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Port and port components

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Stuart Hill
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Port general attributes

Port stream attributes

Weighted rollups for fault and discard
Port MAC address
Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) details
HSRP port state
Load balancer ports
Load balancer ports traffic
Load balancer ports utilization
Matrix switch port inventory

Port topology node

Port associations

 

 

Port and port component details are accessible through the Ports dashboard. The Attributes dashboard provides a full listing of attributes collected against ports. The depth of information is suitable for advanced users, providing access to detailed information on the port.

 

 

Port general attributes

Attribute Description
Administrative Status current port status as set by the system administrator.
Alias the port's alias.
Alternative Interface Index  
BGP Identifier each router running BGP must have a BGP identifier. This identifier is included in the BGP identifier field of open messages, which are sent between two BGP peers when establishing a BGP session.
BGP Local AS local AS of the device.
Classification indicates whether the port is a physical or virtual port.
Description manufacturer's device description.
Description (Mib2) port description taken from SNMP-MIB2.
Descriptive Alias allows entry of a brief description, e.g. Link from Washington to Peterlee. The CIO Perspective's Component Availability report can use this description to add context to a port.
Device the port's device address.
Device Name the port's device name.
Duplex Status the port's duplex status.
Enterprise Interface Index  
Hosts lists the hosts using the port.
Inbound Speed inbound speed of a port. System administrators can amend the port inbound speed via the Attributes dashboard.
Interface Description  
Interface Index unique identifier of the interface.
Location text description of the physical location of the port that is contained on the device, e.g. Development Cabinet.
Operational Status current operational status, e.g. up, down.
Outbound Speed outbound speed of a port. System administrators can amend the port outbound speed via the Attributes dashboard.
Peer Distinguished Name  
Peer Port ID  
Peer Slot ID  
Port ID  
Port MAC  
Poll Status status of Entuity SNMP polling of the device, i.e. Polling, Non-Polling.
Port Index port index number.
Port Interface Type indicates the interface type, e.g. ethernet6.
Port MAC Address Port MAC Address.
QoS Enabled this attribute is used by the Entuity QoS module to control whether QoS data is collected for the port. By default, collection of QoS data is restricted to infrastructure ports, ports with a VIP Status of Router, Trunk, Uplink or Server Link, so
Role  
Short Description brief description of the port. It is also available through Entuity maps.
Slot ID  
Spare Status indicates whether Entuity considers the port in use or spare.
StormWorks ID Entuity internal object identifier.
System Description textual description of the chassis hardware. This value should include the full name and version identification of the system's hardware and copyright information.
System Name administratively-assigned name for the chassis. By convention, this is the node's fully-qualified domain name.
System Object Identifier manufacturer's authoritative identification of the chassis object identifier.
Switch ID  
Transport  
Type managed object type, e.g. port.
Type (IANA) indicates the interface type, e.g. ethernet6.
VIP Status port type, e.g. Router, Trunk, Uplink, Server Link.
VLANs list of VLANs the port is associated to.
Watts status of the module, i.e. OK, Standby, Unknown, Other, Minor Alarm, Major Alarm, and Down.

 

 

