Allegro Network Multimeters 3.5 allows users to analyze TCP down to packet level
Allegro Packets has released a software update for the Allegro Network Multimeter. With the firmware update 3.5, users can analyze TCP down to packet level with the new flowchart analysis.
In addition to improved rights management for users, there is also a multi-storage function that allows both the packet ring buffer and the pcap analysis to run in parallel.
The German-based company’s network measurement tools analyze and monitor network traffic from 1 to 200 gigabits per second and display detailed statistics of the results in real time. Allegro Packets is continuously working on new features and improvements for its appliances.
“With the firmware update 3.5, the TCP module of the Allegro Network Multimeter gets a more detailed flowchart analysis on packet level. In the TCP analysis, it was already possible to obtain overviews of the connection setup with the respective handshake times and the response time. Now it is also possible to display overviews of the TCP flow at packet level. Users receive a list of packets with a clear structure of retransmissions and the corresponding reference packets.
It is therefore possible to see how far back the retransmissions go in the connection. The flowchart analysis allows an even deeper examination of the network traffic and at the same time makes it easier to find out whether the error is on the server or network side. This saves users from having to extract the pcap and then analyze it manually.
Rights Management for user roles
Another highlight of the Allegro Network Multimeter release is the simplified rights management for reader and user roles. Previously, the Allegro Network Multimeter Dashboard provided the ability to assign individual read permissions to users. With the update, this feature has been made more flexible by allowing configured templates to be customized for specific groups and new roles to be added.
This eliminates the need to assign permissions for each user individually. This feature is particularly advantageous for large companies with many users, since rights management for software products is indispensable, but also time-consuming.
Storage device upgrade
With the release 3.5 the Allegro Network Multimeter gets the function to activate several storage devices simultaneously. This means that the packet ring buffer runs in parallel with the pcaps. Previously, there was only one hard disk with cluster ring buffer, which had to be used for both the packet ring buffer and the pcaps. Thus, only one of the two functions could be activated, which had an impact on performance.
The extension of the storage devices now gives users more flexibility by allowing multiple storage devices to be used in parallel: If, for example, pcap files are to be transferred from a USB stick, the hard disk no longer has to be deactivated and thus the packet ring buffer disabled.
“We are excited to introduce the flowchart analysis for TCP to simplify the final step of problem analysis. The drill-down feature allows users to dig even deeper into network traffic than before. The detailed sequence acknowledgement analysis makes it easier for TCP users to get an overview in the results and optimizes the workflow process in IT through the accompanying time savings,” comments senior software developer Dr. Ralf Hoffmann, who was responsible for the development of the feature, on software version 3.5.
Highlights of release 3.5 for the Allegro Network Multimeter
- Flowchart analysis for TCP at packet level
- Detection, analysis and mp3 output for Opus, AMR and EVS VoIP codecs
- New event-based monitoring rules for RTP jitter & packet loss
- USB LTE dongle support for remote management over LTE
- More RTP visualization and analysis capabilities for troubleshooting and monitoring RTP-based unified communications (UC) and pure RTP VoIP scenarios
- New selective data visualization options (widgets) for custom dashboards
- Enhanced and improved options for user roles
- Added SFTP server as a destination option for saving (pre-filtered) pcaps
- A BIOS update for the Allegro 500 fixed certain memory compatibility issues that in rare cases caused the Allegro 500 to become unresponsive
- Increased the number of storage devices on different hard disks (previously only cluster ring buffer)
The 3.5 firmware update provides improvements, new features and bug fixes for all Allegro Packets instruments. Release 3.5 is available immediately to all supported customers.