NCET 2015 Conference

MCNC Client Network Engineering – Network Monitoring Probe Virtual Appliance

Session Presenters

n  Bradley Stevens, MCNC – Client Network Engineer

2 4/7/15

Agenda

1.  Presenta*on:  Network  Monitoring  Virtual  Appliance  overview  

2.  Demo:  acquire  /  deploy  /  configure  virtual  appliance  

3.  Demo:  brief  overview  of  included  tools  

4.  Support  /  contact  informa*on  

5.  Q  &  A  

3 4/7/15

Challenges of Network Management

4 4/7/15

Network Management Challenges

n  Just delivering packets from A – B is no longer enough

n  “Why is my network so slow?”

n  “Do I have enough network capacity to meet demand for this BYOD / 1:1 project?”

n  “I need hard data on how my network is doing so I can justify this upgrade with a huge price tag!”

n  “I’m tired of hearing about outages from users – I should be the first to know!”

5 4/7/15

Network Management Challenges (contd.)

n  “I just pasted a switch config into the wrong terminal window! Hope I have backups!”

n  “When did I change this switchport’s VLAN assignment again? What was it prior to the change?”

n  “Who keeps using all my bandwidth streaming Netflix videos?!”

n  “I wish I could look at the log messages on this switch but it rebooted.”

6 4/7/15

Network Management Challenges (contd.)

n  “I wish I could get alerts when the portable air conditioner in my server room stops working!”

n  “It would be nice to get alerts from my UPS units when the power is out for more than 30 minutes.”

n  “I need to find out who is using BitTorrent on my network.”

n  “I don’t think my WAN provider is giving me the bandwidth I’m paying for.”

7 4/7/15

Network Monitoring Tools Virtual Appliance

MCNC’s Client Network Engineering team has a

potential solution:

8 4/7/15

Virtual Appliance Overview

n  What is it?

n  What can it do?

n  What can’t it do?

n  Why virtual?

n  Is it right for me?

9 4/7/15

What is it?

n  Virtual appliance with pre-configured open-source network monitoring tools

n  Includes open-source tools for: •  Realtime Network Performance Analysis •  Historical Network Performance Monitoring •  Network Status Monitoring (Alerts) •  Network Troubleshooting

n  Tools packaged together as an appliance for convenience

10 4/7/15

What is it? (contd.)

n  A complete virtual system that utilizes Linux as the OS but has tools to make management easy

n  Available as a virtual package (OVA) that can be deployed on your local machine or virtual infrastructure

n  A good solution for those needing to quickly evaluate open-source network monitoring tools

n  A good solution to provide a comprehensive set of tools for small deployments

11 4/7/15

What can it do?

n  Realtime Network Performance Analysis •  NDT Server / Client (TCP throughput testing) •  IPERF Server / Client (TCP / UDP throughput

testing) •  NTOP / NTOPNG (Identify ‘top’ flows on the

network, usually to and from the Internet)

n  Network Performance Data Collection (Historical) •  Cacti (SNMP Polling / Graphing Tool; Bandwidth

& Utilization Graphing)

12 4/7/15

What can it do? (contd.)

n  Network Performance Data Collection (contd.) •  SmokePing (poll / graph network latency / loss) •  Nagios 3 (up / down monitoring and alerts;

availability reporting) •  RANCID (Really Awesome New Cisco confIg

Differ) / ViewVC (configuration archiving / revision diffing / annotation tool)

n  System / Tool Configuration •  NCONF (GUI Configuration tool for Nagios 3)

13 4/7/15

What can it do? (contd.)

n  System / Tool Configuration (contd.) •  Webmin (Linux system GUI config tool) •  Web-based SSH console (access Linux command-

line for appliance in browser)

n  Network Troubleshooting Tools •  TSHARK (command-line version of Wireshark) •  NMAP (Host / Service Scanning) •  MTR (monitor traceroute hops with ICMP)

14 4/7/15

What can it do? (contd.)

n  Common web-based menu UI to access tools and documentation

n  Inline documentation of command-line tools with examples

n  Easy access to official documentation of tools online via web menu UI

n  Easy access to MCNC Resources (contact info, website, K-12 Landing Page) from web menu UI

15 4/7/15

What can’t it do?

n  Provide full performance for throughput testing tools like NDT and IPERF (due to the virtual networking stack)

n  Provide full performance for utilities that capture packets to analyze data like TSHARK, NTOP, or NTOPNG (due to the virtual networking stack)

n  Not recommended for production use as a syslog server in large deployments – storing, indexing, and analyzing large quantities of syslog messages is outside the project scope

16 4/7/15

Why Virtual?

n  Convenience •  Easy distribution •  OS and tools are pre-configured •  Can be used to test tools easily on local

workstation (VirtualBox)

n  Compatibility (Any platform supporting OVA)

n  Portability after deployed – Clonezilla to physical hardware if needed

17 4/7/15

Why Virtual (contd.)

n  Standard base configuration across all deployments

n  Capitalize on virtualization features such as •  Snapshots •  Cloning

n  Low “barriers to entry” for users who •  Just want to try the tools quickly •  May be unfamiliar with Linux

18 4/7/15

Is it right for Me?

n  Are you looking for a very convenient way to deploy network monitoring tools?

n  Need a quick / easy evaluation of the tools provided?

n  What is the size of your intended deployment?

n  Need a non-production copy of the tools for development / testing / lab / learning / practice?

19 4/7/15

Is it right for Me? (contd.)

n  Utilizing syslog to receive messages from an extensive number of devices?

n  Utilizing syslog to receive messages from high message volume devices (firewalls)?

n  Plan to use NDT / IPERF for tests > 100Mbps?

n  Plan to use live packet / flow capture functions of TSHARK, NTOP, or NTOPNG?

20 4/7/15

Acquisition Methods

n  Download OVA file from Google Drive link provided

n  Download Clonezilla image from Google Drive link provided for physical hardware

n  Request CNE assistance for deployment

n  Request during Network Health Assessment (we will provide your Assessment tool configurations)

n  Utilize MCNC CNE Probe Build Service

21 4/7/15

Google Drive Download

n  Both OVA and Clonezilla Images available

n  Quick Start and Clonezilla Guides available

n  Link + QR is on back of my business card

n  http://goo.gl/8mZjEZ

22 4/7/15

VIRTUALBOX DEPLOYMENT DEMO

Probe Virtual Appliance

23 4/7/15

WEBUI + TOOLS DEMO Probe Virtual Appliance

24

Contact Information

n  For this project: •  Bradley Stevens, MCNC Client Network Engineer •  (919) 213-0450 (Google Voice) •  bstevens@mcnc.org

n  MCNC Client Network Engineering: •  cne@mcnc.org

25

Q&A Probe Virtual Appliance

26 4/7/15