Data Center Real User Monitoring

Transcription

1 Data Center Real User Monitoring Integration with Cisco NAM Getting Started Release 12.1

2 Please direct questions about Data Center Real User Monitoring or comments on this document to: APM Customer Support FrontLine Support Login Page: Copyright 2013 Compuware Corporation. All rights reserved. Unpublished rights reserved under the Copyright Laws of the United States. U.S. GOVERNMENT RIGHTS-Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in Compuware Corporation license agreement and as provided in DFARS (a) and (a) (1995), DFARS (c)(1)(ii) (OCT 1988), FAR (a) (1995), FAR , or FAR (ALT III), as applicable. Compuware Corporation. This product contains confidential information and trade secrets of Compuware Corporation. Disclosure is prohibited without the prior express written permission of Compuware Corporation. Use of this product is subject to the terms and conditions of the user's License Agreement with Compuware Corporation. Documentation may only be reproduced by Licensee for internal use. The content of this document may not be altered, modified or changed without the express written consent of Compuware Corporation. Compuware Corporation may change the content specified herein at any time, with or without notice. All current Compuware Corporation product documentation can be found at Compuware, FrontLine, Network Monitoring, Synthetic Monitoring, Server Monitoring, Transaction Trace Analysis, Compuware APM, VantageView, Compuware APM, Real-User Monitoring First Mile, and Gomez Performance Network are trademarks or registered trademarks of Compuware Corporation. Cisco is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. Internet Explorer, Outlook, SQL Server, Windows, Windows Server, and Windows Vista are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Firefox is a trademark or registered trademark of Mozilla Foundation. Red Hat and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. J2EE, Java, and JRE are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. VMware is a trademark or registered trademark of VMware, Inc. SAP and SAP R/3 are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG. Adobe Reader is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Build: August 5, 2013, 11:13

3 Contents Contents Introduction Who Should Read This Guide Organization of the Guide Related Publications Customer Support Information Reporting a Problem Chapter 1 Using Cisco Network Analysis Module in Data Center Real User Monitoring Chapter 2 Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring Chapter 3 Configuring CAS to Receive Data from NAM Chapter 4 Attaching Cisco Network Analysis Module to RUM Console Chapter 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS Configuring NAM Configuring NAM Chapter 6 Attaching NAM to CAS Chapter 7 Scalability and Capacity Considerations Chapter 8 Using NAM to Report Voice and Video Statistics in DCRUM Chapter 9 Using NAM to Report Optimized WAN Statistics in DCRUM Chapter 10 Basic Differences Between AMD and Cisco NAM Statistics Appendix A Known Restrictions in NAM Integration

4 Contents 4

5 INTRODUCTION Who Should Read This Guide This guide is intended for users of Data Center Real User Monitoring, who want to leverage their Cisco NAM devices as performance data collectors. Organization of the Guide The guide is organized as follows: Using Cisco Network Analysis Module in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 9] Is an overview of how to use Cisco Network Analysis Module (Cisco NAM) in DCRUM and what devices are supported. Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11] Lists issues that should be taken into consideration before deploying Cisco NAM as a data collector. Configuring CAS to Receive Data from NAM [p. 13] Describes how to configure CAS to collect data from Cisco NAM devices. Attaching Cisco Network Analysis Module to RUM Console [p. 17] Describes how to attach a Cisco NAM to RUM Console. Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS [p. 19] Describes how to configure a Cisco NAM to produce data suitable for DCRUM. Attaching NAM to CAS [p. 27] Describes how to logically assign a Cisco NAM to your CAS. Scalability and Capacity Considerations [p. 29] Lists considerations on scalability and capacity of the solution. Using NAM to Report Voice and Video Statistics in DCRUM [p. 31] Discusses differences between voice and video metric in Cisco NAM and AMD. Using NAM to Report Optimized WAN Statistics in DCRUM [p. 33] Describes how to use Cisco NAM in optimized WAN environments. 5

6 Introduction Basic Differences Between AMD and Cisco NAM Statistics [p. 35] Discusses basic differences between data provided by AMD and Cisco NAM. Known Restrictions in NAM Integration [p. 39] Lists known restrictions in using Cisco NAM in DCRUM. Related Publications Documentation for your product is distributed on the product media. For DCRUM, it is located in the \Documentation directory. It can also be accessed from the Media Browser. You can also access online documentation for Compuware products via our FrontLine support site at FrontLine provides fast access to information about your Compuware products. You can download documentation and FAQs as well as browse, ask questions, and get answers on user forums (requires subscription). The first time you access FrontLine, you are required to register and obtain a password. Registration is free. PDF files can be viewed with Adobe Reader version 7 or later. If you do not have the Reader application installed, you can download the setup file from the Adobe Web site at Customer Support Information FrontLine Support Website You can access information for Compuware products via our FrontLine support site. You can review frequently asked questions, read or download documentation, access product fixes, or your questions or comments. The first time you access FrontLine, you are required to register and obtain a password. Registration is free. To access FrontLine, log in to Select your product from the Product Support dropdown list. Contacting Customer Support Phone USA and Canada: or All other countries: Contact your local Compuware office. Contact information is available at Web You can report issues via the Report and Track Calls tab on the FrontLine home page. NOTE Please report all high-priority issues by phone. APM Community You can find product documentation, forums with product experts, product fixes and more information at the Compuware APM Community. You must register and login to access the Community. 6

