Troubleshoot Network Problems with Routing Rules

Troubleshoot Network
Problems with Routing Tools

© 2014 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Agenda
Learn how to troubleshoot network problems with routing tools
using SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor (NPM).
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Overview of NPM and How It Helps
Network Troubleshooting Resources
How to Troubleshoot with NPM Routing Tools
Troubleshooting Walk-Through – Important Tips!
Monitoring Network Using SolarWinds NPM

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Overview of NPM and How It Helps
Network administrators should spend their time monitoring the network
rather than supporting their network monitoring software

What is NPM?
SolarWinds NPM helps you quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve performance
issues, including route and multicast issues, by delivering real-time views,
reports, charts, and dashboards to easily manage enterprise networks.

NPM helps you troubleshoot routing issues to get your
network back on track and optimized for maximum
performance.
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Network Troubleshooting
Resources in NPM

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Network Troubleshooting Resources
5 Important Resources in NPM that Help Troubleshoot Routing Problems:
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1. Routing Table
2. Top 10 Flapping
Routes

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3. Routing

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Neighbors
4. Default Route

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Changes
5. Routing Details

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5

Routing Table
Each router has its own Routing Table and each Routing Table is potentially
different for any given router in your network.
As you can see, the Routing Table information is displayed across 6
columns:

Destination Network, CIDR, Next Hop, Interface, Metric, and Source
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Top 10 Flapping Routes
The Top 10 Flapping Routes resource shares some columns in common
with the Routing Table.

Flaps – Shows you the number of Flaps that have occurred in the last
selected time period.
Protocol – Shows the routing protocol used.

Last Change – This gives you an indication of when a change was made.
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Routing Neighbors
The Routing Neighbors resource shows you which routers are directly
connected to the router you are currently viewing and provides status on
this relationship.

Node Name – This is a clickable link that will take you directly to the Node
shown, giving you further information about a specific node.

Status – Gives you information about a given router's status, helping with
communication issues.

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Default Route Changes & Routing Details

Default Route Changes resource provides a quick view of any changes
made to default routes and helps you narrow down when changes have
occurred.

Routing Details resource provides you a quick glance at when Protocols
were last polled so you will know how fresh your routing data is.

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Step-by-Step Troubleshooting
with Routing Tools in NPM

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Troubleshooting with Routing Tools
In this module, we’ll explain troubleshooting with a scenario using the
Interactive Online Demo to help illustrate how you can use these tools to
troubleshoot real world issues in your own environment.

Routing is one of the keys to a properly functioning network. IP packets on
your network must be routed, not only to their given destinations, and
should arrive in the fastest way possible.

In 7-Steps, find the root cause of the routing issue and
troubleshoot the network.

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Step 1 – High Errors and Discards
Take a look at the High Errors and Discards in NPM.
» Notice the node labeled “Router5.lab.local” has a significant amount of
discards.
» Click on “Router5.lab.local” (hereafter referred to as “Router 5”) to drill
down and see the Node Details Page for that router.

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Step 2 – Network Sub View
In Router5.lab.local, once on the Node Details page, click on the Network Tab.
Network Sub View is where all of the Routing Resources are located.

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Step 3 – Current Percent Utilization
In Network Sub View, the “Current Percent Utilization” of “Router 5” has
some issues transmitting packets.
Check the "STATUS" column of the Current Percent Utilization of Each
Interface resource (middle of the page) shows two “Down” interfaces.

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Step 4 – Check Routing Table
While comparing Step 3 & Step 4, we can see that the Down Interfaces do not
actually appear in the routing table. If Routing Table shows all GREEN, the
subnets are properly routed to the other interfaces on this device.

(cont…)
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Step 4 – Check Routing Table (cont.)
NPM combines node information allowing visibility into the real availability of
nodes and interfaces. Hovering over elements, such as interfaces, activates a
pop up (image on the right) that provides more details and a performance
overview.

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Step 6 – Check Routing Neighbors
In this instance we have Router 2 as one of our neighbors using the OSPF
protocol. And the second neighbor 74.115.12.1 which is using the BGP
Protocol.
The second neighbor, running BGP, shows up as IP Address 74.115.12.1 and
actually tells us that Orion is not monitoring this device as a node. If it were
being monitored in NPM, we could drill down and view its Node Details Page
as we can with Router2.lab.local.

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Step 7– Check Flapping Routes
By providing the number of “Flaps,” how many times the path was announced
for this particular router, insight can be gained into serious issues that need
attention right now or emerging issues which might become more serious
down the road.
Notice that for Destination Network 10.0.0.0 we can see 8 Flaps to
Router2.lab.local.

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Step 8 – Check Flapping Routes
Finally, check the Default Route Change resource to learn if the default route
has been added/removed/changed, and if so, when.

Need
More
info?
Click Here
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Test Drive NPM!
Learn more about SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

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Thank You!

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Troubleshoot Network Problems with Routing Rules

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