Monitoring service availability using distributed BGP routing feeds

• US 9,729,414 B1
• Filed: 04/21/2015
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ThousandEyes, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Oliveira, Ricardo V., Meisel, Michael, Braud, Ryan
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehrmanesh, Elmira
• Application Number:
  US14/692,664
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 714 471- 473
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/042 comprising distributed management centres cooperatively managing the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0631 using root cause analysis; using analysis of correlation between notifications, alarms or events based on decision criteria, e.g. hierarchy, tree or time analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/062 related to network traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0805 by checking availability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0852 Delays

Abstract

Techniques for monitoring service availability using distributed Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing feeds are disclosed. In some embodiments, monitoring service availability using distributed BGP routing feeds includes collecting BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors; aggregating the collected BGP routing data into bins; and determining a BGP metric based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data. Example BGP metrics include a reachability metric, number of path changes metric, and a number of BGP updates metric.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring service availability using distributed Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing feeds, comprising:

a processor configured to;

collect BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors for monitoring service availability using distributed BGP routing feeds, wherein the plurality of distributed route monitors include a public route monitor and a private route monitor, wherein the private route monitor includes a router inside a private enterprise network that is configured to establish an external Border Gateway Protocol (eBGP) session with a route monitor collector to send BGP routing updates and BGP routing table transfers to collect BGP routing data from inside the private enterprise network, and wherein the public route monitor is outside of the private enterprise network and is configured to establish an eBGP session with a border router of each of a plurality of autonomous systems (AS) to collect BGP routing data from the plurality of AS;

aggregate the collected BGP routing data into bins;

determine a BGP metric based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data; and

generate a graphical visualization of an application delivery state for a plurality of application delivery layers that includes a cross-layer visualization that displays an overlap of a routing layer based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data with monitored packet forwarding (loss) data; and

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.

2. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

collect BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed public route monitors for a plurality of selected BGP prefixes for a predetermined period of time.

3. The system recited in claim 1, wherein each of the bins corresponds to a predetermined period of time, and wherein the BGP metric is determined per bin.

4. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the BGP metric includes one or more of the following:

a reachability metric, number of path changes metric, and a number of BGP updates metric.

5. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

report the BGP metric based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

6. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

7. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data, wherein the graphical visualization of the plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data includes a topology graph.

8. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a graphical visualization of an application delivery state for a plurality of application delivery layers that includes a cross-layer correlation of a path trace with the routing layer to identify where network data loss is occurring along a network path.

9. The system recited in claim 1,

wherein the graphical visualization includes a mapping between a host name, IP address, and a BGP prefix.

10. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

execute a user interface (UI) reporting engine for generating a display output that includes a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

11. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether a root cause of a routing change problem is a result of a routing change inside the private enterprise network or outside the private enterprise network.

12. A method of monitoring service availability using distributed Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing feeds, comprising:

collecting BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors for monitoring service availability using distributed BGP routing feeds, wherein the plurality of distributed route monitors include a public route monitor and a private route monitor, wherein the private route monitor includes a router inside a private enterprise network that is configured to establish an external Border Gateway Protocol (eBGP) session with a route monitor collector to send BGP routing updates and BGP routing table transfers to collect BGP routing data from inside the private enterprise network, and wherein the public route monitor is outside of the private enterprise network and is configured to establish an eBGP session with a border router of each of a plurality of autonomous systems (AS) to collect BGP routing data from the plurality of AS;

aggregating the collected BGP routing data into bins;

determining a BGP metric using a processor based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data; and

generating a graphical visualization of an application delivery state for a plurality of application delivery layers that includes a cross-layer visualization that displays an overlap of a routing layer based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data with monitored packet forwarding (loss) data.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

collecting BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed public route monitors for a plurality of selected BGP prefixes for a predetermined period of time.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein each of the bins corresponds to a predetermined period of time, and wherein the BGP metric is determined per bin.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the BGP metric includes one or more of the following:

a reachability metric, number of path changes metric, and a number of BGP updates metric.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

reporting the BGP metric based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

generating a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

generating a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data, wherein the graphical visualization of the plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data includes a topology graph.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

generating a graphical visualization of an application delivery state for a plurality of application delivery layers that includes a cross-layer correlation of a path trace with the routing layer to identify where network data loss is occurring along a network path.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the graphical visualization includes a mapping between a host name, IP address, and a BGP prefix.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

executing a user interface (UI) reporting engine for generating a display output that includes a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

22. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining whether a root cause of a routing change problem is a result of a routing change inside the private enterprise network or outside the private enterprise network.

23. A computer program product for monitoring service availability using distributed Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing feeds, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

collecting BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors for monitoring service availability using distributed BGP routing feeds, wherein the plurality of distributed route monitors include a public route monitor and a private route monitor, wherein the private route monitor includes a router inside a private enterprise network that is configured to establish an external Border Gateway Protocol (eBGP) session with a route monitor collector to send BGP routing updates and BGP routing table transfers to collect BGP routing data from inside the private enterprise network, and wherein the public route monitor is outside of the private enterprise network and is configured to establish an eBGP session with a border router of each of a plurality of autonomous systems (AS) to collect BGP routing data from the plurality of AS;

aggregating the collected BGP routing data into bins;

determining a BGP metric based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data; and

generating a graphical visualization of an application delivery state for a plurality of application delivery layers that includes a cross-layer visualization that displays an overlap of a routing layer based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data with monitored packet forwarding (loss) data.

24. The computer program product recited in claim 23, further comprising computer instructions for:

collecting BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed public route monitors for a plurality of selected BGP prefixes for a predetermined period of time.