7 Introduction Mail Customer Support Compuware Corporation One Campus Martius Detroit, MI Corporate Website To access the Compuware website, go to The Compuware site provides a variety of product and support information. Reporting a Problem When contacting APM Customer Support, please provide as much information as possible about your environment and the circumstances that led to the difficulty. You should be ready to provide: Client number. This number is assigned to you by Compuware and is recorded on your sales contract. The version number of the AMD, report servers, and RUM Console with RUM Console Server. Report Server Use the report server GUI by selecting Help Product Information About, or Tools Diagnostics System Status. AMD In RUM Console, navigate to Devices and Connections Manage Devices, select an AMD from the devices list and read the version. RUM Console and RUM Console Server Use the RUM Console GUI by selecting Help About menu item. TCAM Use the TCAM GUI by selecting Help About menu item. Environment information, such as the operating system and release (including service pack level) on which the product (AMD, report server) is installed, memory, hardware/network specifications, and the names and releases of other applications that were running. Problem description, including screen captures. Exact error messages, if any (screen captures recommended). Whether or not the problem is reproducible. If it is, include a sequence of steps for problem recreation. If it is not, include a description of the actions taken before the problem occurred. A description of the actions that may have been taken to recover from the problem, and their results. Debug information for specific components obtained from RUM Console. 7

8 Introduction Information about the RUM Console itself. To export all the information, navigate to Help Export Console Diagnostics in the RUM Console menu. Information about the report servers. To export the information for a specific ADS or CAS, navigate to Devices and Connections Manage Devices, and choose Export diagnostic information from the context menu of the particular device. Include data collector diag. Option to include diagnostic information on data collectors attached to the report server. Installation logs Option to include installation information logged and saved on the server. SQL trace logs Option to include trace logs of SQL queries. Save as Destination path and filename for the diagnostic package file. Information about the AMD. To export the information for a specific AMD, navigate to Devices and Connections Manage Devices, and choose Export diagnostic information from the context menu of the particular device. Include data files Option to include fragments of traffic data. Begin and End Time range of the monitoring data to be included with the diagnostics. Data file filter (RegEx) Regular expression filter for monitoring data files generated during the defined time range. Save as Destination path and filename for the diagnostic package file. Information from the TCAM System Event log of the machine where the TCAM is operating. TCAM logs which by default are stored in C:\ProgramData\Compuware\VTCAM for Windows Server 2008 and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Compuware\VTCAM for Windows Server NOTE Please compress all the files before sending them to Customer Support. Compuware values your comments and suggestions about the Compuware APM products and documentation. Your feedback is very important to us. If you have questions or suggestions for improvement, please let us know. 8

9 CHAPTER 1 Using Cisco Network Analysis Module in Data Center Real User Monitoring CAS report servers can accept performance data from data collectors of type Cisco Network Analysis Module (NAM), version 4.2 or later. The devices must be configured and assigned to the report servers, using RUM Console in a similar way as for other types of devices. Configuring data monitoring options on a NAM device can be performed either before or after arranging for the device to be recognized by a RUM Console. Note, however, that the RUM Console provides an option to view NAM data sources or to connect to a NAM Web Console. It may therefore be convenient to follow the order given below: 1. Familiarize yourself with time synchronization and performance issues when using Cisco Network Analysis Module in Data Center Real User Monitoring. Knowledge of these concepts will enable you to choose correct values for configuration parameters. For more information, see Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. 2. Configure the time interval at which CAS should interrogate NAM devices and at which it should generate its own data records. For more information, see Configuring CAS to Receive Data from NAM [p. 13]. 3. Attach the NAM to the RUM Console. For more information, see Attaching Cisco Network Analysis Module to RUM Console [p. 17]. 4. Configure the NAM devices to generate data readable by CAS. For more information, see Configuring NAM 5 [p. 24]. 5. Attach the NAM devices to the CAS installation. For more information, see Attaching NAM to CAS [p. 27]. Alternatively, you can configure your NAM first, as a separate task, by accessing it independently of the RUM Console. 9

