System and method for analysis of communications networks
First Claim
1. A method of modeling a network, comprising the steps of:
- a server which acquires one or more metrics associated with one or more network hops, wherein the one or more metrics are derived from management information base (MIB) data, which reflects a network state device-by-device and port-by-port across the network over user-specified time intervals, the MIB data is configured to be merged with ping data and analyzed for inaccuracies, the ping data is configured to be used to overcome the inaccuracies in the MIB data;
the server which calculates one or more performance ratings from the one or more metrics for the one or more network hops;
the server which computes an overall baseline capability of the one or more network hops based on the calculating step for use in at least any one of characterizing impacts of one or more applications, identifying diminished performance by a network component and projecting an effect caused by altering the network component; and
utilizing the server to create a database model of the network'"'"'s connectivity and to determine baseline and current performance level of the network,wherein the ping data comprises longer and shorter ping packets transmitted in isolation from each other and to provide data for analysis of the baseline performance level of the network.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is provided for using network asset management data including attributes such as device type, location, and link speed for modeling network performance and identifying performance issues. The invention provides measured and observed performance data for one or more segments of a network (e.g., one or more hops or end to end) so that identification of diminished performance in the network might be accomplished. Additionally, the invention may provide projections of performance impacts based upon proposed changes to one or more components in the network. Performance metrics, ping times, MIB data, link speeds, propagation delays, device latency, serialization rates, conversational speeds, conversational utilization and other data are used to model a network for determining or isolating problematic issues and to forecast performance impacts of potential changes to the network.
48 Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A method of modeling a network, comprising the steps of:
-
a server which acquires one or more metrics associated with one or more network hops, wherein the one or more metrics are derived from management information base (MIB) data, which reflects a network state device-by-device and port-by-port across the network over user-specified time intervals, the MIB data is configured to be merged with ping data and analyzed for inaccuracies, the ping data is configured to be used to overcome the inaccuracies in the MIB data; the server which calculates one or more performance ratings from the one or more metrics for the one or more network hops; the server which computes an overall baseline capability of the one or more network hops based on the calculating step for use in at least any one of characterizing impacts of one or more applications, identifying diminished performance by a network component and projecting an effect caused by altering the network component; and utilizing the server to create a database model of the network'"'"'s connectivity and to determine baseline and current performance level of the network, wherein the ping data comprises longer and shorter ping packets transmitted in isolation from each other and to provide data for analysis of the baseline performance level of the network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
11. A method for managing a network, comprising the steps of:
-
a server which identifies one or more network paths to be analyzed; collecting management information base (MIB) data and ping data from one or more network devices along the one or more network paths, the MIB data configured to reflect a network state device-by-device and port-by-port across the network over user-specified time intervals, the MIB data also configured to be merged with the ping data and analyzed for inaccuracies, which are overcome by the ping data; the server which computes one or more of the following outputs from the MIB and the ping data; (i) a baseline and currently available streaming speed for the one or more network paths; (ii) a currently available conversational speed of the one or more network paths; (iii) a latency of the one or more network paths; (iv) a current streaming utilization of the one or more network paths; (v) a current queue time along the one or more network paths; the server which generates from the one or more outputs of the computing step for use in identifying diminished performance along the one or more network paths, one or more of the following; (i) a baseline and current performance of streaming applications, and (ii) a baseline and current performance of conversational applications; and utilizing the server to create a database model of the network'"'"'s connectivity and to determine baseline and current performance level of the network, wherein the ping data comprises longer and shorter ping packets transmitted in isolation from each other and to provide data for analysis of the baseline performance level of the network. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
-
-
14. A system in combination with hardware for modeling a network, comprising:
-
means for acquiring metrics associated with a portion of a network, wherein the metrics are derived from management information base (MIB) data, which reflects a network state device-by-device and port-by-port across the network over user-specified time intervals, the MIB data is configured to be merged with ping data and analyzed for inaccuracies, the ping data is configured to be used to overcome the inaccuracies in the MIB data; means for calculating one or more performance ratings from the one or more metrics; means for computing an outputting an overall baseline capability of the portion of the network based on the performance ratings for use in at least any one of characterizing impacts of one or more applications, identifying diminished performance by a network component and projecting an effect caused by altering a network component; a database model modeling the network'"'"'s connectivity; and a system for determining baseline and current performance level of the network, wherein the ping data comprises longer and shorter ping packets transmitted in isolation from each other and to provide data for analysis of the baseline performance level of the network. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having readable program code embodied in the storage medium, the computer program product being configured to model a network and including at least one component to:
-
identify one or more network paths to be analyzed; collect management information base (MIB) data and ping data from one or more network devices along the one or more network paths, the MIB data configured to reflect a network state device-by-device and port-by-port across the network over user-specified time intervals, the MIB data also configured to be merged with the ping data and analyzed for inaccuracies, which are overcome by the ping data; compute one or more of the following outputs from the MIB and the ping data for tuning or identifying problems in the one or more network paths (i) a baseline and currently available streaming speed for the one or more network paths; (ii) a currently available conversational speed of the one or more network paths; (iii) a latency of the one or more network paths; (iv) a current streaming utilization of the one or more network paths; (v) a current queue time along the one or more network paths; and generate from the one or more outputs of the computing step for use in identifying diminished performance along the one or more network paths, one or more of the following; (i) a baseline and current performance of streaming applications, and (ii) a baseline and current performance of conversational applications; create a database model of the network'"'"'s connectivity; and determine baseline and current performance levels of the network, wherein the ping data comprises longer and shorter ping packets transmitted in isolation from each other and to provide data for analysis of the baseline performance level of the network.
-
Specification