HP OpenView Route Analytics Management System 4.50 / Traffic Analysis Add-On 4.50

Release Notes

Nov 2006

This document provides important information about the Route Analytics Management System (RAMS) Appliance version 4.50 and the Traffic Analysis Add-On 4.50 The information here may not be available elsewhere.

In This Version
Installation Notes
Known Problems, Limitations, and Workarounds
Bug Fixes
Documentation Errata
Support
Legal Notices

In This Version

Traffic Analysis Add-On 4.50

The Traffic Analysis Add-on provides various reports to describe how traffic flows through the network, such as link utilization and traffic distribution by the exit router. In the previous Traffic Analysis version, the reports provided data for a single point in time. In the 4.50 release, you can generate reports on the fly. These reports can cover a custom time range or one of the following predefined ranges:

Last 5 minutes
Last hour
Last 24 hours
Yesterday
Last 7 days
Last week
Last 30 days
Last month
All

A detailed description is given in the RAMS Traffic Analysis User's Guide.

Data from traffic graphs can now be exported by clicking an icon on the graph to copy the data points as x,y coordinates to the clipboard. You can then paste that data into a file for subsequent processing.

Route Analytics Management System 4.50

Version 4.50 of RAMS includes the following new and enhanced features:

Path Reports provide a summary of the paths between routers in a selected topology. It allows you to group the summary by area of interest, for example, asymmetric links, unused links, source routers, and so on. You can also perform a failure analysis to show the impact of failing any single link. For a detailed description, refer to the RAMS User's Guide.
RAMS and the Traffic Analysis Add-On provide you with an option to automatically archive data. The automatic archival of data is done without stopping the recording process or requiring users to log off of the appliance. Additionally, you can choose to archive segments of data on an incremental basis rather than storing an entire database. For a detailed description, refer to the RAMS User's Guide.
Several extensions were added to the IS-IS protocol implementation:
- Support for two-level IS-IS routing (RFC 2966) was added. Routers are designated L1, L2, or L1/L2, and routing is calculated correctly through prefixes that are inserted from level 2 into level 1.
- For OSI (non-IP) IS-IS networks, router NSAP addresses can be displayed on the topology map, in router information panels, and in tables of routers, links, and prefixes.
- Routers with the "Overloaded" flag set are no longer indicated in the down state (red) on the map, but route calculations will still treat those routers as unavailable for transit. The overloaded state is indicated in the router information panel when you right click on the router.
- IS-IS authentication, as specified in RFC 3567, is supported. This includes simple and MD5 authentication with separate passwords for interfaces and for level 1 and level 2 domains.
Layouts are identified by owner so that accidental changes made by one operator will not affect another. All layouts can still be read by any user and can be deleted by administrators. Layouts also now store the following additional information:
- The hidden state of routers that have been manually trimmed (hidden) on the map is stored in the layout so the routers will be hidden again when the topology is opened the next time. The hiding can be toggled on and off.
- If the node size has been adjusted up or down, that size is saved.
- Background images can be applied to a layout. Nodes can then be positioned relative to the image. When the layout is loaded again, the background image is included.
The configuration and diagnostic functions that have previously been available only on the serial console are not accessible via ssh. A new user class, CLI Access, selects the diagnostic shell, rather the normal user interface, when users in that class connect to the appliance with ssh. The diagnostics have also been enhanced with the following:
- The tcpdump diagnostic tool lists the available interfaces (physical and tunnels) and allows you to select one. It also accepts an optional filename parameter and writes to that filename in the /var/ftp directory. This allows users to access the file.
- The ping command lists the available interfaces and takes a source interface selection.
- Show Interface Statistics displays the output of ifconfig (interface configuration).
- Show Process Statistics displays output from the top command to show the processor, memory, and process status.
The status LED icon in the user interface can present a summary that shows the status for peers in addition to the status of the recorder.
The Check For Update button on the Administration user interface Maintenance Software Update page automatically downloads a newer update of the RAMS appliance software if one is available.

Installation Notes

For RAMS or the Traffic Analysis Add-on, consider the following information:

By default, the appliance uses DHCP to obtain its administrative interface address, but we recommend configuring a static address to ensure that the address does not change after the appliance is configured.
You must leave the appliance disconnected from the network when it is first turned on. Configure the static address using the serial console.
When you update from a 3.x software release, the databases are automatically renamed with a "Pre40X" prefix because the database table structure has changed. You can view the older databases, but you cannot record to them.
After you update from 3.x to 4.50, if you revert to the previous software and OS, factory defaults are reset.

