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| COMPANY CONTACT Jeff Raice Packet Design, Inc 408.490.1034 jeff@packetdesign.com |
AGENCY CONTACT Janis Ulevich Ulevich & Orrange, Inc. 650.329.1590 info@u-o.com |
PACKET DESIGN'S ROUTE EXPLORER ADDS BGP SUPPORT, EXTENDS POWER OF ROUTE ANALYTICS TO LARGEST PRIVATE ENTERPRISE AND ISP NETWORKS
Network Appliance Now Lets Users View Entire IP Network at Once,
Displaying End-to-End Routing Paths Across Protocol Boundaries
PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 20, 2003 – An IP route-analysis tool that brings full routing-path visibility to networks running the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) – enabling network engineers to better diagnose, troubleshoot and maintain those networks – has been introduced by Packet Design, Inc.
Packet Design has added BGP routing analysis capability to its Route Explorer platform, bringing route analytics for the first time to the tens of thousands of networks – those in many large enterprises and virtually all service providers – that use BGP to exchange routing information between interconnected "autonomous systems." Route Explorer had previously supported two interior gateway protocols: OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) and IS-IS (Intermediate System-Intermediate System), which exchange routing information within an autonomous system.
In conjunction with the new BGP support, Route Explorer now lets network engineers view an entire multi-domain routing structure as a single, seamless topology map, providing the unprecedented ability to display and highlight complete end-to-end routing paths across network domains and protocol types. This means that, in a network running any combination of BGP, OSPF and IS-IS, problems that cross protocol boundaries, within or between autonomous systems, can be pinpointed at a glance. Previously, topology maps were isolated by routing protocol, viewable only separately.
In addition, Packet Design has expanded its Route Explorer family to include three modular versions of the appliance, allowing organizations ranging from small campus-like settings to the largest multi-domain enterprises and service providers to choose the platform specific to their network size and mix of routing protocols.
Key Role of BGP in 'Private Enterprise Internets' and ISPs
Jeff Raice, Packet Design vice president of marketing and sales, said, "Many large, highly meshed enterprise networks look very much like small-scale Internets, with BGP serving as the 'glue' between multiple independently administered intranets using one or more IGP. In these 'private enterprise Internets,' often the result of acquisitions or consolidations, the enterprises own and manage both sides of the BGP connection. Like their ISP counterparts they face issues of scalability (growing beyond inherent IGP limits), availability, control and problem resolution. Route Explorer is the first tool available to give network engineers full visibility into these complex 'networks of networks.'
"But seeing the BGP routes is only half the answer," Raice said. "Network services typically span multiple routing-protocol areas, and the various protocols have complex interactions and dependencies. Looking at individual areas in sequence does little to help network engineers deal with problems that affect service across the network. Route Explorer for the first time combines information from the different protocol areas into a single, seamless view, so that problems do not have to be diagnosed in pieces that must then be fitted together like a jig-saw puzzle. And Route Explorer offers the flexibility to display the network in the manner most appropriate to a given situation: as a whole, by organizational or administrative grouping, or by autonomous system."
Other new Route Explorer features geared to supporting large, complex enterprise and ISP networks include concurrent multi-user login and operation; hierarchical network topology views by desired network subset (e.g., network backbone, BGP links only); the ability to save user-customized topology layouts for later reference; and advanced event filtering for rapid root-cause isolation. In addition, native X Windows support is now provided for improved integration of Route Explorer data with the rest of the user's desktop.
Choice of Platform Based on Network Size, Protocol Mix
The new Route Explorer platforms support three broad categories of route-analytics user, from smaller networks with a single autonomous system and a single IGP, to the largest enterprise and ISP networks with multiple routing protocols and hundreds or thousands of routers.
*Route Explorer Campus Edition, for enterprise networks of up to 20 routers, comes standard with one IGP routing analysis module (either OSPF or IS-IS) and offers single-user operation. It is priced starting at $19,000.
*Route Explorer Enterprise Edition, for enterprise networks of up to 50 routers, comes with an OSPF or IS-IS routing analysis module and offers concurrent multi-user operation. It is priced starting at $35,000.
*Route Explorer Internet Edition, for enterprise or ISP networks of up to 50 routers, comes with a BGP routing analysis module and either OSPF or IS-IS, and offers concurrent multi-user operation. It is priced at $50,000.
Each routing analysis module comes with an extensive set of protocol-specific data reports and proactive alerts, including a "watch list" function that signals when a key route or router experiences changes.
All three versions can be field-upgraded to support additional routers and/or protocols. A license-key activation scheme eliminates the need for hardware/software installation when adding functionality.
All Route Explorer platforms and routing analysis modules are available immediately.
About Route Explorer
Route Explorer, introduced in 2002, looks into the IP "cloud," gathering, displaying and analyzing routing-path information to let network engineers rapidly respond to IP problems, effectively maintain networks and plan for growth. Sitting in the network infrastructure as if it were a router – though it forwards no traffic – Route Explorer "listens" to the network control plane, computing and displaying a layer 3 topology map while logging routing events in a local database. This data can be analyzed and visualized in real time from a remote console, for a complete picture of the network's routing operations. An animated historical playback and analysis feature simplifies diagnosis of intermittent and hard-to-detect problems.
About Packet Design, Inc.
Packet Design, Inc., develops a family of network appliances that improves the reliability, efficiency and predictability of IP networks by providing network-layer (layer 3) visibility into them. The products work by leveraging the routing protocols to extend network intelligence without increasing network load. Packet Design, Inc., was spun out in March 2003 from Packet Design, LLC, the fourth networking company started by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Judy Estrin and Bill Carrico, who previously founded Bridge Communications, Network Computing Devices and Precept Software. After receiving seed funding from Packet Design, LLC, Packet Design, Inc., raised $14 million in Series B funding from Advanced Technology Ventures, Mayfield Fund, Allegis Capital, Masthead Venture Partners and Packet Design, LLC. For more information, visit http://www.packetdesign.com.
© 2011. Packet Design Inc.