10 Chapter 1 Using Cisco Network Analysis Module in Data Center Real User Monitoring NOTE A NAM can list many data sources, but they do not all have to be used by the report servers that collect data from the NAM. When you attach a NAM to the CAS, you specify which of the available data sources should be used by the report server. The same NAM can supply data to a number of CAS installations and each one can use different data sources. For more information, see Attaching NAM to CAS [p. 27]. After you have attached your NAM to the RUM Console, the options to view NAM data sources and to access the NAM's Web Console, can be found in the context menu in the Devices view: To open the Web Console for a NAM, right-click the NAM in the Devices list and select Open Cisco NAM Web Console. To list the data sources currently defined for the NAM device, select Open Cisco NAM Data Sources. Supported NAM appliances The devices tested to work with CAS include: NAM-2220 NAM-2204 NAM-2x NAM-2 NAM-1x NAM-1 NME-NAM-80S NEM-NAM-120S WAVE-574 WAVE

11 CHAPTER 2 Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring There are a number of configuration and reporting issues that are specific to using Cisco Network Analysis Module in Data Center Real User Monitoring. 1. Clock (time) synchronization between NAM and CAS This is one of the configuration steps described in Configuring NAM 5 [p. 24]. 2. Eliminating jitter in reported traffic statistics Jitter can be caused by CAS creating its own data monitoring records from data received for a variable number of NAM report intervals. While the average effect is still the same, the actual data is reported with a large jitter. To avoid jitter, correct dependencies must be maintained between the following parameters: the length of the monitoring interval used by CAS the length of the report interval used by NAM the length of the interval at which CAS interrogates NAM The recommended dependencies are as follows: In most cases the length of the report interval used by NAM should be equal to the length of the report interval used by CAS. If there is a danger of data duplication (see below), the length of the report interval used by NAM should be reduced to fit an integer number of times within the length of the report interval used by CAS. However, care should be taken not to reduce it too much, else other problems may occur; see other dependencies. The length of the interval at which CAS interrogates NAM should fit an integer number of times (two or more) within the length of the report interval used by CAS. Two is the recommended value and, care should be taken not to reduce the interrogation interval too much, else other problems may occur; see other dependencies. The length of the interval at which CAS interrogates NAM should be less than the length of the report interval used by NAM. The difference between the two values should allow sufficient time for data to be generated by and delivered from NAM to CAS. This, in practice, is at least 20 seconds, but often more. 11

12 Chapter 2 Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring Therefore, for cases where there is no danger of data duplication: Configure the report interval on NAM to be equal to the monitoring interval configured for CAS: The default value is 5 minutes. Configure CAS to interrogate NAM at intervals of half that length, that is 2.5 minutes. 3. Reducing data duplication errors in scenarios where there is more than one NAM or AMD device, and some of the traffic is monitored by more than one device Data duplication can occur for two reasons: The same traffic being recognized as a differently named service (application), by two different monitoring devices Traffic for the same service (application) name, being counted twice by the report server The first type of data duplication can be avoided by ensuring that names used by AMD devices for monitored services, agree with the application names used by NAM devices. The second type of data duplication between AMD devices is resolved automatically within Data Center Real User Monitoring. However, some duplication may occur if the same traffic is being monitored by a number of different NAMs. This error can, however, be reduced by reducing the length of the report interval for all the NAM devices involved. The duplication error will then, on average, be less than half of the NAM report interval. Therefore, if there is a danger of data duplication, you should reduce the size of the report interval for NAM and the length of the interval at which CAS interrogates NAM, in such a way that the dependencies and conditions described in Item 2 [p. 11] are preserved. 4. Precedence of reporting between traffic monitored by AMD and NAM In cases where data duplication occurs between AMD and NAM, CAS will automatically attempt data de-duplication, and then will award priority to data received from AMD. 5. Ensuring reliable network delay measurements For NAM devices, all transactions with response time larger than configured RspTimeMax will be considered slow. Because NAM does not report network delay (RTT) for slow responses, setting this value too low may disturb network delay measurements. Setting an appropriate value of RspTimeMax is one of the steps configuring described in Configuring NAM 5 [p. 24]. 6. Performing reliable bandwidth usage measurements Note that for client bytes and server bytes, NAM reports only the TCP payload and does not report TCP header size or size of any headers below the TCP layer. Therefore the reported bandwidth usage will appear lower by that value, as compared to the value reported by AMDs, which include header sizes. For example, for TCP/IP over Ethernet, the combined size of all the headers will be 54 bytes per packet, and the reported number of bytes transferred will not include this value. 12

13 CHAPTER 3 Configuring CAS to Receive Data from NAM CAS can accept data from different sources, including Cisco NAM. However, NAM is not a DCRUM component, so CAS must be configured to work with NAM and to know how to interpret the data. Before You Begin You should familiarize yourself with issues related to time synchronization and performance as described in Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. An understanding of these concepts will enable you to choose appropriate values for the corresponding configuration parameters. You need to have administrative rights to perform configuration steps on the CAS. A set of properties must be tuned to acquire meaningful results in the reports. These properties are accessed on the User properties screen. To access User properties, type: in the Web browser's Address bar and press [Enter]. The User properties screen enables you to view and modify a large number of report server settings. Select the required setting, enter the required value, and click Set value. To configure CAS to receive data from NAM: 1. Optional: Configure the length of the interval at which CAS will interrogate NAM appliances. Choosing a value: Use the default value of 150 seconds (2.5 minutes) if the NAM report interval is set to 5 minutes, as it normally would be in situations where it is supplying data to CAS and there is no danger of data duplication. To reduce jitter in reported data, the length of the interval at which CAS interrogates NAM should fit two or more times within the length of the report interval used by CAS. For information on how to check or modify the value of the NAM report interval, see Configuring NAM 5 [p. 24]. 13

