Through device groups, switch port management enables you to monitor and analyze the complement of Ethernet trunks and switch ports in their network. Switch port information gathering, or polling, is the key tool for doing this. Device groups can specify unique switch port management polling settings. Polling settings that are located under the Settings icon > Setup > Collection and Groups > Groups tab take precedence over the global settings defined in the Settings icon > Setup > Collection and Groups > Global > Switch Port Management.

To poll a device group or create custom settings for polling, perform the following:

1. In the Device Group Selector, right-click the Switching device group and select Edit Device Group. The Edit Device Group dialog opens. The Switching device group is an extended device group that provides several features designed for Ethernet switching devices management.
2. Open the Switch port data Collection dropdown. Select from the following options:

1. • Use Global Settings: Enforces the use of global periodic or scheduled polling settings for the current device group. For more information, see Global Switch Port Management Polling Settings.
   • Specify polling Interval: Defines custom regular polling time periods for the group. Choose a polling interval of 1 or more Minutes or Hours, or click Poll Now to poll all devices that are members of the device droup.
   • Specify schedule: Select an existing custom group schedule or click Add New Schedule to create a new custom schedule for recurrent polling of the group. Select a Recurrence Pattern of Once, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. In all cases, you must choose an Execution Time. Click Add when finished defining the new schedule. To delete a schedule from the list, click the trashcan icon in the Actions column.
   • Disable: Disables device switch port data collection for the selected device group. Disabling switch port data collection prevents NetMRI from collecting VLAN and switch forwarding data. This can affect neighbor topology for the switch and any connected devices to the switch possibly resulting in NetMRI not being able to accurately locate devices on the network. Disabling switch port data collection also prevents analysis of any VLAN-related issues for a disabled switch.

3. Click Save & Close or Save & New.

The settings you define here apply only to the chosen device group.