Port stream attributes

Attribute Description
Active Oper Status%  
Administrative Status history of port status as set by the system administrator.
Average CPU Utilization% average CPU utilization across all the device's CPUs.
Average Memory Used% percentage of average memory used.
Average SNMP Response Time chain of SNMP response time.
BGP Peer Remote IP Addresses BGP peering changes.
Buffer Allocation Failure Rate number of buffer allocation failures over the last hour.
Buffer No Memory Failure Rate number of buffer No Memory failures caused over the last hour.
CDP Local Port Name (ifxMib) port used in the CDP neighbor discovery. The name of the port as read from MIB2.
CDP Local Port Name (Mib2) port used in the CDP neighbor discovery. The name of the port as read from MIB2.
CDP Remote Device IP Address device containing the port that is connected to the local port.
CDP Remote Port Name remote port connected to the local port as identified through CDP neighbor discovery.
Chassis Description chassis type, e.g. c2503.
Chassis Fan Status chassis fan status.
Chassis Model Number chassis model number.
Chassis Serial Number chassis serial number.
Chassis Status  
Chassis Temperature chassis temperature status.
Device Reachable Status Device Reachable Status without Root Cause Analysis.
Device Reachable Time Device Reachable Time without Root Cause Analysis.
Device Reachable Time Unknown Device Reachable Time without Root Cause Analysis.
Device Status device status.
Device SysUpTime Counter Wraps reboots.
Device UpTime Known device UpTime (secs).
Device UpTime Known% device UpTime (%).
Device UpTime Unknown device UpTime (secs).
Device UpTime Unknown% device UpTime (%).
EIGRP Peer Remote IP Addresses EIGRP peering changes.
Error free discards (RX) LSR performance.
Error free discards (TX) LSR performance.
Event Description description of the last even raised against the port, including event type, source and impacted details.
Event Summary  
Events Summary daily summary of events. Entuity summarizes the number of events of each event type raised against the port.
Firmware Version ROM system software version.
Hardware Version chassis hardware revision level.
ICMP Reachable Known% Device Reachable Time without Root Cause Analysis.
ICMP Reachable Unknown% Device Reachable Time without Root Cause Analysis.
ICMP Redirect Rate Routing Data.
ICMP Redirects% Routing Data.
ICMP TTL Exceeded Rate Routing Data.
ICMP TTL Exceeded% Routing Data.
Inbound Aborts Proportion%  
Inbound Alignment Errors Proportion%  
Inbound CRC Errors Proportion%

if the information is available from the device, this is the % of port errors that are CRC faults.
Inbound Discarded Packet% number of inbound packets discarded, for which no errors were detected, as a percentage of the total number of packets received during the same period.
Inbound Discarded Packet Rate inbound discard rate of packets for which no errors were detected. Packets may be discarded to free up buffer space.
Inbound Discards% number of inbound packets discarded, for which no errors were detected, as a percentage of the total number of packets received during the sample period.
Inbound Errored Packet% number of inbound packets with errors discarded as a percentage of the total number of packets received during the sample period.
Inbound Errored Packet Rate inbound discard rate of packets with errors.
Inbound Fault% number of inbound packets with errors discarded as a percentage of the total number of packets received during the sample period.
Inbound Interface Speed inbound speed of the port. System administrators can amend the the port inbound speed through the Attributes dashboard.
Inbound Non-Unicast Packet Rate transmission rate of non-unicast (i.e., subnetwork-broadcast or subnetwork-multicast) packets.
Inbound Non-Unicast Packet% number of inbound non-unicast (i.e. subnetwork-broadcast or subnetwork-multicast) packets expressed as a percentage of the total number of packets received during the sample period.
Inbound Octet Rate number of octets set for transmission during the sample period, this includes packets that were discarded or not sent but excludes packets addressed to a multicast or broadcast address at this sublayer.
Inbound Packet Rate number of packets received during the sample period, this includes errors, discards, good unicast and non-unicast packets and excludes packets addressed to a multicast or broadcast address at this sub-layer.
Inbound Peak Rate peak received rate during the sample period expressed as packets per second.
Inbound Traffic total inbound traffic during the sample period expressed as bits per second.
Inbound Utilization (WAN)% utilization expressed as a percentage of actual traffic volume received against the maximum volume that can be handled by the port during the polling period.
Interface Type interface type, e.g. ethernet.
IP Addresses IP addresses assigned to the port.
IP Discard Rate (no route) routing data.
IP Discards (no route)% routing data.
IP Packet Forward Rate routing data.
IP Packet Forwards% routing data.
IP Packet Received Rate routing data.
Label Retention Mode

when set to:

  • Conservative, the advertised label mappings are retained only if they will be used to forward packets, i.e. if label came from a valid next hop.
  • Liberal, all advertised label mappings are retained whether they are from a valid next hop or not.
Label Space LSR config.
Labels In Use (RX) LSR performance.
Labels In Use (TX) LSR performance.
Last Reboot Time time of the last device reboot.
Latest mac address count count of MAC addresses identified during the last poll of the device.
LDP Session Traps Enabled

when set to:

  • Enabled, the mplsLdpSessionUp and mplsLdpSessionDown can be generated.
  • Disabled, the mplsLdpSessionUp and mplsLdpSessionDown cannot be generated. This the default.
Lookup failure discards LSR performance.
Loop Detection Capability

indicates the LSR loop detection capability, and not necessarily its current state. Loop detection is determined during session initialization - individual sessions may not run with loop detection. Loop detection can be:

  • None, loop detection is not supported on this LSR.
  • Other, loop detection is supported but by a method other than those explicitly defined in the MIB.
  • Hop Count, loop detection is supported only through hop count.
  • Path Vector, loop detection is supported only through path vector.
  • Hop Count And Path Vector, loop detection is supported by both hop count and path vector.
LSR Cross Connect Traps Enabled traps indicating changes to the cross-connect table, e.g. the association between incoming and outgoing segments (labels).
LSR ID the Label Switching Router (LSR) identifier is the first 4 bytes of the Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) identifier.
LSR In Segment Traps Enabled traps indicating incoming MPLS segments (labels). If administrative and operational status objects are down, the LSR does not forward packets. If these status objects are up, the LSR forwards packets.
LSR Out Segment Traps Enabled traps indicating outgoing MPLS segments (labels).
MAC Address list of MAC addresses associated with the device. 
Mac address history all MAC addresses discovered on the port. This is a change history of the MAC addresses on the port. Each time the MACs on a port change, Entuity retains a record of all of the MACs on the port at that time (by default, Entuity retains fifty samples, although this is configurable through entuity.cfg).
Max label (RX) LSR Config.
Max label (TX) LSR Config.
Max Label Stack Depth maximum stack depth supported by this LSR.
Max Packet Size maximum packet size before fragmentation.
Min label (RX) LSR Config.
Min label (TX) LSR Config.
Most recent mac address(es) most recent MAC addresses discovered on the port. Entuity retains MAC addresses for two days after they were last polled on the device (this is a configurable setting through entuity.cfg).
Name Resolution State SNMP responding state.
Newly Disappeared Modules module change history.
Newly Discovered Modules module change history.
Nominal interface speed interface speed polled from the port.
Number of Active VRFs number of configured VRFs currently in use.
Number of Configured VRFs number of VRFs configured on the router.
Number of Interfaces Connected to VRFs number of interfaces connected to all the router's VRFs.
Number of LSR Ports number of ports.
Operational Status operational status of the port.
OSPF Peer Remote IP Addresses OSPF peering changes.
Outbound Aborts Proportion%  
Outbound Carrier Loss Proportion%  
Outbound Discarded Packet % number of outbound packets discarded, for which no errors were detected, as a percentage of the total number of packets transmitted during the polling period.
Outbound Discarded Packet Rate outbound discard rate of packets for which no errors were detected. Packets may be discarded to free up buffer space.
Outbound Discards% number of outbound packets discarded, for which no errors were detected, as a percentage of the total number of packets transmitted during the polling period.
Outbound Errored Packet% number of outbound packets with errors discarded as a percentage of the total number of packets transmitted during the polling period.
Outbound Errored Packet Rate outbound discard rate of packets with errors.
Outbound Fault% number of outbound packets with errors discarded as a percentage of the total number of packets transmitted during the polling period.
Outbound Interface Speed outbound speed of the port. System administrators can amend the the port outbound speed through the Attributes dashboard.
Outbound Non-Unicast Packet Rate transmission rate of non-unicast (i.e., subnetwork-broadcast or subnetwork-multicast) packets
Outbound Non-Unicast Packet% number of outbound non-unicast (i.e. subnetwork-broadcast or subnetwork-multicast) packets expressed as a percentage of the total number of packets transmitted during the polling period.
Outbound Octet Rate number of octets set for transmission during the sample period, this includes packets that were discarded or not sent but excludes packets addressed to a multicast or broadcast address at this sublayer.
Outbound Packet Rate number of packets set for transmission during the sample period, this includes packets that were discarded or not sent but excludes packets addressed to a multicast or broadcast address at this sublayer.
Outbound Peak Rate transmission rate during the sample period expressed as packets per second.
Outbound SQE Errors Proportion% total outbound traffic during the sample period expressed as bits per second.
Outbound Traffic utilization expressed as a percentage of actual traffic volume transmitted against the maximum volume that can be handled by the port during the polling period.
Outbound Utilization% utilization expressed as a percentage of actual traffic volume transmitted against the maximum volume that can be handled by the port during the polling period.
Packets Fragmented LSR performance.
Port State current state of the port, e.g. Up, Down.
Running Configuration Files archived running configuration files.
SNMP Failure Rate chain of SNMP Response Time.
SNMP Percent Waiting chain of SNMP Response Time.
SNMP Response State SNMP Responding State.
SNMP Success Rate chain of SNMP Response Time.
Software Version chassis software revision level.
Startup Configuration Files archived Startup Configuration Files.
System Contact textual identification of the contact person for this managed node, together with information on how to contact this person.
System Description textual description of the chassis hardware. This value should include the full name and version identification of the system's hardware and copyright information.
System Location physical location of this chassis, e.g. room 3, 2nd floor.
System Name administratively-assigned name for the chassis. By convention, this is the node's fully-qualified domain name.
Time in Current State length of time since the last change in Port State.
Time of Last State Change date and time of the last change in Port State.
VPN Global Route Limit number of routes allowed on the router, which is only limited by the amount available for the router.
VPN Notifications Enabled must be set to Enable for the router to send MPLS VPN SNMP notifications.