14 Chapter 3 Configuring CAS to Receive Data from NAM For a discussion on advisable report interval values, see Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. The corresponding configuration parameter (NAM_GET_FILE_PERIOD) can be accessed in CAS on the User properties screen. 2. Optional: Configure CAS monitoring interval. Choosing a value: If CAS is also receiving data from one or more AMD devices, the interval at which it will generate its data records will be taken from the AMDs. If only NAM appliances are connected, however, you may need to explicitly set the length of the interval or leave it at the default value of 5 minutes. The corresponding configuration parameter (NAM_ZDATA_PERIOD) can also be modified on the User properties screen. 3. Optional: Enable AMD and NAM traffic deduplication. Choosing a value: If AMD and Cisco NAM monitor the same traffic and the same CAS receives data for software services from these devices, the mechanism for deduplication built in to the report server can be enabled. Use NAM_AMD_DEDUPLICATION_VALID_TIME, which you can access on the User properties screen. This property sets the number of minutes for which the report server will retain a record of those software service sessions that have been reported by AMDs. During this time, matching sessions reported by Cisco NAM devices will be marked as duplicate and discarded. You should set this feature to three times the size of the monitoring interval (in minutes). A value of zero disables the deduplication mechanism. You must restart the server to put your changes into effect. 4. Optional: Synchronize DCRUM service names with NAM application names. If the same traffic is monitored by AMD devices and NAMs, to avoid data duplication you should ensure that the service names defined for the AMDs are the same as the application names used by NAMs. The software services and NAM application mapping is configurable by NAM_APPLICATION_MAPPING property on the User properties screen. By default, mapping is turned off. The property has three values: off No mapping is effective, NAM application and software service names are mixed and duplication can occur when AMD and NAM monitor the same traffic. cisco-to-cpwr NAM application names take precedence and all software service names will be given NAM application names as defined in the mapping file. 14

15 Chapter 3 Configuring CAS to Receive Data from NAM cpwr-to-cisco Software service names take precedence and all NAM application names will be renamed to software service names as defined in the mapping file. You must restart the report server to put your changes into effect. To synchronize application names reported by NAM appliances and software service names monitored by AMDs, the CAS uses a configuration file stored on the report server's hard disk in the config directory (for example: <install_dir>\config). The cisco-application-map.properties file contains a mapping of NAM application names to software service names. Each line is a pair of the form: cisco\u0020app\u0020name=compuware software service name where the spaces on the left side of the equation must be replaced by the string \u0020. The strings are not case sensitive. You do not need to restart server after changing this file. Example 1. Sample NAM application names to software service names mapping Cisco=Compuware Cisco\u0020name=Compuware name For information on how to define service names on DCRUM, see Basic Monitoring Configuration in the Data Center Real User Monitoring Web Application Monitoring User Guide. 15

16 Chapter 3 Configuring CAS to Receive Data from NAM 16

17 CHAPTER 4 Attaching Cisco Network Analysis Module to RUM Console You can attach a NAM device to RUM Console using the standard Data Center Real User Monitoring procedure for attaching a data collecting device. For more information, see Adding Devices in RUM Console in the Data Center Real User Monitoring Administration Guide. Note that: You should leave the Secondary IP Address for this Device field empty. The device type you select should be Cisco NAM. After specifying connection details, you need to click Next to proceed to SNMP connection parameters. There you need to enter the read community name and the port number to be used for SNMP communication. This step is mandatory for devices of type NAM. 17

18 Chapter 4 Attaching Cisco Network Analysis Module to RUM Console 18

19 CHAPTER 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS Before the NAM can supply data that is readable by Data Center Real User Monitoring, you must configure some basic NAM settings. To choose the right values in NAM configuration procedure, you should be familiar with issues related to time synchronization and performance as described in Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. Depending on the version of the NAM attached to CAS perform the following procedures: Configuring NAM 5 [p. 24] Configuring NAM 4.2 [p. 19] Configuring NAM 4.2 Before You Begin To choose the right values in this procedure, you should be familiar with issues related to time synchronization and performance as described in Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. You can designate any user account on your NAM device as the user who CAS will ask for data. This user needs to be granted the Monitor Config privilege so that the special Application host table is available to the NAM and so non-tcp data can be read from it. 19

