Inspection
The Inspection feature is a tool to help identify and resolve potential issues in the network. To get started, navigate to the "Inspection" screen via the main navigation menu.
When there are pending Inspection alerts, the "Inspection" menu item will have a red badge with the number of issues found.
Exactly which inspections are available to any given user depends on their "privilege level". A significant portion of inspections is visible for users with level 10 and above. If this menu item is not visible, it may be disabled in the configuration, or you may not have the necessary privileges to access it.
The feature consists of various checks called "inspections". The most common types of inspection compare the current ("actual") state of the network with the desired ("design") state (see glossary), to identify any discrepancies and/or look for internal inconsistencies in the network design, though there are other types of inspections as well.
Categories and custom inspections
Inspections come in a variety of categories. Besides the default inspections, there are categories such as "multicast" and "PoE" that contain inspections specific to those areas, and are not enabled by default. Categories are configured on a per-tenant basis by our product specialists at the request of the site administrator.
Besides such bundled inspections, ZEM also supports custom inspections, specific to a single site or organization. These can be rapidly implemented by our product specialists at the request of the site administrator.
Depending on the configuration, most ZEM sites have between 15 and 30 inspections active.
Inspection alerts
Inspection is narrowly related to On-Site Appliances and the import procedure. Without details about the network's current state, there's little basis for comparison with the design. Typically, inspection results vary as the network's actual state evolves. Therefore, inspections are conducted immediately after the site's import process is completed. This process usually occurs every 15 minutes, provided there is an active and properly connected On-Site Appliance for the site.
Inspections generate a unique result for each potential problem encountered. Each such result is called an "inspection alert". Most alerts are directly related to a specific port in the network.
As mentioned before, the "Inspection" menu item will have a red badge with the number of pending alerts. Additionally, users may receive a notification upon logging in letting them know if there are any new alerts since their last visit.
Muting alerts
Role
Users need to have an appropriate "privilege level" in order to use this feature.
Users with the necessary privileges (a "privilege level" of 25 or above, by default) can mute alerts either individually or for an entire inspection. This can be useful, for example, when an issue has been acknowledged but is not currently relevant or eligible for resolution.
Individual alerts can be muted by clicking the 'bell' icon next to the 'Quick Analysis' icon in the alert row. By clicking the context menu (three vertical dots) in the top-right corner of the inspection card, users can mute or unmute all alerts for that inspection. Muted alerts don't count towards the "new alerts" notification nor to the badge on the "Inspection" menu item.
Fixing alerts
Depending on the site set-up, various inspections may show a "Fix" button. This button usually requires elevated privileges, and its functionality differs depending on the inspection. It's not recommended to use this for inexperienced users, as it may have unintended consequences.
Grouping alerts
At the top of the "Inspection" screen, there is a "Group by" control. This lets you determine whether to group together all alerts of the same type, or group alerts based on which port they are related to. The latter setting lets you quickly see all alerts related to a specific port.
Seeing alerts related to devices and ports
Besides the "Inspection" screen, you may find the 'bell' icon in the device overview and device details screens. Hover over the icon to see a tooltip with alerts related to the device or port.
Common inspections
Below are some examples of commonly used inspections. Note that the list is not exhaustive, and the availability of inspections depends on the site configuration. This should, however, give you some idea of the type of issues that inspections can help identify.
"Unexpected port usage"
This inspection generates alerts for each port that is in use in the actual network state but is not accounted for in the design in terms of having anything connected to it, meaning ZEM effectively does not know what the port is being used for and/or what it is connected to. Ports available for deployments as well as non-device ports are excluded from this inspection.
In order to get the full benefit of ZEM, it's important to keep the design up-to-date with the actual state of the network. Inspections like this one can help you identify where the design is lacking or incorrect.