Network path discovery and analysis
View Patent ↗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.
1. A non-transitory computer readable medium that includes instructions for causing a processor to:
receive an identification of a source node and a destination node of a source-destination pair in a network,
send a first trace request from a monitor node to the source node to determine a first path,
find a controllable node on the first path, the controllable node being different from the source node and the monitor node,
send a second trace request from the controllable node to the destination node to determine a second path, and
combine at least a part of the first path to the second path to determine a current path between the source node and the destination node.
2. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to find the controllable node by causing the processor to find the controllable node along the first path that is closest to the source node.
3. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to determine the second path by causing the processor to determine at least a segment of the second path based on routing information associated with one or more elements along the second path.
4. The medium of claim 3 , wherein determining the segment includes accessing one or more routing tables within a model of the network.
5. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
collect performance data associated with one or more elements on the determined current path,
process the performance data to provide performance information, and
provide a display of the performance information.
6. The medium of claim 5 , 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.
7. The medium of claim 6 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to display a network diagram based on the difference.
8. The medium of claim 5 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to identify abnormal performance based on the performance data.
9. The medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to display a network diagram based on the abnormal performance.
10. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to receive a request for network information associated with the source node and the destination node, wherein the request includes access information associated with the controllable node, and sending the second trace includes gaining access to the controllable node based on the access information.
11. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the controllable node is a router.
12. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to determine one or more segments of the second path by communicating tracing traffic from a node on the second path to the destination node, and noting the occurrence of this tracing traffic at one or more collection nodes.
13. A monitoring system comprising:
a controller that is configured to:
receive an identification of a source node and a destination node of a source-destination pair in a network,
send a first trace request from a monitor node to the source node to determine a first path,
find a controllable node on the first path, the controllable node being different from the source node and the monitor node,
send a second trace request from the controllable node to the destination node to determine a second path, and
combine at least a part of the first path to the second path to determine a current path between the source node and the destination node;
a memory that is configured to store the second path; and
a display that is configured to display information regarding the second path.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller finds the controllable node by finding the controllable node along the first path that is closest to the source node.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller determines the second path by determining at least a segment of the second path based on routing information associated with one or more elements along the second path.
16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller:
collects performance data associated with one or more elements on the determined current path,
processes the performance data to provide performance information, and
provides a display of the performance information.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the controller:
identifies abnormal performance based on the performance data, and provides a display of a network diagram based on the abnormal performance.
18. A method comprising:
receiving an identification of a source node and a destination node of a source-destination pair in a network,
sending, from a monitoring system, a first trace request from a monitor node to a source node of a network to determine a first path,
finding, by the monitoring system, a controllable node on the first path, the controllable node being different from the source node and the monitor node,
sending, by the monitoring system, a second trace request from the controllable node to a destination node of the network to determine a second path, and
combining, by the monitoring system, at least a part of the first path to the second path to determine a current path between the source node and the destination node;
storing, by the monitoring system, the second path to a memory at the monitoring system; and
displaying, by the monitoring system, information regarding the second path.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein determining the second path includes determining at least a segment of the second path based on routing information associated with one or more elements along the second path.
20. The method of claim 18 , including:
collecting performance data associated with one or more elements on the determined current path,
processing the performance data to provide performance information, and
displaying the performance information.