Network Device Monitoring

Network Device Monitoring (NDM) lets you monitor routers, switches, firewalls, and other SNMP-enabled devices. The Datadog Agent polls devices via SNMP and collects traps, NetFlow/sFlow data, and network path information - all visible in the Moneat dashboard.

Availability

Network Device Monitoring is included on standard plans. For self-hosted builds that use module licensing, enable the datadog module to expose the network device dashboards.

Prerequisites

SNMP-enabled network devices (routers, switches, firewalls, etc.)
The Datadog Agent deployed on a host with network access to the devices (see Agent Setup)
SNMP community strings or v3 credentials for your devices
For self-hosted module-licensed builds, the datadog module enabled

Enable network device monitoring

SNMP device discovery

Configure the agent to auto-discover SNMP devices on your network:

YAML

# /etc/datadog-agent/conf.d/snmp.d/conf.yaml
init_config:

instances:
 - network_address: 10.0.0.0/24
    community_string: "public"
    loader: core

Specific device monitoring

Monitor individual devices by IP address:

YAML

# /etc/datadog-agent/conf.d/snmp.d/conf.yaml
init_config:

instances:
 - ip_address: 10.0.0.1
    community_string: "public"
    loader: core
 - ip_address: 10.0.0.2
    community_string: "public"
    loader: core

Enable SNMP traps

To receive SNMP traps, add trap listener configuration:

YAML

# datadog.yaml
network_devices:
  snmp_traps:
    enabled: true
    port: 162
    community_strings:
     - "public"

Enable NetFlow collection

Collect network flow data (NetFlow, sFlow, or IPFIX):

YAML

# datadog.yaml
network_devices:
  netflow:
    enabled: true
    listeners:
     - flow_type: netflow5
        port: 2055

After adding the configuration, restart the agent:

Shell

docker restart dd-agent

Dashboard views

Navigate to Monitoring → Network Devices in the dashboard. Four tabs are available:

Devices

Lists all discovered SNMP devices:

Column	Description
Hostname	Device hostname or identifier
IP Address	Device management IP
Vendor	Device manufacturer (Cisco, Juniper, etc.)
Model	Device model number
Status	Device status (up, down, warning)
Reachability	Whether the device responded to the last SNMP poll

Traps

Shows SNMP trap notifications received from devices:

Column	Description
Device IP	The device that sent the trap
OID	The SNMP Object Identifier for the trap type
Severity	Trap severity (critical, warning, info)
Message	Human-readable trap description
Received	When the trap was received

Flows

Displays network flow data collected via NetFlow, sFlow, or IPFIX:

Column	Description
Source	Source IP and port
Destination	Destination IP and port
Protocol	Network protocol (TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc.)
Bytes	Total bytes transferred in the flow
Type	Flow protocol type (NetFlow, sFlow, IPFIX)
Time	When the flow was sampled

Paths

Shows network path traces between endpoints:

Column	Description
Source	Origin of the network path
Destination	Target of the network path
Hops	Number of network hops in the path
Collected	When the path was last traced

Use cases

Device inventory - Maintain a live inventory of all SNMP devices on your network
Outage detection - Receive traps for device failures and link-down events
Traffic analysis - Use flow data to identify bandwidth-heavy connections and unusual traffic patterns
Path troubleshooting - Trace network paths to diagnose routing issues

Start with SNMP device discovery using a broad network range, then narrow down to specific subnets once you confirm which devices are reporting.