Press Releases
| COMPANY CONTACT Jeff Raice Packet Design, Inc 650.739.1880 jeff@packetdesign.com |
AGENCY CONTACT Janis Ulevich Ulevich & Orrange, Inc. 650.329.1590 info@u-o.com |
PACKET DESIGN ENHANCES IP ROUTE ANALYTICS APPLIANCE TO HANDLE LARGEST NETWORKS WITH SINGLE DEVICE
Route Explorer 1.5 Adds Support for Multiple OSPF Areas
and Broad Array of Proactive Route Analysis Functions
PALO ALTO, Calif., April 8, 2003 - A single appliance that helps operators of enterprise or service provider IP networks quickly diagnose and analyze IP layer problems by providing full visibility into routing operations - no matter how large or highly subdivided the network - is now available from Packet Design, Inc.
Route Explorer 1.5 is the newest version of the product introduced last year as the first to look into the IP "cloud" and display layer 3 routing changes as they occur. The product now adds the ability to traverse OSPF area boundaries, showing and analyzing route paths across the entire network. OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) areas are typically used to isolate different parts of networks geographically or administratively.
Also new to Route Explorer is an extensive set of route-analysis reports and alerts, including a "watch list" function that proactively signals the network operator when a key route or router experiences changes or problems.
Route Explorer will play a key role at Networld+Interop in Las Vegas April 27-May 2, where it will help detect and resolve IP route problems for the InteropNet Event Network (eNet).
One Appliance Gives 'Router's-Eye View' Into Large, Multi-Area Networks
"Network managers at enterprises and service providers want a layer 3 'router's-eye view' into their networks," said Jeff Raice, Packet Design's executive vice president of marketing and sales. "Until now their only choice has been to make best-guess diagnoses of IP problems based on data from device-level management tools. With a single Route Explorer appliance, users gain total visibility into the operation of their routed networks, no matter how large those networks become - with minimal cost, complexity, and implementation effort."
Route Explorer can be installed and fully operational in less than an hour.
Clifford Frost, director of communication and network services for the University of California at Berkeley, has been using Route Explorer in the university's 85-router network since June 2002. "We have many network tools that can tell us about the stability of specific hosts or network devices." Frost said, "But never before could we obtain direct knowledge of the complex routing events that can lead to major network operations problems. Route Explorer gives us a unique look at the state of routing in our network - either in the moment or going back in time - which enables us to understand the network's behavior and be much more effective at troubleshooting and planning."
Broad Array of Analytic Functions Provides Proactive Alerts, Predefined Reports
Also new to Route Explorer 1.5 is a comprehensive set of route analytics that provide network managers with three key capabilities: proactive alerts available through their network management screens, predefined HTML reports, and queries that extract Route Explorer data for use by other applications.
Proactive alerts, sent as SNMP traps directly to the user's network management system (e.g., HP OpenView, IBM Tivoli, Aprisma Spectrum), signal critical routing events as they happen, such as route flaps (intermittent route changes that can severely degrade performance and lead to route failure) or excessive routing events (the rate of routing events exceeds a user-defined threshold). Rather than having to constantly monitor their networks, operators are immediately notified when such events warrant attention, speeding problem resolution. "Watch lists" can be set up to tie alerts to events on important routes (e.g., major backbones, links between geographic areas) or known problem routes.
Predefined HTML reports analyze data over user-specified time periods on such operational factors as route flaps or newly established links, providing conveniently formatted data that helps network managers spot trends and problems. A Network Events Summary "umbrella" report combines data on a number of factors, including flapping routes, changed metrics, network churn, routes changed or withdrawn, and new route or prefix announcements.
In addition, using a new XML application programming interface (API), users can set up queries that extract Route Explorer data so that it can be combined with data from other management tools into customized reports that address user-specific concerns.
How Route Explorer Works
Route Explorer is incorporated into the network infrastructure as if it were simply another router, though it forwards no traffic. It "listens" to the network control plane, or the protocols used by routers to communicate with each other, computing and displaying a layer 3 topology map while logging all routing events in a local database. This routing information can then be analyzed and visualized in real time from a remote console, providing a complete picture of the network's routing operations.
An animated historical playback and analysis feature lets the operator diagnose intermittent and hard-to-detect problems. The user can "rewind" the topology map to any point in time since Route Explorer began logging data, then "replay" it, stepping through individual routing events to locate problems. In addition, customer-collected time-series data can be imported and correlated with Route Explorer's accumulated route event history to pinpoint the effects of routing on key performance parameters such as link utilization and packet delay and loss.
Pricing and Availability
Available immediately, Route Explorer is priced from $35,000 for a 50-router network, to $75,000 for a network of 250 or more routers.
About Packet Design, Inc.
Packet Design, Inc., develops a family of network appliances that improves the reliability, efficiency and predictability of IP networks by providing network-layer (layer 3) visibility into them. The products work by leveraging the routing protocols to extend network intelligence without increasing network load. Route Explorer, the company's initial product, is a route analytics appliance introduced in 2002 as the first tool to look into the IP "cloud," gathering, displaying and analyzing routing-path information to enable earlier detection and faster resolution of IP problems.
Packet Design, Inc., was spun out in March 2003 from Packet Design, LLC, the fourth networking company started by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Judy Estrin and Bill Carrico, who previously founded Bridge Communications, Network Computing Devices and Precept Software. After receiving seed funding from Packet Design, LLC, Packet Design, Inc., raised $14 million in Series B funding from Advanced Technology Ventures, Mayfield Fund, Allegis Capital, Masthead Venture Partners and Packet Design, LLC. For more information, visit http://www.packetdesign.com.
© 2005. Packet Design Inc.