25. The computer program product recited in claim 23, wherein each of the bins corresponds to a predetermined period of time, and wherein the BGP metric is determined per bin.

26. The computer program product recited in claim 23, wherein the BGP metric includes one or more of the following:

a reachability metric, number of path changes metric, and a number of BGP updates metric.

27. The computer program product recited in claim 23, further comprising computer instructions for:

reporting the BGP metric based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

28. The computer program product recited in claim 23, further comprising computer instructions for:

generating a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

29. The computer program product recited in claim 23, further comprising computer instructions for:

generating a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data, wherein the graphical visualization of the plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data includes a topology graph.

30. The computer program product recited in claim 23, further comprising computer instructions for:

generating a graphical visualization of an application delivery state for a plurality of application delivery layers that includes a cross-layer correlation of a path trace with the routing layer to identify where network data loss is occurring along a network path.

31. The computer program product recited in claim 23, wherein the graphical visualization includes a mapping between a host name, IP address, and a BGP prefix.

32. The computer program product recited in claim 23, further comprising computer instructions for:

executing a user interface (UI) reporting engine for generating a display output that includes a graphical visualization of a plurality of routes based on the aggregated and collected BGP routing data.

33. The computer program product recited in claim 23, further comprising computer instructions for:

determining whether a root cause of a routing change problem is a result of a routing change inside the private enterprise network or outside the private enterprise network.

34. A system for monitoring service availability using distributed Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing feeds, comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive a request to monitor a distributed application endpoint;

monitor a first layer of a network in communication with the distributed application endpoint by performing a network test using an agent for a predetermined period of time;

monitor a routing layer of the network in communication with the distributed application endpoint using a route monitor, wherein the route monitor collects BGP routing data for the predetermined period of time; and

generate a cross-layer report for the predetermined period of time that includes network performance data for the first layer of the network and for the routing layer of the network in communication with the distributed application endpoint, wherein the cross-layer report includes a correlation of a path trace with the routing layer to identify where network data loss is occurring along a network path, wherein the cross-layer report includes a mapping of a plurality of hostnames to IP addresses and a mapping of IP addresses to BGP prefixes, and wherein the cross-layer report includes a cross-layer visualization that displays an overlap of the routing layer with monitored packet forwarding (loss) data; and

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.

35. The system recited in claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a graphical visualization of the routing layer based on aggregated and collected BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors.

36. The system recited in claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a plurality of BGP metrics based on aggregated and collected BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors.

37. The system recited in claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether a route path change occurred during the predetermined period of time.

38. The system recited in claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether a route reachability change occurred during the predetermined period of time.

39. The system recited in claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether an inability to access the distributed application endpoint during the predetermined period of time is a result of a route change or route reachability change during the predetermined period of time.

40. A method for monitoring service availability using distributed Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing feeds, comprising:

receiving a request to monitor a distributed application endpoint;

monitoring a first layer of a network in communication with the distributed application endpoint by performing a network test using an agent for a predetermined period of time;

monitoring a routing layer of the network in communication with the distributed application endpoint using a route monitor, wherein the route monitor collects BGP routing data for the predetermined period of time; and

generating a cross-layer report for the predetermined period of time that includes network performance data for the first layer of the network and for the routing layer of the network in communication with the distributed application endpoint, wherein the cross-layer report includes a correlation of a path trace with the routing to identify where network data loss is occurring along a network path, wherein the cross-layer report includes a mapping of a plurality of hostnames to IP addresses and a mapping of IP addresses to BGP prefixes, and wherein the cross-layer report includes a cross-layer visualization that displays an overlap of the routing layer with monitored packet forwarding (loss) data.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

generating a graphical visualization of the routing layer based on aggregated and collected BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors.

42. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

generating a plurality of BGP metrics based on aggregated and collected BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors.

43. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

determining whether a route path change occurred during the predetermined period of time.

44. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

determining whether a route reachability change occurred during the predetermined period of time.

45. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

determining whether an inability to access the distributed application endpoint during the predetermined period of time is a result of a route change or route reachability change during the predetermined period of time.

46. A computer program product for monitoring service availability using distributed Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing feeds, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a request to monitor a distributed application endpoint;

monitoring a first layer of a network in communication with the distributed application endpoint by performing a network test using an agent for a predetermined period of time;

monitoring a routing layer of the network in communication with the distributed application endpoint using a route monitor, wherein the route monitor collects BGP routing data for the predetermined period of time; and

generating a cross-layer report for the predetermined period of time that includes network performance data for the first layer of the network and for the routing layer of the network in communication with the distributed application endpoint, wherein the cross-layer report includes a correlation of a path trace with the routing layer to identify where network data loss is occurring along a network path, wherein the cross-layer report includes a mapping of a plurality of hostnames to IP addresses and a mapping of IP addresses to BGP prefixes, and wherein the cross-layer report includes a cross-layer visualization that displays an overlap of the routing layer with monitored packet forwarding (loss) data.

47. The computer program product recited in claim 46, further comprising computer instructions for:

generating a graphical visualization of the routing layer based on aggregated and collected BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors.

48. The computer program product recited in claim 46, further comprising computer instructions for:

generating a plurality of BGP metrics based on aggregated and collected BGP routing data from a plurality of distributed route monitors.

49. The computer program product recited in claim 46, further comprising computer instructions for:

determining whether a route path change occurred during the predetermined period of time.

50. The computer program product recited in claim 46, further comprising computer instructions for:

determining whether a route reachability change occurred during the predetermined period of time.

51. The computer program product recited in claim 46, further comprising computer instructions for:

determining whether an inability to access the distributed application endpoint during the predetermined period of time is a result of a route change or route reachability change during the predetermined period of time.