Avaya ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool ELAT manual

ExpertNet™ Lite Assessment Tool User Guide May 2008[...]

© 2008 Avaya Inc. All rights reserved. Notice While reasonable effo rts were made to ensure th at the information in this document was complete and accurate at the time of printing, Avay a Inc. can assu me no liability for any erro rs. Changes and corrections to the information in this document ma y be incorporated in future releases. Documentatio[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 1 About this guide This guide is intended for BusinessP ar tners and A va ya As sociates using the ExpertNet ™ Lit e Assessment T ool (ELA T) for the first time. It describes how to get started and how to use ELA T for customers pu rchasing an IP T elephony solution that requires an IP Network R eadine[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 2 ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool Architecture ● ExpertNet ™ Lit e Assessment T ool Controller – Runs on a PC to measure dela y and packet los s and to produce a dataset. ● Av ay a T raffic Simulator – A remote agent th at is deployed on various PCs on the customer network to work with the ELA T[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 3 Requirements for ELAT Controller Hardware ● Standard IBM PC -compatibl e ● Intel x86 CPU or compatible, Pent ium 1Ghz performance ● 512MB of RAM for Windows XP ● 3GB free disk space. Operating System ● Windows XPTM Professional Edition with Service Pack 2 ● .Net framework 2.0 preferable. Ne[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 4 Installing ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool Controller Before installing ELA T , please ensure that all PCs on which ELA T will be installed are set up as follows: ● Disable screen savers. ● Disable any time synchronization services. ● Check the Power control panel and disabl e an y options that ma[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 5 Install the Controller Download the ELA T Controller (a 40Mb binary file) from http://support.av ay a.com . The installation typic ally takes less than 5 minutes. F or more detail about ins talling the Controller , refer to Appendix A: Installing the Controller and T est Agents . Launch the Program Aft[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 6 Configuring the ELAT Controller T o run the ELA T Controller Co nfigur ation wizard , select Configuration > Modify Configuration . Y ou can review all the parameters and accept the defaults or change any par ameter as per your network needs. The most frequent ly modified parameters are: ● Data Co[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 7 * Default v alues for these fields shoul d never be changed. Step 2: Network Discovery Options Each tim e th e user selec t s Network Paths > Discover Paths menu ite m from ELA T’ s main menu, the ED T tool discov ers the network and leaves behind a topology file. (The defaul t location is C:Docu[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 8 Step 2.1: Location to Start Network Discovery Steps 2.1 and 2.2 will only display if yo u select ed the Discover T opology option. Discover Topology Select this option if you want th e Controll er to discover network topology from scratch. Steps 2.1 an d 2.2 in the Configuration Wizard are enabled. You[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 9 Step 2.2: Parts of Network to Discover Step 3: SNMP Read Community Strings Re ad Community string s are used to retrieve SNMP data from the customer network. Without the community strings we cannot retr ieve retri eve pe rfor man ce cr iteri a (C PU, interface) from devices. If your customer does not w[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 10 If the customer is not willing to allow this lev el of access you can proceed without read community strings. Performance c riteria data will not be collected. Add the appropriate SNMP read community strings, and prioritize using Move Up and Move Down buttons. S e le ct the Prompt for a community stri[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 11 Step 4: SNMP Settings On this page you ca n set v alues for S NMP requests sent on th e ne tw ork. These settings r arely need to be changed. Poll Interval of Single Node Poll interval defines the interval fo r sending SNMP requests to a singl e node on the network. The default Poll Interval is 120 se[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 12 Step 5: Ping Settings On this page y ou have the option to change the default setti ngs for Ping tests run on the network. Again, these setting s r arely need to be modified. Average Number of Polls/Sec Determines the frequency of sending ping probes to the network. The default settin g is 1 ping per [...