Claims
- 1. A method for use in a global network comprising two or more networks, wherein information is communicated via packets of one or more types, each packet type having a corresponding header with at least one portion of said header indicative of activity of a corresponding application, each network having various devices operating as sources of packets, destinations for packets, or both, each network interconnected to one or more other networks at at least one switch fabric, said method for providing on a run-time basis an indication of an actual service level in at least a portion of said global network for comparison with a service level agreement for at least said portion of said global network, said method comprising the steps of:
on a run-time basis intercepting packets traversing at least one switch fabric; on a run-time basis extracting information from said at least one header portion of each of said packets and returning each said packet to the switch fabric from which the packet was intercepted so as to allow the packet to continue to its destination; on a run-time basis determining from said extracted information, information about application activity between said one or more sources and said one or more destinations; and on a run-time basis providing said indication of the actual service level in said at least a portion of the global network according to the determined application activity.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of determining is for determining at least one utilization characteristic of said one or more sources or said one or more destinations.
- 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of tallying instances of said at least one utilization characteristic of an endpoint of said global network acting as one or more sources, one or more destinations, or a combination thereof for providing a tally of said instances of said at least one utilization characteristic.
- 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:
providing said tally of instances of said at least one utilization characteristic for evaluation by a user or by comparison to a predefined application template; and selecting said service level agreement according to said evaluation.
- 5. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of tallying instances of said at least one utilization characteristic of at least one application regardless of source or destination for providing a tally of said instances of said at least one utilization characteristic.
- 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of:
providing said tally of instances of said at least one utilization characteristic for evaluation by a user or by comparison to a predefined application template; and selecting said service level agreement according to said evaluation.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of determining is for determining a list of applications.
- 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of determining utilization characteristics of said listed applications.
- 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of tallying instances of said utilization characteristics of said listed applications for providing a tally of said instances of said utilization characteristics.
- 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:
providing said tally of instances of said utilization characteristics for evaluation by a user or by comparison to one or more predefined application templates; and selecting said service level agreement according to said evaluation.
- 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of determining is for determining at least one utilization characteristic of a path over said global network physical media between a source and a destination.
- 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:
tallying instances of said at least one utilization characteristic of said path for providing a tally of said instances of said utilization characteristic; providing said tally of instances of said utilization characteristic for evaluation by a user or by comparison to a predefined application template; and selecting said service level agreement according to said evaluation.
- 13. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one utilization characteristic is of a path over said global network physical media between a source and a destination.
- 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps of:
tallying instances of said at least one utilization characteristic of said path for providing a tally of said instances of said utilization characteristic; providing said tally of instances of said utilization characteristic for evaluation by a user or by comparison to a predefined application template; and selecting said service level agreement according to said evaluation.
- 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining application activity comprises determining a user profile based upon user definable information contained within at least some of the extracted information.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein at least some of the definable information contained within the extracted information is user identification information.
- 17. The method of claim 15, wherein at least some of the user definable information contained within the extracted information is the IP address of the source of the associated packet.
- 18. The method of claim 15, wherein at least some of the user definable information contained within the extracted information is the IP address of the destination.
- 19. The method of claim 15, wherein at least some of the user definable information contained within the extracted information is the domain of the device associated with the source of the packet.
- 20. The method of claim 15, wherein at least some of the user definable information contained within the extracted information is the domain of the device associated with the destination of the packet.
- 21. The method of claim 15, wherein the user definable information contained within the extracted packet information is directed to the class of service of the packet.
- 22. The method of claim 15, wherein the user definable information contained within the extracted packet information is directed to the type of packet, including whether it is a broadcast, multicast or destination directed packet.
- 23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the extracted packet information is used to determine parameters associated with the transfer of packets.
- 24. The method according to claim 23, wherein these parameters include the length of time between sending a packet and receiving a return packet, whether the packet is dropped in route to its destination, and the change in latency between packets intended for the same destination.
- 25. The method according to claim 24, wherein any of the parameters may be partitioned amongst the networks of the global networks so that the magnitude of a parameter can be measured within each of the networks through which the packet traverses.
- 26. A method as defined in claim 25, wherein different parameters may have different partition values for the same network over which the corresponding packet traverses.
- 27. A method as defined in claim 26, further wherein a knowledge base is created which represents the values of the parameters for each of the networks over which each corresponding packet traverses.
- 28. A method as defined in clam 27, wherein this knowledge base is combined to form a template defining the desired characteristics of the global network with respect to communication of particular packet types over said global network between sources and destinations.
- 29. A method as defined in claim 28, wherein the templates can be user defined.
- 30. A method as defined in claim 29, wherein the templates can be defined through accumulation of information associated with the traverse of packets over the global network.
- 31. A method as defined in claim 30, wherein the parameter values can be scaled based upon observing the parameters for the traverse of packets between a predetermined number of users and extrapolating the parameter values for a different number of users.
- 32. A method as defined in claim 31, wherein the overall performance of the network can be determined by combining the actual service level with additional loading of the global network based upon the addition of applications to one or more networks within the global network.
- 33. A method as defined in claim 32, wherein the performance of the network with the addition of one or more applications can be determined based upon the use of said one or more applications by one or more users of the application.
- 34. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the indication of actual service level is compared to a service provider's network offering so as to allow a user of said network to determine if the user's network needs have changed or if the service provider's network offering has changed, so as to recommend a change of the service offering to the user.
- 35. A method as defined in claim 34, wherein a service level agreement of the user is modified based upon a determined change in the user's network needs and/or the service provider's network offering.
- 36. A system for measuring business bandwidth associated with the interconnection of networks sending packets of information from sources to destinations, characterized in that the system comprises:
a plurality of bandwidth monitoring devices for determining characteristics of packets passing from at least one device on the network to another device on the same or different network, each bandwidth monitoring device comprising:
a bandwidth interconnection module connected to a network for retrieving information regarding at least some aspect of substantially all packets of at least one type passing through the network at a first location, and a master control module for analyzing said retrieved information; and at least one director console, the director console having:
means for communicating with at least some of the plurality of bandwidth measuring devices, and means for analyzing the analyzed retrieved data so as to determine business bandwidth baseline information regarding the at least some of the characteristics of said analyzed retrieved data.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application discloses subject matter which is disclosed and may be claimed in the following international applications as identified by applicant's attorney's docket nos. 402-127.3-1, 402-127.4-1, 402-127.5-1 and 402-127.8-1.
[0002] Application No. 402-127.3-1 is directed to active monitoring of business bandwidth. Application No. 402-127.4-1 is directed to analysis of business bandwidth for control of same. Application No. 402-127.5-1 is directed to the application of closed loop control to control of business bandwidth.
[0003] Application No. 402-127.8-1 is an extension of 402-127.2-1. 402-127.3-1, 401-127.4-1 and 402-127.5-1 with respect to exportation of information in a multiple management environment (multiple users with different SLAs).
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60183701 |
Feb 2000 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/US01/05119 |
Feb 2001 |
US |
Child |
10223067 |
Aug 2002 |
US |