Packet capture in high-speed and data center networks

Full Speed Ahead
Packet Capture in High-Speed and Data
Center Networks

Jay Botelho Show us your tweets!
Director of Product Management Use today’s webinar hashtag:
WildPackets
jbotelho@wildpackets.com #wp_highspeed
Follow me @jaybotelho with any questions, comments, or feedback.
Follow us @wildpackets

© WildPackets, Inc. www.wildpackets.com

Administrivia
• All callers are on mute
‒ If you have problems, please let us know via the Chat window
• There will be Q&A at the end
‒ Feel free to type a question at any time
• Slides and recording will be available:
‒ Via a follow-up email

#wp_highspeed © WildPackets, Inc. 2

Agenda
• Trends in High-Speed Networking
• The New Role of Overlay Networks
• Changing Role of Packet-Based Network Analysis
• Key Monitoring Points for Network Visibility
• About WildPackets


Trends in High-Speed Networking

4

10G – Dispelling the Myth
• According to The Register
(http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/03/2013_not_year_of_10gbe/):
‒ 2013 will NOT be the year for widespread adoption of 10G
‒ Technology is solid – it’s a cost issue
‒ Businesses just don't need 10x the bandwidth and aren't willing
to pay 3x the cost.
• Server migration to 10G underwhelms during 3Q12
(http://www.delloro.com/news/server-migration-to-10-gbps-network-connections-underwhelms-during-
3q12) :

‒ The 10G controller and adapter market results were almost flat
sequentially during the third quarter of 2012
‒ “The price premium for 10G is too wide of a gap” - Sameh
Boujelbene, Senior Analyst, Dell’Oro Group


Optimistic Predictions from Vendors

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps708/white_paper_c11-696667.html


How is 10G Being Utilized?
Example 1: Heavy Mfg Example 2: Network OEM
• Major traffic driver: backup • Focus now on large, flat 10G
• Current challenge: 2x and 4x data center fabrics
1G EtherChannel on backup • Fabric Path/TRILL “standard”
servers is saturating
• Nexus 7000 with 32 ports of
• New architecture spec for 10x 10G
1G EtherChannel • Driving need: constant
• What’s coming: virtualized demand for 1G aggregation
server clusters growing – one
has 360 VMs

#wp_highspeed © WildPackets, Inc. Slide 7

Migration to 40/100G

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps708/white_paper_c11-696667.html


New Architectures - New Traffic Patterns
• Standalone VM Host
(Virtual Server)

• Coordinated VM
Hosts

• Cloud


The New Role of Overlay Networks

10

Standalone VM Networking
• Multiple guests, single host
‒ One or more vNICs per guest
‒ One or more physical NICs on host
• Switch interfaces
‒ Guest vNICs
‒ Host physical NICs (pNICs)
‒ Possible network separation via multiple L2 vSwitches
• Logically behaves like a TOR or workgroup switch
‒ No transit traffic, leaf network
‒ Usually no L3 (Routing) between VLANs/vSwitches


Standalone VM Networking


North/South vs East/West


Coordinated VM Networking
• Single switch among multiple VM hosts
‒ Each vSwitch per host like a blade switch
‒ Physical network like a backplane, but usually no L3
• Maintains single forwarding table
‒ Inter-VM traffic between hosts sent encapsulated to target host
‒ No need to “learn” VM MAC addresses
• Port profiles per guest
‒ If VM moves, profile moves too
‒ vSwitch forwarding tables automatically updated
‒ Physical switches must learn new host for VM


Coordinated VM Networking

Distributed vSwitch (shared across VM hosts)


Overlay vs. Underlay



Cloud
• Software-allocated networking
‒ Network configuration de-coupled from networking hardware
‒ A basic form of SDN
• Focus on connectivity
‒ Get servers up and running
‒ Keep traffic hidden between customers
• Self-service paradox
‒ Cloud allows customers to provision and monitor VMs
‒ Security requires traffic to be hidden between customers
‒ Therefore customers can’t monitor the network


Cloud Network


Changing Roles of
Packet-based Network Analysis

19

Strategy for Monitoring 10G Ethernet
Which of the following apply to your strategy for monitoring 10G
segments? (Select all that apply)

Our tools don't support 10G
41.1%

Want to keep 1G tools as long as possible 32.9%
Can't afford upgrading tools to 10G 21.9%

All set - tools already support 10G 21.9%
All set - our mirroring sol'n converts 10G to
1G
14.4%

Other 4.1%

0%
20%
SOURCE: Benchmarking Network and Security Operations: Tools, Processes, and
Enabling Technologies Study, 2009, Enterprise Management Associates. n=124
40%
60%
#wp_highspeed © WildPackets, Inc.