20 Chapter 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS Figure 2. Enabling Collection Config privilege on NAM 1. Open the NAM Web Console. You can connect to your NAM directly by using a browser to open the devices' Web console. Alternatively, if you have already added the NAM to your RUM Console, you can use the context menu in the console's Devices view and select to open the NAM Console from there: right-click the NAM listed in the Devices view and select Open Cisco NAM Web Console. 2. Configure the NAM report interval length. a. Select the Response Time Monitoring Setup screen Setup Monitor Response Time Configuration and define the Report Interval value to match the length of the monitoring interval used by the CAS installation you will be connecting to. If data duplication is possible because traffic is being monitored by more than one NAM or AMD, you may need to set NAM report intervals to lower values, though this may degrade performance. It is also important that report interval for the NAM is an integer and that the CAS monitoring interval be a multiple of the NAM report interval. For more information, see Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. If data duplication is possible because traffic is being monitored by more than one NAM or AMD, you may need to set NAM report intervals to lower values, though this may degrade performance. It is also important that report interval for the NAM is an integer and that the CAS monitoring interval be a multiple of the NAM report interval. For more information, see Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. b. Make sure Refresh Interval is set to the same value as report interval. Select Setup Preferences Refresh Interval to change this value. 3. Configure NAM response times. Select the Response Time Monitoring Setup screen Setup Monitor Response Time Configuration and set the maximum response time (RspTimeMax). All transactions with response time larger than this value will be considered slow. Note setting this value too low may disturb network delay measurements because the NAM does not 20

21 Chapter 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS report network delay (RTT) or other time-related metrics, except for transaction time, for slow transactions. 4. Define NAM collections for Response Time monitoring. Data Center Real User Monitoring obtains data from NAM Response Time monitoring. Therefore, for the data to be available in Data Center Real User Monitoring, collections for Response Time monitoring have to be configured on the NAM device and their data sources indicated. Data Center Real User Monitoring obtains data from NAM Response Time monitoring. Therefore, for the data to be available in Data Center Real User Monitoring, collections for Response Time monitoring have to be configured on the NAM device and their data sources indicated. On the NAM, go to Setup Monitor Response Time Monitoring to check whether any collections are currently created for Response Time monitoring. Create new collections for the traffic you want to monitor. 5. Configure data sources. Go to Setup Monitor Response Time Monitoring and ensure all data sources that will be used by CAS and marked as report server's data sources in RUM Console are visible. If a data source is missing: a. Click Create. The Response Time Collection Configuration dialog box opens. b. From the Data source list, select the data source (for example, DATA PORT 1) that you want to add. c. Set the Max Table Entries value to Max Possible. d. Click Submit to confirm your changes. e. Repeat these steps as necessary for the remaining data sources. Go to Setup Monitor Core Monitoring and select Conversations statistics (Network & Application layers) for each of the data sources that you are going to monitor. This setting ensures that the tables exported from NAM to CAS will not be empty. By default, the number of entries is limited, so you will not see all traffic on the reports. If you want to monitor all traffic, you must select Max Possible as the number of entries for conversations. Note, however, that this may lead to performance issues, so be prepared to use a lower number here as a compromise (though you will not see all traffic). 6. Required: Ensure conversation statistics are enabled. Go to Setup Monitor Core Monitoring to access Core Monitoring Functions screen. For the ALL SPAN data source select Conversation Statistics (Network & Application layers) and set the value to Max Possible. Selecting this option is necessary for NAM to report bytes statistics to the CAS. 21

22 Chapter 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS Figure 3. Enabling conversation statistics for ALL SPAN data source 7. Specify NAM setup preferences. In NAM setup preferences, in Setup Preferences ensure that: The option to perform IP host resolution is not selected. Data is set to display in Bytes. CSV Export Monitor Entries is set to All. 8. Ensure time synchronization between NAM and CAS. The most reliable way to ensure time synchronization is to synchronize both devices to the same source server. To synchronize the NAM with an external time server, use the configuration options provided in the NAM Console, under Admin System NAM System Time. For information on how to synchronize CAS to an external time server, see Time Synchronization with an External Time Server in the Data Center Real User Monitoring Administration Guide. 9. Verify that NAM Response Time monitoring has been properly configured and can serve as a data source for CAS. To do this, display the Server-Client Application Response Time report on NAM, in Monitor Response Time Response Time. On the report, choose the data source from which you wanted to gather data and verify that the traffic on the report is that which wanted to be read by NAM. Verify also that the report interval, as stated on the report in the Latest Data line at the top of the screen, is of the correct length and agrees with the value used by the CAS installation. You can also check that the report contains more than one screen of data by exporting it to a text file and examining the text file. 10. Ensure that the time interval at which the CAS will interrogate the NAM is appropriate for the report intervals defined on the NAMs. This interval should be less than the report interval defined on the NAM, and the difference between those two times should be at least equal to the time required for data generation 22

