Setting alarms and triggers can help you uncover many hard-to-find network problems.

Alarms are only available on Capture Engines. Capture Engine alarms query a specified statistics parameter in a Capture Engine capture window, testing for user-specified problem and resolution conditions. On matching any of theses tests, the alarm function sends a notification of a user-specified severity. See Creating and editing Capture Engine alarms and Capture Engine alarms.

Triggers are used to start or stop capture at a specified time or network event. They are very useful for pinpointing the origins of intermittent network problems. For example, you can set a start trigger so that capture begins when a problem occurs. Conversely, you can stop capturing when the problem occurs so that you can see exactly what happened just prior to the observed symptom. Alternatively, if you know that problems occur at a particular time, you can set a time event to begin capturing packets during that time. See Setting triggers.