10G Compromises
• 10G to 1G taps
• Apply pre-capture filters or triggered captures to
selectively stream to disk
• 10G NIC upgrades in architectures designed for
multi-port 1G deployments


Typical Network Analysis Workflow

Alerts/ User
Let It Roll!
Alarms Complaints

NO
Problem?

YES

Connect the Reproduce
Start a Trace
Analyzer if Necessary


1Gig Is Easy - Now
• Use almost any NIC
• Use almost any computer
• Capture and analyze all in real-time
• Little or no special hardware needed (taps, etc.)
• Little to no impact on existing network traffic
• “Analysis on the fly” still feasible


10Gig Network Analysis Workflow

Identify Key Deploy 24x7 Alarms/
Analysis Pts Monitoring Alerts

NO
Problem?

YES

Rewind Tune if
Analyze
Data Necessary


10G Provides Unique Challenges
• Traditional NICs not up to the task
• Processing power is a limiting factor
• Storage capacity is a limiting factor
• I/O bus and disk write speeds are a limiting factor
• 10G forces clarity in analysis
• At 10G, it truly is looking for a needle in a haystack
• “Line rate” – be wary of that claim!
Importance: Packet-based PM tools remain only truly effective
approach to definitive monitoring and definitive troubleshooting –
Jim Frey, Enterprise Management Associates, Inc., July 2010


10G Network Data Storage
• 1Gbps steady-state traffic assuming no storage
overhead:
7.68 GB/min
460 GB/hr
11 TB/day
2.9 days in a 32TB appliance
• 10Gbps:
76.8GB/min
4.6 TB/hr
110 TB/day
7.0 hours in a 32TB appliance


10G Network Data Capture


10G Network Analysis
• Analyze the essentials
• Be specific when possible
• Know your network – baselines are critical
• Know your limits
• Real-time vs. forensics
• Filter and slice (whenever possible)
• Anticipate hardware resource needs


Key Monitoring Points
for Network Visibility

29

Where to Capture
• On the Network
• On the vSwitch
• On a Virtual Tap
• On the VM Guest


On the Network
• Classical switch SPAN port or tap
‒ View traffic in/out of a Host
• The Good:
‒ Familiar configuration and process
‒ “Easy” if you control the network
• The Bad:
‒ Misses intra-host traffic


On the Network


On the vSwitch
• Span port from virtual switch / hypervisor
‒ Dedicated VM guest to receive packets
‒ Potentially external capture
• Use pNIC as target for SPAN
• Also RSPAN/ERSPAN
• The Good:
‒ Visibility of intra-host traffic
‒ Built-in to infrastructure
• The Bad:
‒ Capturing on local VM increases IO of net & disk
‒ Still have to know which host for specific VM guest
‒ May violate separation of customer traffic


vSwitch Span Port


With a Virtual Tap
• Tap to manage SPAN on distributed vSwitches
• Integrates with VM control system
‒ Reads orchestration info to find which host for VM guest
‒ Auto-configures capture source
• The Good:
‒ Reduced effort, increased visibility
‒ Should auto-filter for customer traffic separation
• The Bad:
‒ May be VM vendor specific, e.g. only VMware
• Examples: NetOptics, Gigamon, BigSwitch


Virtual Tap Infrastructure

Virtual Tap


Capturing Packets in Cloud
• Private Cloud (In-house)
‒ Under your control
• Functionally similar to distributed VM
‒ If you control the network, you can sniff “anywhere”
• Legal concerns for customer-owned guest VMs
• Public Cloud / Private Cloud (3rd Party)
‒ Unlikely that you can negotiate net sniffing rights
‒ IaaS VMs can likely sniff their own traffic
• Non-promiscuous sniffing
• Restore visibility on per-VM basis
• You’ll have to re-aggregate traffic among VMs


Capturing on VM Guest


Summary
• 10G technology is ready – needs to make business
sense
• Data center architectures are evolving quickly –
analysis systems need to keep up
• Plan for 40G, but it’s years away for most
• Faster networking technology and new virtualization
and cloud schemes are challenging conventional
network monitoring and troubleshooting
• Plan ahead for network infrastructure monitoring and
troubleshooting as new solutions are deployed


Q&A

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WildPackets Corporate Overview

Optimizing Network and Application Performance


Corporate Background
• Experts in network monitoring, analysis, and troubleshooting
‒ Founded: 1990 / Headquarters: Walnut Creek, CA
‒ Offices throughout the US, EMEA, and APAC