 

Weighted rollups for fault and discard

The hourly and daily rolled up fault and discard data is weighted, taking into account the underlying packet rate at the time of the data sample.

For example, a five minute sample that reported 1 inbound packet and a 100% fault (i.e. the 1 packet was a fault) does not have the same influence on the hourly rollup as a sample with 1000 packets and 100 faults - a fault rate of 10%:

  • Sample 1: 1 packet, 1 fault = 100% fault
  • Sample 2: 1000 packets, 100 faults, = 10% fault.

Entuity calculates:

Weighted Rollup = (1+100) 101 faults / (1 +1000) 1001 packets * 100 = 10.09%

Note, this is a simplified example - Entuity would expect 12 5-minute samples in an hourly rollup, and not just the 2 used here.

Entuity fault and discard data retention for:

  • 5 minute polled data is 8 days.
  • 1 hourly rolled up data is 210 days.
  • Daily rolled up data is 210 days.

ENA compresses the main fault and discard values (inFault, outFault, inDiscards, outDiscards) accurate to 3 significant figures. The component values (alignment errors, CRC errors, in-aborts, giants, SQE errors, late collisions, excessive collisions, out-aborts, carrier-loss) are accurate to 2 significant figures.

 

Port MAC address

Entuity discovers MAC details associated with ports. MAC addresses are unique identifiers attached to most forms of networking equipment, but they can be changed.

Attribute Description
Most Recent MAC Address(es) most recent MAC addresses discovered on the port. Entuity retains MAC addresses for two days after they were last polled on the device (this is a configurable setting through entuity.cfg).
MAC Address History all MAC addresses discovered on the port. This is a change history of the MAC addresses on the port. Each time the MACs on a port change, Entuity retains a record of all MACs on the port at that time (by default, Entuity retains fifty samples, although this is configurable through entuity.cfg).

