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NetworkPlanningwithCaridenMate|packetsource.net

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NetworkPlanningwithCaridenMate
PostedbyAdamChappellonOctober10,2008
Postedin:MPLS.Tagged:cariden.1Comment
Overthelastfewweeks,IvebeenspendingtimeevaluatingCaridenMate
(http://www.cariden.com/products/)asoftwaretooldesignedtoassistthetaskofcapacity
planningandtrafficengineeringonlargescaleIPnetworks.AsaresultIcanprovideabrief
reviewofitscapabilities.
CaridenMateshipsonthreemajorplatforms:Windows,SolarisUNIXandMacintoshOSX.Ina
styleconsistentwithothernetworkmanagementtoolsbutdisappointingnonetheless,thereseems
tobeanimplicitassumptionthatthenetworkoperatorislikelytodedicateauserworkstationto
runningthesoftwaresincetheuserinterfaceandnetworkelementdatacollectionsoftwareall
existwthinthesameinstallablepackage.Inmostcases,whatisinfinitelypreferableisaserver
installatonthatcommunicateswiththenetworkelementsandclientinstallationsthatprovidethe
necessaryinterfacestotheuser.
Thatsaid,unlikealotofothernetworkmanagementtools,theseparatecomponentsofCariden
Mate,suchastheGUI,thenetworkcollectingagents,theprocessingtoolsareactuallyallavailable
toexecuteseparatelyinamodularfashionandaredocumentedassuch.Thisallowsaskilled
systemsarchitecttheabilitytoconstructaclient/serverstylearchitectureor,indeed,anyother
customisedarchitecturethatmightintroduceotherdataorsystemsinaflexiblemanner.One
requiresanamountofdevelopmenttimeandefforttodothis,ofcourse.
TheoperationofCaridenMateiscentredaroundaplanfile.Aplanfilecontainsvariousitemsof
dataaboutanetworkandsinceitisnotalwayspossibletogatherthisdatafromoneplace,the
planfileformatisflexibleenoughtobeeditedbyhand,manipulatedbyuserscriptsorgenerated
automaticallybyCaridenMatesbuiltintools.
Forthosewantingaquickstart,theGUIoffersafairlycomprehensiveGetPlanoperationthat
willprobearouterandgenerateaplanfilebycollectingabackboneroutersIGPdatabaseboth
OSPFandISISaresupportedandenrichingitwithinterfaceandbandwidthlevels,obtained
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throughSNMP.ThisallowsCaridenMatetounderstandwhichnodesareconnectedtowhich
othernodesandwithwhatlinkmetrics.
Withthisdataalone,itispossibletogenerateaplanfilethatausercanuseofflineasaplanning
tool.TheplanfileisrenderedintheGUIandshowshowdevicesarelinkedinthenetwork
topologyandallowstheusertodiscoverwhichlinkswouldbeusedforanyspecifiedroute.The
userisalsoabletodefineanarbitrarytrafficmatrix(asimplespreadsheetliketableofinputnode,
outputnodeandtrafficlevel)andseeitreflectedonthediscoveredtopologyintermsoflink
usage,thusfacilitatingcapacitychecksforcustomerturnups.
Atthispoint,thetopologycanalsobemanipulated:linkmetricscanbechangedorlinkscanbe
takendown,andCaridenMatewillshowthenewroutesthatwillbetakenbytrafficandthe
resultingloadontheremaininglinksasaresultoftheprovidedtrafficmatrix.
Assumingtheavailabilityofareasonablyaccuratetrafficmatrixintherightformatusing
CaridenMateinthiswaywithoutfurtheraccesstothenetworkisapowerfoltoolinitsownright.
Inadditiontothis,however,CaridenMateprovidestoolstoenrichtheplanfilewithcurrently
measuredinterfacelinkutilisationdatacollectedfromSNMP.Thetoolsareflexibleandcanbe
runinthebackgroundinordertoconstantlypollthenetworkandpopulateanarchiveor,
alternatively,theGUIsGetPlanfunctionisabletograbasinglesnapshotoflinkutilisationfor
thecurrenttime.

CaridenMateGUI

Inpossessionofthelinkutilisationdata,CaridenMatespowerfulEstimationandDeduction

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Inpossessionofthelinkutilisationdata,CaridenMatespowerfulEstimationandDeduction
functionscanbeusedtocomputeacandidatetrafficmatrixthatwouldresultintheobservedlink
utilisation.ThemathematicsandexactalgorithmIconfesstonotunderstandingatallbeyondthe
premisethatthesoftwareseemstoconsiderallpossibletrafficmatricesthatcouldbeputtothe
networkandhowtheywouldeffectthelinksandoffersthemostlikelytrafficcandidate.
Thetrafficmatrixisveryvaluabledatawhenoneconsidersthedifficultiesinacquiringanactual
observedmatrix(differentnetworkplatforms,differentlinecardswithdifferentfeaturesetc.).It
canbebasedondatacollectionsfromaperceivednetworkhightideandthenbemadeavailable
offlineinordertorunsimulationsagainstinordertodeterminewherenewcircuitswouldbestbe
placedandwhatthelikelyimpactofplannedworkswouldbe.
CaridenalsoprovidesalightHTTPinterfaceintoaplanfileusingitsWeatherMapstyleinterface.
Thispresentsadynamicallyrenderedimagewhichshowstheplanfilewithlinkscoloured
accordingtousagefromcontinuousdatastoredinarchivefile.Thisisaconvenientandlicense
effectivewaytopropagatebasicnetworkvisualisationtousersintheorganisationthatdont
requirethefullblownGUIfunctionality.

CaridenMateWebInterface

Licensingistypicallypernodeandperseat.Thepernodelicensingisreasonablebutitdevalues3/5

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Licensingistypicallypernodeandperseat.Thepernodelicensingisreasonablebutitdevalues
thetopologydiscoverymechanismwhichhappilydisoverseverynodeintheIGPdatabase
inferringlocationfromnetworknamingconventionasitgoeswhetheryouintendtouse
theCaridenMatefunctionalityforitornot.Unlessyoulicensethesoftwareforallnodesinthe
IGP,discoveryishamperedbythenecessarymanualdeletionstrategytoremoveallthelow
endaccessroutersthatyoudontcareabout.Perseatlicensingisenforcedthroughastubborn
adherencetoMACaddressforclientinstallationswhichisfrustrating.
Butinconclusion,CaridenMateprovidesaveryusefulcomplementtotheusualfirstgeneration
networkperformancereportingtoolsthatmeasureinterfaceusagebyofferingvariouslevelsof
userbothatopologyunderstandingandvisibility,andalsoaviewonendtoendtrafficwhich
cannotbegleanedfromSNMPdataalone.
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OnecommentonNetworkPlanningwithCaridenMate
JoshonOctober24,2011at13:13said:
Nicewriteup.Thanks.
Reply

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