23 Chapter 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS and transfer from the NAM to the CAS. For more information, see Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. 11. Optional: Synchronize DCRUM service names with NAM application names. If the same traffic is monitored by AMD devices and NAMs, to avoid data duplication you should ensure that the service names defined for the AMDs are the same as the application names used by NAMs. For information on how to define application names for a NAM, refer to the NAM documentation, and in particular to the Setting Up the Application chapter of the User Guide for the Cisco Network Analysis Module Traffic Analyzer. 12. Optional: Configure NAM to provide voice statistics to DCRUM. a. Ensure voice monitoring is enabled. Go to Setup Monitor Voice Monitoring and see if Enabled is selected. b. For a given data port select Conversation Statistics (Network & Application layers) to enable forwarding voice and video statistics to CAS. Figure 4. Selecting to monitor Conversation Statistics (Network & Application layers) Note that the configured data port must be selected as data source for the CAS in RUM Console. For more information, see Attaching NAM to CAS [p. 27]. 23

24 Chapter 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS Configuring NAM 5 Before You Begin To choose the right values in this procedure, you should be familiar with issues related to time synchronization and performance as described in Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. You can designate any user account on your NAM device as the user who CAS will ask for data. This user needs to be granted the Monitor Config privilege so that the special Application host table is available to the NAM and so non-tcp data can be read from it. Figure 5. Enabling rights on NAM 1. Open the NAM Web Console. You can connect to your NAM directly by using a browser to open the devices' Web console. Alternatively, if you have already added the NAM to your RUM Console, you can use the context menu in the console's Devices view and select to open the NAM Console from there: right-click the NAM listed in the Devices view and select Open Cisco NAM Web Console. 2. Configure the NAM report interval length. Select the Data Aggregation Interval Settings screen Setup Monitoring Aggregation Intervals and define the Short Term Interval values to match the length of the monitoring interval used by the CAS installation you will be connecting to. It is advised that you set both Traffic/Media and Response Time to the same value as on the CAS. If data duplication is possible because traffic is being monitored by more than one NAM or AMD, you may need to set NAM report intervals to lower values, though this may degrade performance. It is also important that report interval for the NAM is an integer and that the CAS monitoring interval be a multiple of the NAM report interval. For more 24

25 Chapter 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS information, see Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. 3. Adjust Refresh Interval. Select Administration Preferences to change Refresh Interval value. Enter the number of seconds equal to your monitoring interval. 4. Define NAM collections for Response Time monitoring. Data Center Real User Monitoring obtains data from NAM Response Time monitoring. Therefore, for the data to be available in Data Center Real User Monitoring, collections for Response Time monitoring have to be configured on the NAM device and their data sources indicated. On the NAM, go to Setup Monitoring Response Time to check whether any collections are currently created for Response Time monitoring. Create new collections for the traffic you want to monitor. 5. Specify NAM setup preferences. In NAM setup preferences, in Administration Preferences ensure that: The option to perform IP host resolution is not selected. Data is set to display in Bytes. International Notation is set to 1, Ensure time synchronization between NAM and CAS. The most reliable way to ensure time synchronization is to synchronize both devices to the same source server. To synchronize the NAM with an external time server, use the configuration options provided in the NAM Console, under Administration System System Time. For information on how to synchronize CAS to an external time server, see Time Synchronization with an External Time Server in the Data Center Real User Monitoring Administration Guide. 7. Ensure that the time interval at which the CAS will interrogate the NAM is appropriate for the report intervals defined on the NAMs. This interval should be less than the report interval defined on the NAM, and the difference between those two times should be at least equal to the time required for data generation and transfer from the NAM to the CAS. For more information, see Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. 8. Optional: Synchronize DCRUM service names with NAM application names. If the same traffic is monitored by AMD devices and NAMs, to avoid data duplication you should ensure that the service names defined for the AMDs are the same as the application names used by NAMs. For information on how to define application names for a NAM, refer to the NAM documentation, and in particular to the Setting Up the Application chapter of the User Guide for the Cisco Network Analysis Module Traffic Analyzer. For more information, see Step 4 [p. 14]. 9. Optional: Configure NAM to provide voice statistics to DCRUM. Go to Setup Monitoring Voice and see if Enable Call Signal Monitoring is selected. 25

26 Chapter 5 Configuring NAM to Generate Data Readable by CAS 26

27 CHAPTER 6 Attaching NAM to CAS After adding a NAM device to the RUM Console, you can use the RUM Console to attach your NAM to a CAS server. The procedure is in part the same as that for adding other data collectors, though some additional steps are required. Before You Begin Attach the NAM device to the RUM Console and configure the NAM to generate data readable by CAS. For more information, see Attaching Cisco Network Analysis Module to RUM Console [p. 17] and Configuring NAM 5 [p. 24]. To attach a NAM to a CAS server: 1. Use the standard Data Center Real User Monitoring procedure for attaching a data collecting device to a report server. Before you save and publish the server configuration, you need to perform an extra step of selecting data sources. 2. Select NAM data sources to be used by CAS. 27

