NETWORK PATH DISCOVERY AND ANALYSIS

• US 20110085450A1
• Filed: 10/07/2010
• Published: 04/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Riverbed Technology, LLC (Riverbed Technology Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Riverbed Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Uppalli, Raghavendra, Gupta, Nitin, Shaw, James Mark, Natarajan, Pradeep, Singh, Pradeep, Stiffler, Jerrold, JEYACHANDRAN, Vinod
• Granted Patent: US 9,014,012 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/248
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A network analysis system invokes an application specific, or source-destination specific, path discovery process. The application specific path discovery process determines the path(s) used by the application, collects performance data from the nodes along the path, and communicates this performance data to the network analysis system for subsequent performance analysis. The system may also maintain a database of prior network configurations to facilitate the identification of nodes that are off the path that may affect the current performance of the application. The system may also be specifically controlled so as to identify the path between any pair of specified nodes, and to optionally collect performance data associated with the path.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium that includes instructions for causing a processor at a monitoring system to:

receive a request for network performance information with regard to a source node and a destination node of a network,

determine one or more first portions on a current path on the network between the source and destination nodes using a trace request,

determine one or more second portions on the current path between the source and destination nodes based on routing information associated with one or more elements along the determined current path,

combine the first and second portions of the current path to provide a determined current path,

collect performance data associated with one or more elements on the determined current path,

process the performance data to provide the performance information, and

provide a display of the performance information.

2. The medium of claim 1, wherein the routing information includes an identification of a next element along the determined current path.

3. The medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to receive configuration information from at least one element along the determined current path, wherein the configuration information includes an identification of one or more data link layer devices along the determined current path.

4. The medium of claim 1, wherein the request includes a problem report regarding communications between the source and destination nodes.

5. The medium of claim 1, wherein the request includes access information associated with the source node;

and determining at least one of the first and second portions includes gaining access to the source node based on the access information.

6. The medium of claim 5, wherein the instructions cause the processor to determine the at least one of the first portions by causing the processor to transmit a trace request from the source node to the destination node.

7. The medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to determine the at least one of the first portions by causing the processor to transmit a trace request from the monitoring system to the source node.

8. The medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions cause the processor to determine the at least one of the first portions by causing the processor to:

receive an identification of nodes between the monitoring system and the source node,

gain access to a select node of the nodes between the monitoring system and the source, and

transmit a trace request from the select node to the destination node.

9. The medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to

compare the determined current path to a prior path between the source and destination nodes,

identify at least one other node based on a difference between the current path and the prior path,

collect other performance data for the at least one other node, and

display other information based on the other performance data.

10. The medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions cause the processor to display a network diagram based on the difference.

11. The medium of claim 1, wherein the request is based on a performance threshold associated with communications between the source and destination nodes.

12. The medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to identify abnormal performance based on the performance data.

13. The medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the processor to display a network diagram based on the abnormal performance.

14. The medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to determine the at least one of the second portions by causing the processor to access one or more routing tables at one or more of the intermediate nodes.

15. The medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions cause the processor to access the one or more routing tables by causing the program to communicate a command to a router to identify a next hop associated with the destination node.

16. The medium of claim 15, wherein accessing the one or more routing tables includes communicating an other command to an other router to communicate the routing table at the other router.

17. The medium of claim 14, wherein accessing the one or more routing tables includes communicating a command to a router to communicate the routing table at the router.

18. The medium of claim 1, wherein determining the at least one of the second portions includes accessing one or more routing tables within a model of the network.

19. The medium of claim 18, wherein the model corresponds to a simulation model.

20. The medium of claim 1, including determining one or more third portions of the current path by communicating tracing traffic from a node on one of the first or second portions to the destination node, and noting the occurrence of this tracing traffic at one or more collection nodes.

21. A method comprising:

receiving, at a monitoring system, a request for network performance information with regard to a source node and a destination node of a network,

determining, by the monitoring system, one or more first portions on a current path on the network between the source and destination nodes using a trace request,

determining, by the monitoring system, one or more second portions on the current path between the source and destination nodes based on routing information associated with one or more elements along the determined current path,

combining, by the monitoring system, the first and second portions of the current path to provide a determined current path,

collecting, by the monitoring system, performance data associated with one or more elements on the determined current path,

process the performance data to provide the performance information, and

presenting the performance information to a user.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the routing information includes an identification of a next element along the current path.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the request includes access information associated with the source node;

and determining at least one of the first and second portions includes gaining access to the source node based on the access information.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein determining at least one of the first portions includes transmitting, by the monitoring system, a trace request from the source node to the destination node.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein determining at least one of the first portions includes:

transmitting a trace request from the monitoring system to the source node.

receiving an identification of nodes between the monitoring system and the source node,

gaining access to a select node of the nodes between the monitoring system and the source, and

transmitting, by the monitoring system, a trace request from the select node to the destination node.

26. The method of claim 21, including:

comparing the determined current path to a prior path between the source and destination nodes,

identifying at least one other node based on a difference between the current path and the prior path,

collecting other performance data for the at least one other node, and

displaying other information to the user based on the performance data.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein determining at least one of the second portions includes accessing one or more routing tables at one or more of the intermediate nodes.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein accessing the one or more routing tables includes communicating a command to a router to identify a next hop associated with the destination node.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein accessing the one or more routing tables includes communicating a command to a router to communicate the routing table at the router.

30. The method of claim 21, wherein determining the at least one of the second portions includes accessing one or more routing tables within a model of the network.

31. The method of claim 21, including determining one or more third portions of the current path by communicating tracing traffic from a node on one of the first or second portions to the destination node, and noting the occurrence of this tracing traffic at one or more collection nodes.

32. A monitoring system that includes:

a controller that is configured to;

receive a request for network performance information with regard to a source node and a destination node of a network,

determine one or more first portions on a current path on the network between the source and destination nodes using a trace request,

determine one or more second portions on the current path between the source and destination nodes based on routing information associated with one or more elements along the determined current path,

combine the first and second portions of the current path to provide a determined current path,

collect performance data associated with one or more elements on the determined current path,

process the performance data to provide the performance information,

a memory that is configured to store the determined current path, and

a display that is configure to present the performance information to a user.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the request includes access information associated with the source node;

and determining at least one of the first and second portions includes gaining access to the source node based on the access information.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the controller determines the at least one of the first portions by transmitting a trace request from the monitoring system to the source node.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the controller determines the at least one of the first portions by:

receiving an identification of nodes between the monitoring system and the source node,

gaining access to a select node of the nodes between the monitoring system and the source, and

transmitting a trace request from the select node to the destination node.

36. The system of claim 32, wherein:

the controller;

compares the determined current path to a prior path between the source and destination nodes,

identifies at least one other node based on a difference between the current path and the prior path, and

collects other performance data for the at least one other node; and

the display presents other information based on the other performance data.

37. The system of claim 32, wherein determining the at least one of the second portions includes accessing one or more routing tables within a model of the network.

38. The system of claim 32, including determining one or more third portions of the current path by communicating tracing traffic from a node on one of the first or second portions to the destination node, and noting the occurrence of this tracing traffic at one or more collection nodes.