Event triggered traceroute for optimized routing in a computer network

Abstract

In one embodiment, a network device (e.g., a master controller) may detect an event on a current path in a computer network from a local network domain to a destination address prefix of a remote domain. In response, the device may dynamically (e.g., intelligently) determine a trace target destination address within the destination address prefix, and may perform (or request performance of) a Traceroute of the current path and a selection of alternate paths in the network from the local network domain to the trace target, where the Traceroute is adapted to obtain per-hop measurements along the respective traced path. The measurements may then be stored, for example, to be used for optimal path selection, fault identification reporting, etc.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates generally to computer networks, and more particularly to traceroute operations for optimized routing in computer networks. Background technique [0002] Currently, when a network event (e.g., a performance problem) occurs in a computer network, it is often desirable to determine the cause of the problem, e.g., why traffic no longer reaches its destination in the network, or why the delay in reaching the destination becomes unacceptable . However, every now and then, by the time the system administrator is notified to check for the problem, the network may have corrected itself, thus hiding the problem from detection. In particular, administrators often have to go to specific edge routers in the local domain and manually run diagnostics on destinations that are experiencing performance issues. [0003] Traceroute (for example, traditional traceroute for Internet Protocol or "IP") is a feature available to administrators t...

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Problems solved by technology

But, again, a problem with manually applying traceroute diagnostics is that the network event may no longer be in progress (eg, may have been corrected)

[0004] Additionally, another problem associated with tracerouting is determining the appropriate tracetarget to direct the traceroute to

For example, certain destinations may be non-working (e.g., the cause of an event), or administrators may often only be aware of the destination address prefix with the problem, but not specific destination addresses within that prefix that are required for tracerouting to work

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