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 13 Step 6: RTP General Configuration On this page you hav e the option to change the default settings for R TP tests run on the network. All R TP t ests that are added automaticall y will use these settings. Y ou can manually add further R TP tests with different settings when the Wizard settings are con[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 14 Step 7: RTP Ports Configuration In this page y ou must configure the port se tti ngs that will be used against the test agents. RTP Ports Range Defines the starting port for the rang e of ports whi ch can be used for RTP tests. The typical range for RTP te st s used by Avaya is 204 8 to 339 0, but any[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 15 Install and Configure the Avaya Traffic Simulator Installing the Avaya traffic Simulator Install the A va ya T raffic Simulator on each remote endpoin t you want to tes t. Eac h remote endpoint MUST be on the same V oic e VLAN on which the V oIP equipment wi ll be eventually installed. Each T raffic S[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 16 Adding RTP Tests and Ping Tests - Populating the Network Paths View Add RTP Tests About RTP Paths An RTP path is a route from the ELA T controller to an edge PC that has the Av ay a T r affic Simulator installed. R TP paths can opt ionally be tr acerouted. As metrics are collected for R T P paths, the[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 17 TProtocolSelect a traceroute protocol to be used to discov er int ermediate r outers on To Endpoint Select an endpoint t o which the RTP te st is to be created. If Traffic Simulators are co nnected and registe red with the Control ler, they will be available in the drop-down menu for use in making new[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 18 Add Ping Tests About Ping Paths A ping path is a route from the ELA T control ler to any edge device. Ping paths may optionally be tr acerouted. Like R TP paths, if Ping paths are t rac erou ted, the routers discovered are represented in the P ath Details View for an y selected path . In this displa y[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 19 To Endpoint Ho s t n a m e o r I P ad d r e s s of a d e v ic e t h a t y o u w a n t t o b e a n ed g e d e vi c e of the new ping test path. Protocol Select a protocol to discover and ping this path. UDP is the recommended protocol. Path Tracerouting Check this box if you want to use tr aceroute to [...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 20 Understanding the Network Paths View All of the Network P aths or T ests that you ha ve created are added in t he Network Paths view . The icon at the beginning of each row indicates the type of t est. The icons display in red for fai led tests. The rema i ni ng columns contain further information abo[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 21 R TP tests offer more complex settings than ping tests and it maybe worthwhile having multiple tests to the same endpoint wit h di fferent settings to see whether there is an impact on the metrics gathered. See “T roubleshooting” on page 35 for more information about R TP tests. Ping Tests The fol[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 22 When ELA T completes the data collection, it will upload the dataset automatically to the FTP server as configured in the Confi gu ration Wizard. DSCP (Diffe rentiated Services Code Poi n t) This column is useful for dete rmining DSCP problems on the network. The DSCP is shown in a slash notation. The[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 23 Verify the Tests When all of the tests y ou w ant to run are co nfigured you should v erify them to ensu re that they can be run successfully . It is espe cially i mportant to verify all R TP tests at least once as you may hav e firewall and port related issues when the tests are started. Any failur e[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 24 Begin Data Collection At this point the Network P aths View should be populat ed with tests that prov ide a good cover age of your network, and a ll of these tests should be verified. Every ping test will collect ra w Round T rip Time (R T T) data for all ingres s interfaces on the path. Every R TP te[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 25 When the tool is fini shed running a di alog will displa y giving you the option to upload the gathered data so that a re port can be gener ated. Click OK to uplo ad. If the automatic upload fails for an y reason, you can you the Upload button to try again, or email the dataset to the EL A T support t[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 26 Avaya Associates Av a y a Associates should then access the ExpertNet Lite web server and download their report. F or further information see Appendix C: A va ya Associates: Downloading the Re port . Avaya BusinessPartners BusinessP artners will receive an email with en crypted version of their report[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 27 Analyzing the Report Reports are gener ated in R TF format and can be viewed and edited in Microsoft W ord. All reports contain the following sections: ● Introduction to Av ay a Basic Assess ment report ● Executiv e Summary ● Background on data ● Series of charts ● Performance summary – en[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 28 Overview Graphs ● Overview chart is av aila bl e per path or target ● Delay and Jitter hav e maximum, aver age, and minimum val ues-max and min are only in the overview chart ● Aver age is over a 10 minute period[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 29 QoS Graphs Separate gr aphs displa ying Delay Jitter and L oss are av ailable for each target.