How do you identify and resolve network issues with event data?

1 Event data sources

Event data is any information that records the activity and state of your network components, such as routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and clients. This data can come from different sources, such as logs which provide details about errors, warnings, status, and transactions; metrics that measure the performance and health of network devices; alerts that trigger when a network device violates a predefined threshold or condition; and traces that show the latency, dependencies, and errors of each network hop. Collecting this data can help you identify potential or actual problems like failures or breaches.

2 Event data collection

To collect event data from your network, you need to employ tools and protocols that can capture, store, and transmit the data from various sources. Syslog is a standard protocol for sending log messages from network devices to a central server or aggregator, and it can support different formats, levels, and facilities of log messages. SNMP is another standard protocol for collecting and organizing metrics from network devices, using agents, managers, and traps to monitor and report network performance and health. Additionally, a network management system (NMS) can collect, store, and analyze event data from multiple sources, with features such as dashboards, graphs, reports, and alerts. An application performance management tool (APM) can also collect, store, and analyze event data from applications and services with features such as traces, spans, profiles, and anomalies.

3 Event data analysis

To analyze event data from your network and extract meaningful insights and patterns, you should use techniques such as filtering, aggregation, correlation, and root cause analysis. Filtering allows you to select and display only the relevant event data based on certain criteria. Aggregation enables you to group and summarize event data based on attributes. Correlation helps you discover relationships between different sources of event data, such as logs, metrics, alerts, and traces. Lastly, root cause analysis identifies the main factor or factors causing a network issue.

4 Event data visualization

To effectively visualize event data from your network, you should utilize tools and formats that can present the data in a clear and intuitive manner. Charts, such as line charts, bar charts, pie charts, or histograms can help you understand the trends, patterns, and distributions of the event data. Tables with columns, rows, cells, or filters can help you comprehend the details, values, and comparisons. Maps with markers, clusters, or paths can illustrate the locations, regions, and connections of the event data. Additionally, timelines with events, intervals, or milestones can show the sequence, duration, and order of the event data.

5 Event data action

To act on event data from your network, you need to use tools and processes that can help you implement and verify the solutions and improvements for your network issues. Automation can be used to execute predefined or customized actions based on event data, while remediation can help restore and recover the network to a normal or desired state. Optimization is a process that can enhance and improve performance and reliability after a network issue, while validation can be used to confirm and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of your solutions.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?