28 Chapter 6 Attaching NAM to CAS NOTE If traffic information for a particular software service is received from a number of data sources, then: Only one data source will be used to generate reports for this service. The data source will be selected alphabetically. 1 Duplicate data for this service, coming from other data sources, will be discarded. This limitation does not apply to link-based reports (reports for individual data sources), which will always report all of the data for each link (data source). Note that the above implies that if a given service is seen on a number links (data sources) because of, for example, load balancing, only one data source will be chosen, resulting in partial loss of data. To select data sources, in the CAS Server Configuration window, right-click the NAM device and use the context menu to perform one of the two possible actions: Select individual data sources: Click Configure Cisco NAM Data Sources to open the Data Sources wizard. Once in the wizard, select which data sources from the device will be used by the report server. Select All Span data source: Click Assign ALL SPAN Cisco NAM Data Source to assign the ALL SPAN data source to the report server. This operation can be performed on a number of selected devices at once. Note that even though ALL SPAN is an aggregate of all the data sources for the device, it is possible to select it and at the same time select other data sources for that device. Above de-duplication rules will then apply. 3. In the CAS Server Configuration window, click Save and continue changing server configuration, or click Save and Publish to save and immediately publish your configuration changes. 1 The order is alphabetical by link alias name, though initially, when new data sources are added to CAS reports, the link names are derived directly from the names of the corresponding data sources. This can subsequently be changed by defining different alias names. 28

29 CHAPTER 7 Scalability and Capacity Considerations CAS capacity depends on the number of monitored sessions (conversations), which are unique combinations of client IP, server IP, port, and URL. It does not depend on the number of the attached data collectors. However, performance problems may occur if data collectors are unable to provide data within sufficient speed or frequency. NOTE The time interval at which CAS will interrogate NAM should be less than the report interval defined on NAM, and the difference between those two times should be at least equal to the time required for data generation and transfer from NAM to CAS. For more information, see Special Considerations for Using NAM in Data Center Real User Monitoring [p. 11]. One of the implication of this limit is that if you are reducing the length of the report interval on a NAM because, for example, you want to reduce data duplication errors, you should not reduce the interval below the value that would conflict with the above requirement. It is recommended that at least 20 seconds be left for a NAM to export its data to a file and make the file available for CAS. 29

30 Chapter 7 Scalability and Capacity Considerations 30

31 CHAPTER 8 Using NAM to Report Voice and Video Statistics in DCRUM Cisco Network Analysis Module can be used to report voice and video data to the Central Analysis Server. You will be able to use voice and video related reports after attaching NAM to the report server. Note that integrating NAM with DCRUM is an extension of the existing functionality, as the CAS is capable of reporting VoIP data monitored by Network Monitoring. This means that if you combine all three solutions the data presented by the CAS reports will be mixed. Note also that if you are using only NAM as voice and video monitoring source you may see empty columns or charts due to limited number of statistics NAM provides. NOTE You should not configure NAM and Network Monitoring Probe to monitor the same VoIP traffic. Should this happen, ensure to configure software service names to indicate which portion of traffic they concern. Do not use identical names in these two products. Differences between NAM and DCRUM terminology The main source for voice and video metrics and dimensions is the NAM RTP Stream Traffic table. To leverage reporting CAS uses statistics provided in other tables as well. Table 1. Mapping of NAM and DCRUM VoIP dimensions NAM Source Addr: Port Dest Addr: Port DCRUM Endpoint host name Endpoint host name Comment The value is changed based on the data acquired form the Known Phones table. The IP address is mapped to phone number. The value is changed based on the data acquired form the Known Phones table. The IP address is mapped to phone number. 31

32 Chapter 8 Using NAM to Report Voice and Video Statistics in DCRUM Table 1. Mapping of NAM and DCRUM VoIP dimensions (continued) NAM Payload Type Status DCRUM Software Service - Comment Names are synchronized based on mapping contained in the CAS dictionary file. For more information, see Step 4 [p. 14]. The status is not directly reported on CAS reports: For active calls (that is the ones that did not end within a given monitoring interval) only bytes and packets are shown. For inactive streams all VoIP metrics are reported. Table 2. Mapping of NAM and DCRUM VoIP metrics NAM Worst MOS Adj Pkt Loss (%) Jitter (ms) - DCRUM MOS VoIP loss rate VoIP Jitter Calls Total bytes Comment Calculated based on merged data for the number of conversations between hosts. A call on DCRUM reports is equal to a conversation between a pair of IP addresses reported by NAM. Additional metrics acquired from other NAM tables. Several voice and video dimensions and metrics are not imported from NAM: Dimensions SSRC Start Time Metrics Act Pkt Loss/million Total SSC Troubleshooting If voice monitoring is enabled ensure also that NAM tables contain the requested data. For example if you cannot see phone numbers on the reports, log in to NAM and verify data in the Known Phones table. If other VoIP statistics are not reported by the CAS make sure they exist in the RTP Stream Traffic table. 32

