Methods and apparatus for determining and displaying a transaction reset metric

1. An apparatus for determining and displaying a transaction reset metric of individual transactions between host devices of an enterprise operating over a network, comprising:

a network management device configured to monitor data traffic at a point between host devices communicating over the network, the data traffic comprising individual flows between the host devices, wherein the individual flows include individual transactions comprising an exchange of packets, the network management device identifying flow resets that terminate flows between host devices;

a processor configured to evaluate the flow resets detected by the network management device by determining whether each flow reset occurred during an incomplete transaction within a flow, resulting in termination of an ongoing transaction within the flow, or merely terminated a flow without terminating an ongoing transaction within the flow, identifying each flow reset that occurred during an incomplete transaction within a flow as a transaction reset, and computing a transaction reset count metric as a sum of transaction resets that occur, wherein the processor is further configured to identify individual transactions terminated by a transaction reset; and

a display device configured to display on an individual transaction basis whether or not individual transactions were terminated by a transaction reset and to display the transaction reset count metric for one or more selected portions of the enterprise.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the individual flows comprise transmission control protocol (TCP) flows, and the individual transactions comprise TCP transactions.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to compute the transaction reset count metric at an application level, and wherein the display device is further configured to display on the transaction reset count metric at the application level.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to compute the transaction reset count metric at a host device level, and wherein the display device is further configured to display the transaction reset count metric at the host device level.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to compute the transaction reset count metric at a site level, and wherein the display device is further configured to display the transaction reset count metric at the site level.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to compute the transaction reset count metric at an enterprise level, and wherein the display device is further configured to display the transaction reset count metric at the enterprise level.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the display device is further configured to display the individual transactions in a log listing, wherein each log entry includes a field identifying the transaction and a field indicating whether or not the transaction was terminated by a transaction reset.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor determines that a flow reset is a transaction reset if one of the following conditions occurred during a transaction between first and second host devices:

the transaction included a request from the first host device but no response from the second host device had been detected at the time the flow reset occurred;

the transaction included a partial request from the first host device and at least a partial response from the second host device but the second host had not acknowledged at least a portion of the request at the time the flow reset occurred;

the transaction included a response from the second host device but no request from the first host device had been detected at the time the flow reset occurred; and

the transaction included at least a partial request from the first host device and at least a partial response from the second host device, but the first host device had not acknowledged all of the response at the time the flow reset occurred.

9. A method for determining and displaying a transaction reset metric of individual transactions between host devices of an enterprise operating over a network, comprising:

identifying flow resets that terminate flows between host devices, wherein individual flows include individual transactions comprising an exchange of packets;

evaluating the flow resets by determining whether each flow reset occurred during an incomplete transaction within a flow, resulting in termination of an ongoing transaction within the flow, or merely terminated a flow without terminating an ongoing transaction within the flow, and identifying each flow reset that occurred during an incomplete transaction within a flow as a transaction reset;

computing a transaction reset count metric as a sum of transaction resets that occur;

identifying individual transactions terminated by a transaction reset; and

controlling a display device to display on an individual transaction basis whether or not individual transactions were terminated by a transaction reset and to display the transaction reset count metric for one or more selected portions of the enterprise.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least some of the individual flows comprise transmission control protocol (TCP) flows, and the individual transactions comprise TCP transactions.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

computing the transaction reset count metric at an application level; and

controlling the display device to display on the transaction reset count metric at the application level.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

computing the transaction reset count metric at a host device level, and

controlling the display device to display the transaction reset count metric at the host device level.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

computing the transaction reset count metric at a site level; and

controlling the display device to display the transaction reset count metric at the site level.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

computing the transaction reset count metric at an enterprise level; and

controlling the display device to display the transaction reset count metric at the enterprise level.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

controlling the display device to display the individual transactions in a log listing, wherein each log entry includes a field identifying the transaction and a field indicating whether or not the transaction was terminated by a transaction reset.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein evaluating the flow resets including determining that a flow reset is a transaction reset if one of the following conditions occurred during a transaction between first and second host devices:

the transaction included a request from the first host device but no response from the second host device had been detected at the time the flow reset occurred;

the transaction included a partial request from the first host device and at least a partial response from the second host device but the second host had not acknowledged at least a portion of the request at the time the flow reset occurred;

the transaction included a response from the second host device but no request from the first host device had been detected at the time the flow reset occurred; and

the transaction included at least a partial request from the first host device and at least a partial response from the second host device, but the first host device had not acknowledged all of the response at the time the flow reset occurred.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform functions of:

identifying flow resets that terminate flows between host devices, wherein individual flows include individual transactions comprising an exchange of packets;

evaluating the flow resets by determining whether each flow reset occurred during an incomplete transaction within a flow, resulting in termination of an ongoing transaction within the flow, or merely terminated a flow without terminating an ongoing transaction within the flow, and identifying each flow reset that occurred during an incomplete transaction within a flow as a transaction reset;

computing a transaction reset count metric as a sum of transaction resets that occur;

identifying individual transactions terminated by a transaction reset; and

controlling a display device to display on an individual transaction basis whether or not individual transactions were terminated by a transaction reset and to display the transaction reset count metric for one or more selected portions of the enterprise.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17 , storing further instructions, that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the further functions of:

computing the transaction reset count metric at an application level; and

controlling the display device to display on the transaction reset count metric at the application level.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 17 , storing further instructions, that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the further functions of:

computing the transaction reset count metric at a host device level, and

controlling the display device to display the transaction reset count metric at the host device level.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 17 , storing further instructions, that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the further functions of:

computing the transaction reset count metric at a site level; and

controlling the display device to display the transaction reset count metric at the site level.