 

Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) details

Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) establishes a framework between network routers to allow default gateway failover if the primary gateway becomes unavailable. Entuity provides the following for HSRP:

  • inventory details.
  • an inventory Flex Report, available through the UI.
  • two events reporting on changes in active router state.
Attribute Description
Group Number identifies the HSRP standby group. For Token Ring, values between 0 and 2 inclusive are valid. For other media values between 0 and 255 inclusive are valid.
Priority the priority level of the router. When comparing priorities of two different routers, the router with the numerically higher priority wins, becoming the active router. When both routers have the same priority level the router with the higher IP address wins.
Virtual IP Address the virtual IP address of the group. When a router’s virtual IP address is not configured, it can be derived through an authenticated HSRP hello message.
Active Router the IP address of the current active router for this HSRP standby group.
Standby Router the IP address of the current standby router for this HSRP standby group.
Use Configured Virtual IP Address

when set to:

  • 1, indicates the Virtual IP Address is a configured IP address.
  • 0, indicates Virtual IP Address is derived through an authenticated HSRP hello message.
Virtual MAC Address for Ethernet and FDDI, this is the automatically generated MAC address when HSRP is configured. The standard virtual MAC address used is: 0000.0C07.ACxy, where xy is the group number in hexadecimal. The functional address is used for Token Ring.
Preempt

when set to:

  • true, a router automatically assumes the active role whenever its priority is higher than the current active router's priority.
  • false, preempt is not enabled. Changes in the active and standby router designation only occur when one or the other goes down, or an election takes place. For example, if the active router does not respond to three hello messages, by default the standby router becomes the active router and a new standby router is identified.
Preempt Delay the delay between a router coming up and preempting the current active router (only applicable when Preempt is true). By default, this is set to 0 seconds, allowing immediate preemption. You can set a preemption delay, for example to allow the router to populate its routing table before becoming the active router.

 

HSRP port state

Attribute Description
Standby State indicates the current standby state of the router, i.e. Initial, Learn, Listen, Speak, Standby.

 

Load balancer ports

Attribute Description
Learn Mode the mode of the port, e.g. Learn Forward, No Learn Forward, No Learn Drop.
Enabled set to true for enabled, false for disabled.
Duplex Status the port's duplex status.

Entuity currently manages F5 Labs Big IP 6400 Load Balancer. Entuity delivers additional polling of the device using F5 lab's propriety MIB, returning:

Attribute Description
Port Identification load balancer specific details.
Port Status standard Entuity port status details.
Port Utilization standard Entuity port utilization measures displayed through the Load Balancer Port Utilization tab. Administrators can also set port utilization event thresholds, and therefore have events raised, against load balancer utilization.
Port Traffic standard Entuity port traffic measures. Administrators can also set port traffic event thresholds, and therefore have events raised, against load balancer traffic.

 

Load balancer ports traffic

Attribute Description
Inbound octets per sec inbound octets per second.
Outbound octets per sec outbound octets per second.
Inbound packets per sec inbound packets per second.
Outbound packets per sec outbound packets per second.
Inbound errors per sec inbound errors per second.
Outbound errors per sec outbound errors per second.
Inbound drops per sec inbound drops per second.
Outbound drops per sec outbound drops per second.
Collisions per sec number of collisions on the port per second.
 
 
Load balancer ports utilization
 
Attribute Description
Inbound Utilization% inbound utilization of the load balancer port as a percentage of the port capacity.
Outbound Utilization% outbound utilization of the load balancer port as a percentage of the port capacity.
 
 
Matrix switch port inventory
 
Attribute Description
Matrix Connected Blade blade number containing the port to which this port is connected.
Matrix Connected Blade port number with the blade to which this port is connected.

 

 

Port topology node

Attribute Description
Node Key  
Node State  
Root Cause Node  
StormWorks ID Entuity internal object identifier.
StormWorks Type StormWorks object type, PortTopoNode.

 

 

Port associations

The Entuity data structure expands the collection of port information and relationships through associated components. The Associations dashboard provides details and hyperlinks from the port to its associations, e.g.:

  • Access Point
  • Autonomous WAP Device
  • Device, the port's device
  • EIGRP Peer
  • HSRP Port Groups
  • Host MAC Addresses
  • IP Addresses
  • IPv6 Interface
  • Layer 3 Port Peers
  • MPLS Interface VRF Instances
  • MPLS LDP Ranges
  • Module
  • Parent MPLS LDP Label Range
  • Policy Maps
  • Vlans
  • Xedia Traffic Classes.

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