Spotting Single Points of Failure in a graph
Enterprise networks should never have Single Points of Failure (a.k.a SPOF) in their daily operation. SPOF in general is an element in a system which, if stopped, causes the whole system to stop. Single failure (or maintenance or misconfiguration) of any network device or link…
Dynamic Diagrams part 2: persistence
Network engineer/architect can use diagrams to speed up many of his routine tasks — from overview presentation of the network to the detailed troubleshooting of faulty data flow from the client to server. But regardless of the task type, there is always a requirement that the diagram…
Spanning Tree analytics with the IP Fabric platform v2.0
The IP Fabric platform is a network engineer’s best friend when performing deep network audits. For example, to verify root placement for overlapping VLANs in a LAN, I would normally need to look through the STP roots, and painstakingly trace L2 links, reconstructing the topology…
Introducing the IP Fabric platform v2.0
The feature I’ve been waiting for since the beginning of my Network Engineering career is finally here: Dynamic Change Monitoring. It’s finally possible to know the answer to the age-old question “What has changed in the network since yesterday?” and actually get a definitive response…
Discovering network with a single set of read-only credentials
Discovery of existing IP network devices and links is essential to proper network management and control. How can you perform the discovery with the minimal initial information required?
Instant Business-Level Network Analysis Reports
Overall state of the network often must be presented in condensed form to managers and non-it personnel. How can you create the reports focusing mostly on the risk and impact of the network state to users and applications?
Network gateway redundancy verification
Each network with multiple users should have a redundant gateway implemented as an exit point. For the end users, some form of first-hop redundancy protocol such as VRRP, GLBP or HSRP should be implemented. But it that really true in your network?
Balancing traffic on aggregation channels
Since the invention of EtherChannels, link aggregation bundles provide a convenient way to increase capacity or reliability of network transport paths. How can you ensure that the traffic is properly balanced among links in a bundle and that individual links in a bundle are operating…
Keeping the L2 switching domains stable
Many problems in the current Ethernet layer 2 switched networks can come as a result of the behavior of the Spanning Tree Protocol and its derivatives. Its fail-open nature can render large parts of the network belonging to the same switching domain unusable. There are hints in STP operation before the major disruption happens which could be used as early warnings.
Live Network Documentation
Not only network documentation takes a lot of time and effort to create, but it also becomes outdated as soon as you hit save and seems to always require an update at the time you need it most. So how can you document your network effectively?