--- title: "Ethernet Network Monitoring" slug: "ethernet-network-monitoring" tags: ["5.5"] updated: 2026-10-27T23:00:54Z published: 2026-10-27T23:00:54Z canonical: "docs.vastdata.com/ethernet-network-monitoring" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vastdata.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Ethernet Network Monitoring ## Overview The Ethernet network monitoring feature provides insight into network health, congestion, and protocol-specific behaviors on a cluster's Ethernet networks. The feature uses the OpenTelemetry framework for collecting and exporting metrics, logs, and traces from Ethernet switches in the cluster. Metrics can be displayed through predefined and custom VMS analytics reports. They can also be exported to a Prometheus endpoint. OpenTelemetry can also trigger VMS events and alarms. To enable network monitoring, you configure OpenTemetry on supported switches. Switches that are configured with OpenTelemetry are automatically discovered by VMS and listed in [cluster switch listings](/docs-5-5/docs/managing-switches). However, as with manually added switches, you need to provide VMS with switch credentials in order to fetch the switch and port properties. ### Limitations - TLS encryption is not supported on the SSH connection used to obtain the metrics from the switch. - Supported on NVIDIA Cumulus switches from version 5.12.1. For other switch vendors, please inquire with VAST Customer Success. - Supported on clusters with no more than 70 switches. ### Which Metrics are Collected? - Switch ARP Packet Violations. The number of packets dropped due to exceeding the ARP packet policer limit. - Switch BGP Peer State. BGP connection state. - Switch Physical Layer Errors. Number of physical layer errors. - Switch RX Bandwidth. Receive bandwidth. - Switch TX Bandwidth. Transmit bandwidth. - Switch Buffer Usage Percentage for Traffic Class 0. Utilization (%) of switch transmit and receive buffers allocated to low-priority traffic - Switch Buffer Usage Percentage for Traffic Class 3. Utilization (%) of switch transmit and receive buffers allocated to high-priority traffic. - Switch RX Buffer Discards for Traffic Class 0. Number of packets dropped within the switch due to lack of receive buffers for low-priority traffic - Switch RX Buffer Discards for Traffic Class 3. Amount of packets dropped within the switch due to lack of receive buffers for high-priority traffic - Switch RX Discards for Traffic Class 3. Overall number of discarded receive packets for high-priority traffic - Switch RX Paused Packets for Traffic Class 3. Number of paused receive packets within the switch for high-priority traffic. - Switch TX Paused Packets for Traffic Class 3. Number of paused transmit packets within the switch for high-priority traffic. ## Configuring the Switches Configure your switches to send OpenTelemetry data over gRPC to the VMS management IP address, using port 4317. ## Switch Monitoring Analytics The metrics are available as predefined analytics reports, and you can also define custom analytics reports. For information about viewing and defining analytics reports, see [Analytics Reports](/docs-5-5/docs/analytics-reports). Select *Switch* as the object type. It is recommended to enable Intersampling mode when viewing the analytics. All of the predefined switch analytics, except *BGP connection state* and *buffer usage percentage* are monotonically increasing. To observe changes in the metrics, enable 'intersampling' on the analytics screen. ## Exporting Analytics with Prometheus The metrics can also be exported to [Prometheus](/docs-5-5/docs/exporting-metrics-to-prometheus) using the `/api/prometheusmetrics/switches` endpoint. ## Alarms Alarms are raised for each switch metric according to modifiable event definitions. For *BGP peer state* and *Buffer usage percentage*, these are *threshold* type events (see [Event Types](/docs-5-5/docs/event-types)). Metrics are sampled every 30 seconds. For the other metrics, the events are *rate* type events. By default, the *rate* type switch events are configured to monitor changes in the metrics over ten minute periods. This means that the underlying event could have occurred any time within the 10-minute period prior to the alarms. The alarms are raised according to modifiable event definitions. To find and adjust the relevant event definitions, go to the Alarms and Events page, select the Event Definitions tab, filter the event definitions by object type *Switch*. For more information about alarms and events, see [Alarms and Events](/docs-5-5/docs/alarms-and-events).