How is IP SLA monitoring configured in NPM and what metrics can be collected?

• A. IP SLA probes are configured against target IPs and measure round-trip time, jitter, and packet loss; results are stored in the performance database for graphing or alerts.
• B. IP SLA probes are configured against target IPs to measure only DNS response time.
• C. IP SLA results are stored in a temporary cache.
• D. IP SLA data is not stored but only shown in real-time dashboards.

Answer: (A)

IP SLA monitoring in NPM works by configuring probes against target IPs to actively measure network performance. These probes collect key metrics such as round-trip time (latency), jitter (the variation in delay), and packet loss. NPM then stores these results in its performance database, which enables long-term graphing and alerting so you can spot trends, set thresholds, and be alerted when performance degrades.

This approach provides a historical view of network performance, not just a momentary snapshot. The other options are limited: focusing only on DNS response time would miss the broader performance picture, storing results in a temporary cache would lose historical data, and showing data only on real-time dashboards would prevent you from analyzing trends over time.