• Customers spanning leading edge organizations
‒ Mid-market and enterprise lines of business
‒ Financial, manufacturing, ISPs, major federal agencies,
state and local governments, universities
‒ Over 7,000 customers / 60+ countries / 80% of Fortune 1,000

• Award-winning solutions that improve network performance
‒ Internet Telephony, Network Magazine, Network Computing awards
‒ United States Patent 5,787,253 issued July 28, 1998
• “Apparatus and Method of Analyzing Internet Activity”


Why Our Customers Need Us

• VoIP, video, cloud, virtualization, and key business
applications are saturating critical network services

• Evolving network technologies create discontinuities
‒ 1 Gig  10 Gig  40 Gig  100 Gig networks
‒ Wireless, BYOD initiatives

• Users and business can not tolerate network
problems for mission critical services

Increasing demand for better real-time network visibility,
network analytics, network forensics, and DPI


How We Create Value
We provide innovative, industry-leading, real-time
network performance management solutions
‒ Easy-to-use, easy-to-learn user interface
‒ Uniquely extensible solutions
‒ Wireless network leadership
‒ Detailed analytics related to network applications
‒ Fastest network traffic capture appliance in its class
‒ Technical superiority at competitive price point

WildPackets has continually advanced its solution to meet the needs of its
customers


Unprecedented Network Visibility

NETWORK HEALTH
GLOBAL WatchPoint can manage and report on key
device performance and availability across
the entire network, from anywhere on the network.

UNDERSTAND END-USER PERFORMANCE
TimeLine and Omnipliance network recorders monitor
DISTRIBUTED and analyze performance across critical network
segments, virtual environments, and remote sites.

PINPOINT NETWORK ISSUES ANYWHERE
Omnipliance Portable can rapidly identify and troubleshoot
PORTABLE issues before they become major problems—wired or
wireless—down the hall or across the globe.

ROOT-CAUSE ANALYSIS
OmniPeek network analyzer performs deep packet inspection
DPI and can reconstruct all network activity, including e-mail and
IM, as well as analyze VoIP and video traffic quality.


A History of Innovation

2001 2005 2009 2011
• First 802.11 Combined distributed Innovative dashboard • Total visibility with
wireless analyzer network and VoIP with drill-down for VoIP zero packet loss
• First network network analysis and video • First wireless
analyzer with network analyzer to
automated expert support capture and
analysis analysis of 802.11n
3-stream wireless

2003 2008 2010 2012
Distributed real-time Enterprise-wide First to achieve 11 Gbps • Capture, record, and
troubleshooting Monitoring and Reporting sustained capture-to-disk analyze from 40G
network segments
• First wireless network
analyzer to support
801.11ac, k, r, u, v, w


Product Line Overview


Omni Distributed Analysis Platform
OmniPeek
Enterprise Packet Capture, Decode and Analysis
• Ethernet,1/10 Gigabit, 802.11, and voice and video over IP
• Portable capture and OmniEngine console
• Aggregate analysis data across multiple capture points

Omnipliance / TimeLine
Distributed Enterprise Network Forensics
• High-performance packet capture and real-time analysis
• Stream-to-disk for forensics analysis
• Integrated OmniAdapter network analysis cards up to 40G

WatchPoint
Centralized Enterprise Network Monitoring Appliance
• Aggregation and graphical display of network data
• WildPackets OmniEngines
• NetFlow and sFlow


Omni Distributed Analysis Platform
Software and Turnkey Solutions
• Enterprise monitoring and reporting
‒ WatchPoint Server
‒ OmniFlow, NetFlow, and sFlow Collectors
• Software probes and network recorders
‒ Omnipliance network recorders – Edge, Core
‒ TimeLine network recorders
‒ OmniAdapter analysis cards
• Distributed analysis software
‒ OmniPeek – Enterprise, Professional, Basic, Connect
‒ OmniEngine – Enterprise, Desktop, OmniVirtual
• Portable solutions
‒ OmniPeek network analyzer
‒ Omnipliance Portable

Key New Features in v7
• 40G network support
• Analyze issues from end to end:
Multi-Segment Analysis (MSA)
• Collect data from non-technical end users:
OmniPeek Remote Assistant (ORA)
• Single, interactive dashboard for
utilization, top talkers, top protocols,
latency, Experts, flows, and wireless
signal strength
• New wireless specifications
‒ 802.11ac 802.11k
‒ 802.11r 802.11u
‒ 802.11v 802.11w


