How Route Explorer Works:

Route Explorer works by passively monitoring the routing protocol exchanges (e.g. OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, BGP) between routers on the network, then computing a real-time, network wide topology that can be visualized, analyzed and serve as the basis for actionable alerts and reports. This approach provides the most accurate, real-time view of how the network is directing traffic. Unstable routes and other anomalies – undetectable by SNMP-based management tools because they are not device-specific problems – are immediately visible.

As the network-wide topology is created and updated, Route Explorer records every routing event in a local data store. An animated historical playback feature lets the operator diagnose inconsistent and hard-to-detect problems by "rewinding" the network to a previous point in time. Histograms displaying past routing activity allow the network engineer to quickly go back to the time when a specific problem occurred, while letting them step through individual routing events to discover the root cause of the problem. Route Explorer also provides the ability to import external time-based information, such as application performance or traffic data, and correlate it with routing activity, enabling the operator to quickly and easily determine the root cause of network or service related problems.

Route Explorer allows users to set up proactive alerts that signal critical routing events as they happen. These alerts are sent as SNMP traps directly to the user's network management platform (e.g., OpenView) or recorded via syslog messages. "Watch lists" can be set up to trigger alerts when changes occur on important or known problem routes. In addition, pre-defined HTML reports analyze routing events over user-specified time periods, helping network managers spot trends or other potential problems (e.g. list of prefixes advertised by more than one router).

Route Explorer is an effective scenario impact analysis tool. Users can select specific links or routers to hypothetically bring up or down or even adjust link metrics, immediately observing the effect of the change on the network map. They can better understand of the impact of possible network failures, avoid misconfigurations, ensure appropriate levels of redundancy and verify that the routed network is operating as intended – a particularly valuable capability after maintenance activities.

Route Explorer appears to the network simply as another router, though it forwards no traffic and is neither a bottleneck or failure point. Since it works by monitoring the routing control plane, it does not poll any devices and adds no overhead to the network. A single appliance can support any size IP network, no matter how large or highly subdivided into separate areas.

Route Explorer is designed to be rapidly deployed with minimal configuration. Since it is a self-contained appliance, there is no requirement for setting up additional servers and installing separate software. Capabilities like auto-network discovery and auto-topology layout enable Route Explorer to add value from the day it is installed. Route Explorer is easily installed and operating in less than a day, ensuring extremely rapid time-to-value and quick return on investment.