Host Pools

Host pools are logical groups of hosts. Pools can be created or managed from any ntopng interface (except System), Hosts > Host/Network/MAC Pools menu entry. It is possible to add new pools using the “gear” button in the same page which will redirect to a new page to manage pools.

The Pools Page

Once an Host Pool is created, it is possible to add members to it. Host Pool members can be added from the Hosts > Host/Network/MAC Pools page, clicking the gear icon which will redirect to a new page with a table. To add a new host click the “plus” button.

The Host Pool Page

The Host Pools configuration, which includes the definition of host pools along with the pools members, can be easily exported to JSON and imported into another ntopng instance from the Settings > Manage Configuration page. Imported host pools will replace the existing ones.

An “Alias” can be associated to each pool member to ease the its identification. Typically, one would assign a mnemonic label as member alias (e.g., “John’s iPhone” or “Smart TV”).

A view of host pool statistics is accessible from the actual interface, Hosts > Host Pools menu, as discussed in the relevant section. The view shows live pool information (e.g., overall pool throughput) and provides access to the historical pool traffic timeseries (Professional version) as well as to the currently active pool members.

Traffic Policies

Host pools can also be used to enforce traffic policies (e.g, block YouTube traffic for the “John” pool and limit Facebook traffic at 1 Mbps for the “Guests” pool). This feature is available in nEdge (when ntopng is used inline as described in the “Advanced Features” section of this document), or when ntopng is used in combination with nProbe in IPS mode (see Using ntopng with nProbe IPS).