Re: [OT] network monitoring/visibility appliance

[Aaron Glenn <aaron.glenn () gmail com>]

On 6/24/05, Daniel Golding <dgolding () burtongroup com> wrote:
> Just to ignore your wishes and reply on-list :)

OK, I'll bite. (-:

> Other folks may be interested. The general area is known as "route
> analytics". The box you are talking about may be from Packet Design (the HP
> solution is OEMed from them, I believe) or Ipsum networks. This is separate
> from modeling and simulation tools like Cariden, Opnet, and Wandl which all
> offer some greater or lesser degree of routing protocol support.

After hitting send, of course, I came across both Packet Design's and
Ipsum's product; neither of which are the manufacturer I had in mind.
However they do perform the same functions.

> I believe the original idea for these boxes was to target service providers,
> but enterprises are also quite interested in the field, especially with the
> growth of RFC2547 VPNs. A box like this can help an enterprise keep track of
> the BGP advertisements and any OSPF/EIGRP redistribution at their sites
> (which can number in the thousands).

The box I'm referring too was marketed towards MPLS, traffic
engineering, and QoS visibility and monitoring. Had a handsome
visualization tool as well.

> My personal opinion is that questions about Internet/WAN technology vendors
> on a _high_ level are perfectly appropriate for NANOG - at least as much as
> "is xyz down?" :) More in-depth stuff ("how do I configure my GSR to dance
> the lambada") belong on the appropriate NSP lists...

While I agree wholeheartedly, I started actively following NANOG less
than a year ago, during which nearly every discussion had someone
questioning it's relevance and on-topic-ness; which, frankly, was and
still is, off putting.

I apologize being so vague about all this - a fuzzy photographic
memory is both a blessing and a curse. I don't remember the
manufacturer, or what I was even looking for when I came across it.
All I recall is a limegreen-ish box in the datasheet pdf; a mention of
how, by being able to speak MPLS and it's ilk, the appliance didn't
have to poll devices, nor was it a point of failure; and a strong
focus on its traffic engineering and QoS visibility features. After
looking at Packet Design and Ipsum, neither is the product I'm trying
to "rediscover".

Many thanks for the off-list replies. If anyone has any clue what I'm
referring too, on or off list replies are welcomed.

Regards,
aaron.glenn