OmniPeek Network Analyzer
• Distributed analysis manager
– Connect to and configure distributed OmniEngines, Omnipliances,
and TimeLines
• Comprehensive dashboards present network traffic in real-time
– Vital statistics and graphs display trends on network and application
performance
– Visual peer-map shows conversations and protocols
– Intuitive drill-down for root-cause analysis of performance bottlenecks
• Visual Expert diagnosis speeds problem resolution
– Packet and payload visualizers provide business-centric views
• Automated analytics and problem detection 24/7
– Easily create filters, triggers, scripting, advanced alarms, and alerts


Omnipliance Network Recorders
• Captures and analyzes all network traffic 24x7
– Runs WildPackets OmniEngine software probe
– Generates vital statistics on network and application performance
– Intuitive root-cause analysis of performance bottlenecks
• Expert analysis speeds problem resolution
– Fault analysis, statistical analysis, and independent notification
• Multiple issue digital forensics
– Real-time and post capture data mining for compliance and troubleshooting
• Intelligent data transport
– Network data analyzed locally
– Detailed analysis passed to OmniPeek on demand
– Summary statistics sent to WatchPoint for long term trending and reporting
– Efficient use of network bandwidth
• User-extensible platform
– Plug-in architecture and SDK


TimeLine Network Recorder
• Continuous network recording and comprehensive
real-time statistical display — simultaneously
‒ 12Gbps sustained capture with zero packet loss
‒ Network statistics display in TimeLine visualization format
• Rapid, intuitive forensics search and retrieval
‒ Historical network traffic analysis and quick data rewinding
‒ Several pre-defined forensics search templates making
searches easy and fast
• A natural extension to the WildPackets product line
• Turnkey bundled solution
‒ Appliance + OmniEngine, OmniAdapter, OmniPeek Connect


WildPackets Network Recorders
Price/Performance Solutions for Every Application

Portable Edge Core TimeLine
Ruggedized Small Networks Datacenter Workhorse Enterprise, Highly-
Troubleshooting Remote Offices Easily Expandable Utilized Networks
Aluminum chassis / 17” LCD 1U rack mountable chassis 3U rack mountable chassis 3U rack mountable chassis
Dual 2.13 GHz Quad-Core Intel Quad-Core Intel Xeon X3460 Dual Intel Xeon Quad Core Dual Intel Xeon Quad Core
Xeon L5630 "Westmere" 2.80Ghz E5530 2.4GHz X5560 2.8GHz
24GB RAM 4GB RAM 6GB RAM 18GB RAM
2 PCI-E Slots 2 PCI-E Slots 4 PCI-E Slots 4 PCI-E Slots
2 Built-in Ethernet Ports 2 Built-in Ethernet Ports 2 Built-in Ethernet Ports 2 Built-in Ethernet Ports
6TB SATA storage capacity 1TB SATA storage capacity 8/16TB SATA 8/16/32/48TB SATA
storage capacity storage capacity
4.5Gbps CTD 1.1Gbps CTD 3Gbps CTD 12Gbps CTD


WatchPoint
Centralized Monitoring for Distributed Enterprise Networks

• High-level, aggregated
view of all network
segments
– Monitor per campus, per
region, per country
• Wide range of network
data
– NetFlow, sFlow, OmniFlow
• Web-based, customizable
network dashboards
• Flexible detailed reports
• Direct link to detailed,
packet-based analysis


Comprehensive Support and Services
Standard Support Premier Support
 Maintenance and upgrades  24 x 7 x 365
 Telephone and email contacts  Dedicated escalation manager
 Knowledgebase  2 customer contacts per site
 MyPeek Portal  Plug-in reconfiguration assistance

WildPackets Training Academy
 Public, web-based, and on-site classes
 Complete curriculum: technology and product focused
 Practical applications and labs covering network analysis,
wireless, VoIP monitoring and advanced troubleshooting

Consulting and Custom Development Services
 Deployment, configuration, and assessment engagement
 Systems integration and testing
 Application integration, driver, decode, interface development


WildPackets Key Differentiators
• Visual Expert intelligence with intuitive drill-down
– Let computer do the hard work, and return results, real-time
– Packet /payload visualization is faster than packet-per-packet diagnostics
– Experts and analytics can be memorized and automated
• Automated capture analytics
– Filters, triggers, scripting, and advanced alarming system combine to provide
automated network problem detection 24x7
• Multiple issue network forensics
– Can be tracked by one or more people simultaneously
– Real-time or post capture
• User-extensible platform
– Plug-in architecture and SDK
• Aggregated network views and reporting
– NetFlow, sFlow, and OmniFlow


24x7 Network Monitoring,
Analysis, and Troubleshooting


Thank You!

WildPackets, Inc.
1340 Treat Boulevard, Suite 500
Walnut Creek, CA 94597
(925) 937-3200


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