web-Based Report builder for end-user consumption. The primary focus of the reporting engine is providing human-readable (PDF) and spreadsheet-compatible (Excel) outputs.

The "Add Node" wizard in the SolarWinds Platform is a multi-step process designed to fully integrate a new device into the monitoring ecosystem. According to theSolarWinds Platform Node Managementdocumentation, once the IP address and credentials (SNMP/WMI) are verified, the administrator is presented with several configuration panels.

Select Statistics and Resources (D): This is the critical step where the admin chooseswhatto monitor on the node. This includes selecting specific interfaces, volumes, or hardware health sensors. It also allows for the selection of the polling frequency for "Statistics" (how often to collect performance data) and "Status" (how often to check if the node is up).

Create/Assign Custom Properties (C): During the "Add Node" process, there is a dedicated tab for metadata. Here, the admin can fill in values for existing custom properties (such as Site, Owner, or Asset Tag). If a property does not exist, the wizard often provides a shortcut to the Custom Property manager tocreateor modify the fields so that the node is correctly categorized from the moment it is added to the database.

Device Studio Pollers(Option A) are typically assignedaftera node is added if the default pollers are insufficient.Rediscovery Interval(Option B) is a global setting or found deep in the advanced node properties, rather than a primary configuration step in the standard "Add Node" wizard.