[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 30 SNMP Data If SNMP access to routers is enabled, and read community strings are available gr aphs displaying performance criteria will also be available. 1 . 1. This feature is only available for Cisco Routers, Caju n, Extrem e, 3Com, Xylogics devices at this time.[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 31[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 32 Troubleshooting Q: My customer does not want to give us the community string. Is there a workaround to not giving Avaya or its representatives the community string(s)? A: With out the c ommunity s trings we cann ot retrieve performance criteri a (CPU, interface) from devices. A workaround is to ask th[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 33 Q: Why is there no CPU utiliz ation for one of my routers? A: There are sever al reasons why CPU is not being reported: ● CPU is supported for some (not all) d evices manufactured by 3Com, A v ay a, Cisco, Extreme, and X ylogics. ● Older devices may not support SNMP ● The community string was no[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 34 Q: Where are the log files stored? C:/Progr am Files/A vay a/ELA T/logs Q: Can I use network de vice s as endpoints of a path? A: No, y ou should avoid using network devi ces if at all possible as endpoints. There are sever al reasons why this should be a voided: ● The goal of ELA T is to measure th[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 35 devices, cpuUtilization for X ylogic). Interface util ization is retrieved from stand ard MIB2 (ifInOctects, ifOutOctets , ifInDiscard, ifOutDiscards). If if XT able extension MIB is supported on a device, high-precision va lues ifHCInO c te cts and ifHCO u tOctets are retrieved instead of if InOctets[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 36 Q: How does the thro ttling mechanism work? A: The throttling mechanism is separ ate for ping and SNMP polling. F or SNMP , configuration wizard in "Step 4: SNMP Settings" exposes P oll Interv al of Single Node[secs] and Maximum T o tal Number of Po lls/Sec par ameters. P oll interv al defin[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 37 ● Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTE MCurre ntControl SetServices T cpipPar amet ers EnableICMPR edirect and then set th e v al ue of this parameter to 0. Q: The Traffic Simulator is on a mach ine with dynamic IPs and its IP keeps changing. A: The ELA T Contro ller identifies the T raffi c Si[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 38 Appendix A: Installing the Controller and Test Agents Installing the ExpertNet™ Li te Assessment Tool Controller 1. Double-click on the instal ler icon 2. Click Next. 3. The license agreement is presented. Accept the agreement and click Next. 4. K eep the default v alues and click Next to install al[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 39 Server port from the default val ue of 80 you need to na vigate to http:// <controller_ip_address>:<port_number> NOTE: T o find the IP address of the PC open t he Control Panel > Network Connections > LAN Area Connection dialog and open the Su pport tab . 3. On the pa ge that display[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 40 6. On this page enter the IP Address or hos tname of the Controller and click Next. 7. Enter the install loca ti on, use the default instal l location and click Next. 8. Y o u are now ready to begi n the in s tal l ati on . Click Next . 9. Click Close. The machine’s network co nnection will be momen[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 41 Appendix B: Firewall Configuration If you hav e installed A v a ya Exp ertNet Lite Assessment T ool or A v ay a T raffic Simulator on a computer with a firewall installed, you ma y find that R TP tests fail. This may be due to the test data being d iscarded by the fi rewall. Y ou may configure common [...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 42 To configure PC-Cillin Internet Security: 1. Open PC -Cillin Internet Security 2. Click Network Security along the left side. 3. Click Edit . 4. From the Personal Firewall Profile window, open the Exception Lis t . 5. Click Add . 6. Enter the following inform ati on in the appropriate fields: ● Desc[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 43 Appendix C: Avaya Associates: Downloading the Report Download Report Once the dataset is uploaded, y ou will be able to view and analyz e the data by generating a rep ort. 1. Click on ExpertNet™ Li te Home li nk. Then click the View Datasets link. 2. Click on Downl oad for the appropriate Customer I[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 44 Generate and Download Custom Reports A custom report that ex cludes certain targets or paths can also be gener ated. 1. Select the Generate link in the Custom R eport column on the View Datasets page. 2. Y ou will be presented with a gr ap hical representation of the paths. 3. Select or de select th e[...]

ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guid e 45 Glossary End of Document ExpertNet™ Lite Assessme nt Tool A tool designed to assess whether a customer network is ready to support V oIP calls ExpertNet™ Discover y Tool Internet Protocol discovery , visualization, analysis and disply tool, bundled with the ExpertNet™ Lite Assessment T ool and n[...]