RoutePlotter Server

The RoutePlotter Server provides a browser interface for the RoutePlotter reporting options. These are

• Timeline - A daily/hourly view of alerts and alarms

• Log Entries - A search report of alerts and alarms

• VisualRoute - A search report of trace route alerts

• Graph - A search graph report of specific routes

• Network - A schematic view of monitored routes

Detach button
By clicking the detach button in the bottom left corner the applet will detach itself from the browser. This allows the user to extend the RoutePlotter panel to the full size of the monitor.

Timeline tab

When the RoutePlotter server is browsed to the initial view is the Timeline tab as shown above. The Timeline tab allows you to view the over all status for one or more monitored routes/devices by Month, Day, Hour or Minute.

When the RoutePlotter server is browsed to the initial view is the Timeline tab as shown above. The Timeline tab allows you to view the over all status for one or more monitored routes/devices by Month, Day, Hour or Minute.

In the above example the timeline is showing data for the Visualware-Server route with all rules. The user can focus and zoom in on any particular Month, day, hour by simply double-clicking a particular time-line segment. This will drill-down the timeline view to cover the selected segment (in the example above the hour is divided into 5 minute segments). The user can zoom in or out between the hourly, daily and monthly views by using the 'Zoom In' and 'Zoom Out' links under the timeline panel. Note : The Zoom links only appear when a specific timeline segment has been selected.

Note: All timeline segments are color coded (red, Yellow, Grey) by the alarm content within the time period selected. In other words if there were many critical alerts the segment would be mostly red. If it was a mixture of critical and warning alarms then the color would be a mixture of red and yellow etc.

Note : Double clicking on a 5 minute segment will automatically take you to the 'Log Entries' detail view for the time period selected.

You can filter the information being displayed in the time-line to reflect different routes and rules by using the drop-down menu and clicking the ' Apply Filter ' button.  You can search through relevant data by using the ' Next ' and ' Previous ' links. By clicking on a time-line segment you will be able to see the data legend in the yellow box below the timeline, see example below.

The yellow box tells you the exact number of critical, warning and information log entries for the selected segment. If the ' Display all log entries for this period ' link is clicked it will open the 'Log Entries' tab to review the selected data.

Log Entries

The Log Entries tab shows all log entries created by the defined rules between a specific timeframe for a certain route or all routes.

Once a timeframe, a route and rules have been selected, a table of results similar the one above will show. The list will contain all the alerts and alarms that have been occurred for the selected filter (namely time, route and rules). Clicking on a date/timestamp in the log entries list will select and show the captured trace route details associated with the logged event. See example below.

VisualRoute tab

The VisualRoute tab allows traceroute details for a specified route captured at a specific date and time to be reviewed. This includes the entire route from source to destination (see above example).

To locate a user selected trace route (as opposed to a trace route found by clicking on an alert in the timeline view).

1. Select the destination

2. Select the date/time for the traceroute.

3. Click ' Go '

The trace route for the selected filter will be displayed. The user can then scroll forward and backward from the selected traceroute detail by using the ' Next ' and ' Previous ' record links shown just above the table. The table contents show the number, the IP address, Network Node Name, Location, Response time (in milliseconds) and Packet loss% for each hop between the source and the destination. Note: The Response Time measurement and Packet Loss measurement as well as the length of the route (number of hops) are important performance metrics.

Graph tab

The Graph tab shows a plot of the performance of the route over time such as an hour, a day or even a month. The plot view can include the number of hops, round-trip response time and average packet loss for the selected destination.

This graph is plotted in real time and automatically updates although timeframes can be specified in the configuration for this tab. Also, clicking on any part of the plot body and holding the left mouse button down will display a tool tip displaying the metric values for the time period where the mouse was clicked. Moving the mouse while still holding the left mouse button down automatically updates the metric readings for the timer periods covered.

The Plot Configuration screen is very simple and mostly self explanatory. The user can choose the route to plot. The metrics to include and the time period to cover. Clicking the 'Go' button plots the details selected.

Network tab

The Network tab shows the monitored routes in a schematic view and the current state of the rule alerts defined.

Alerts
The network view shows all the hop 'points' for every route being monitored in what looks like a train track schematic. Hovering your mouse over any hop 'point' will display device IP address in a tool-tip. The color of the hop 'point' (red yellow or white) reflects the state of the rules defined for the route. For example a red filled 'point' indicates a critical alarm is currently in effect. Clicking the magnifying glass for a route showing an alert will display the actual traceroute detail for the alert displayed in the 'VisualRoute' view. Alternatively clicking the 'diamond' symbol for a route will display the 'Log Details' view for the route (i.e. a list of all alerts for the time period).

Filter
If you want to show the routes only passing through a given node then simply click that node. The network map will redraw itself showing only those routes that pass through the selected node. To show all nodes again simply double click anywhere in the background.

Highlight
If you want to see the path of the routes monitored by a specific Remote Testing Agent (RTA) or indeed the path back to any RTA/RoutePlotter monitoring a given IP device then click the RTA/Server name. To remove this highlight simply click anywhere in the background.

Node Spacing
You can change the spacing of nodes to large/medium/small by selecting the size in the 'Node Spacing' drop down box. This can be useful if you find that all your monitored routes don't fit inside the window.

Moving the node map  
You can move the node map around to view off screen items by left mouse clicking and dragging on the background. Note : Use the 'detach' button to release the RoutePlotter window from the browser thus enabling the full size of the viewing monitor to be used independently of the browser window limits.