For the Traffic Analysis Add-on

The NetFlow sampling ratio should be set appropriately for the traffic level. For a small ISP, a ratio of 4 to 16 may be enough. For a larger, tier-1 ISP, a sampling ratio of 1024 to 2048 is usually good. We recommend that the ratio is not set higher than 8096 to avoid introducing too much inaccuracy.
Make sure that the NetFlow sampling ratio specified in the Flow Recorder configuration matches the sampling ratio that is configured on the exporting routers. The value must be the same on all the exporting routers. If these settings do not match, Traffic Analysis will over-report or under-report the traffic levels. Traffic Analysis does not currently have any means to detect a mismatch on its own.
Traffic Analysis has a NetFlow active flow timeout to detect long-lived flows. HP OpenView recommends that it be set to no more than to 15 minutes and preferably to 1 minute. If the aggregation cache is used, its active timeout must also be similarly set. Exceeding the timeout can cause NetFlow data to be delivered to the Flow Collector too late for aggregation. When this happens, the data is dropped.

Known Problems, Limitations, and Workarounds

When traffic recording or routing for a new domain is started, the Flow Analyzer must be subsequently restarted as well. If it is not restarted, the new data is not read. In addition, if more than 10 minutes elapse while network connectivity between the Flow Analyzer and any recorder is lost, then the Flow Analyzer disconnects from that recorder so it can continue processing data from other recorders. After connectivity is restored or the recorder is restarted, the Flow Analyzer must be restarted to resume including data from that recorder. In a future release, the Flow Analyzer will automatically resynchronize with the recorders.

Bug Fixes

Several bugs were fixed to make the Flow Analyzer is more stable.
A bug that caused the OSPF recorder to become CPU saturated is fixed.
VPN alarms can be cleared with a single click.
Database renaming on an update from 3.x to 4.x left the old names in the database list, causing web report generation to fail.
OSPF recording can now accommodate a change in the area ID of the network being recorded without restarting recording.
SNMP Traps can be sent to multiple destinations by entering addresses separated by colons and the same number of community strings, also separated by colons.
You can create users from the admin web page with names having more than 8 characters.
Syntax errors in the Traffic Analysis Add-on MIB file have been fixed.
The XML-RPC api_list_a_route now returns updated results after a network topology change in the case where the time requested in a query, before and after the change, is in the future. Error results for API queries were inconsistent for repeated queries for the same database.
The callback functionality has been modified so that Tech Support is enabled when Callback is enabled.
You can sort the List of Exporters in the GUI.
Some inconsistencies in the formatting and the data presented in the Daily Report have been fixed.
Only the address that has been designated as Allow Admin on the Network Configuration page is made available for designation as the master address since that is the only one that will work.

Documentation Errata

There are currently no known documentation errors.

Support

Visit the HP OpenView web site at:
http://managementsoftware.hp.com/

This web site provides contact information and details about the products, services, and support that HP OpenView offers.

You can also go directly to the support web site at:
http://support.openview.hp.com/support

HP OpenView online software support provides customer self-solve capabilities. It provides a fast and efficient way to access interactive technical support tools needed to manage your business. As a valuable support customer, you can benefit by being able to:

Search for knowledge documents of interest
Submit and track progress on support cases
Manage a support contract
Look up HP support contacts
Review information about available services
Enter discussions with other software customers
Research and register for software training

NOTE: Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and log in. Many also require an active support contract. To find more information about support access levels, go to the following URL:
http://support.openview.hp.com/access_level.jsp

To register for an HP Passport ID, go to the following URL:
https://passport2.hp.com/hpp/newuser.do

To view release notes and other documentation, complete the following steps:

Click using hp software-->product manuals.

The product manuals search window opens. It is located at:
http://ovweb.external.hp.com/lpe/doc_serv/
In the select product list, click NNM/RAMS Integration Module.
In the select version list, click 4.50.
In the OS list, select the desired OS type.
To start the search, click Open or Download.

NOTE: To view files in PDF format (*.pdf), Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed on your system. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to the following URL:
http://www.adobe.com/

Legal Notices

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.