33 CHAPTER 9 Using NAM to Report Optimized WAN Statistics in DCRUM Cisco Network Analysis Module is capable of reporting WAN optimization data to Data Center Real User Monitoring report server. Data obtained from Cisco NAM will be available in custom reports created in DMI. If you plan to monitor WAN optimization controllers (WOCs) and generate reports of the optimized WAN traffic, the following configuration will allow you to utilize the data gathered by Cisco NAM. The essential part of reporting optimized WAN using NAM data is creating and defining the appropriate data sources. While creating a data source in NAM, make sure that the Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) is selected as a data source type, and the appropriate WAAS segments are selected. The following WAAS segments are available: Client Client WAN Server WAN Server Pass-through Once the Cisco NAM data sources are properly defined, they can be used to present data to Data Center Real User Monitoring report server. You can assign NAM data sources to the report server using the RUM Console. 1. Open the Data Center Real User Monitoring report server configuration in the RUM Console. 2. On the Assigned devices tab, locate the Cisco NAM device assigned to the report server. 33

34 Chapter 9 Using NAM to Report Optimized WAN Statistics in DCRUM NOTE If your Cisco NAM device is not listed, check the list of devices managed by the RUM Console and add the your NAM device to the RUM Console and to the report server configuration. For more information, see Adding Devices in RUM Console in the Data Center Real User Monitoring Administration Guide and Adding and Editing Devices in a Report Server Configuration in the Data Center Real User Monitoring Administration Guide. 3. Right-click the Cisco NAM device and select Configure Cisco NAM Data Sources from the menu. 4. Select appropriate data sources from the Available Cisco NAM Data Sources list and move them to the Assigned Data Sources list. Figure 6. Selecting Cisco NAM data sources for optimized WAN monitoring Adding NAM data sources to Data Center Real User Monitoring report server in order to view the optimized WAN statistics requires selecting at least three WAAS segments defined as Cisco NAM data sources. 5. Click OK to save changes. 34

35 CHAPTER 10 Basic Differences Between AMD and Cisco NAM Statistics The Cisco Network Analysis Module (NAM) is one of the non-amd devices from which the CAS can report monitoring information. NAM statistics appear on the CAS Network, Network View, Software Services View, Link View, and Reporting Groups View. For consistency, the CAS reports NAM measurements with the DCRUM equivalents of NAM metrics where possible. However, not all NAM measurements have DCRUM equivalents, so some NAM data does not appear on CAS reports. Most AMD and NAM metrics are calculated differently, which may result in different metric values provided by the devices. Depending on the data source (NAM or AMD), you may have a metric calculated based on two different algorithms on one CAS report. On Network View, Software Services View, and Reporting Groups View reports, if both devices monitor the same traffic, CAS reports show information coming from AMD only, and not from NAM. On Link View reports, however, statistics from both devices will appear. For traffic that is monitored only by NAM, CAS shows traffic statistics coming directly from NAM, only using DCRUM metric equivalents. Table 3. NAM Metrics and DCRUM Equivalents NAM Number of late responses AMD Slow operations Total number of responses with maximum response time exceeding the predefined threshold. DCRUM equivalent of the NAM metric. Total transaction time Operation time Time (ms) elapsed from the start of a client request to the completion of the server response. DCRUM equivalent of the NAM metric. Number of connections Number of TCP connections (new sessions) made during the monitoring interval. Number of transactions TCP connection attempts DCRUM equivalent of the NAM metric. Operations 35

36 Chapter 10 Basic Differences Between AMD and Cisco NAM Statistics Table 3. NAM Metrics and DCRUM Equivalents (continued) NAM Number of transactions completed during the measurement interval. Client bytes AMD DCRUM equivalent of the NAM metric. Client bytes Number of TCP bytes sent from a client during the The number of bytes sent by the clients. Note that monitoring interval. This metric does not include this includes headers. header bytes. Server bytes Server bytes Number of TCP bytes sent from a server during the The number of bytes sent by servers. The number monitoring interval. This metric does not include includes headers. header bytes. Application delay (average) Server time The average time it takes a server application (for example, a Web server application) to respond to a request. It is the time between the client request arriving at the server application and the first response being returned by the application. This metric does not include measurements from slow responses. The time it took the server to produce a response for the given request. Network delay (average) End-to-end RTT The network round trip (flight time) between a client The time it takes for a SYN packet to travel from and a server through the NAM switch or router. It the client to a monitored server and back again. is equal to the sum of client network delay and server network delay. NAM measures the network delay using TCP 3-way handshakes. If there are no new TCP connections made during the monitoring interval, this metric is not reported. This metric does not include measurements from slow responses. Server network delay (average) Server RTT The network round-trip time between a server and The time it takes for a SYN packet (sent by a user) the NAM switch or router. In WAAS monitoring, to travel from the AMD to a monitored server and Server Network Delay from a Server data source back again. Also provided are minimum, maximum represents the network RTT between the server and and standard deviation values. its core WAE. This metric does not include measurements from slow responses. Client T1 T6 T7 SYN SYN ACK ACK AMD T2 T5 T8 Server RTT Server T3 T4 T9 36