Guide to Network Observability: Pillars, Tools & Benefits

Network observability provides a framework for understanding what’s happening inside your company network at any given moment. The deep insights it provides helps you analyze performance, identify issues, and troubleshoot them timeously.

Network observability is not just about knowing if something is wrong; it’s about gaining a clear picture of the entire network’s health and performance. It provides a detailed map that shows real-time traffic conditions across the entire network.

How do you achieve network observability?

To achieve network observability, we rely on a blend of monitoring tools and data analytics. Network monitoring tools are one such tool. They capture data packets flowing through the network and log details like source, destination, and timestamps.

The raw data that network monitoring tools collect might not mean much on its own, but it’s essential for spotting trends and anomalies. 

Imagine you suddenly see a spike in traffic to one of our servers late at night. With robust network observability, you could quickly identify whether this spike is a simple backup routine or an unexpected intrusion attempt.

Network observability also involves correlation, which is stitching together these different data sources to paint a comprehensive picture. 

Suppose you notice that every time we deploy a new update, certain services experience increased latency. By correlating deployment logs with performance metrics, you can identify if a specific part of the update is causing the slowdown and address it proactively.

In essence, network observability turns the complex, often opaque inner workings of your network into a transparent, manageable system. It empowers you to not only react to issues but also to anticipate and prevent them, ensuring smooth operations and a better experience for everyone involved.

Key components of network observability

Network observability involves several key components that work together to provide a comprehensive view of the entire network ecosystem. These components are crucial for effective monitoring and troubleshooting.

Robust data collection

This involves fetching data from various layers of the TCP/IP stack, including the network and application layers. For instance, metrics like packet loss, latency, and throughput give you a good sense of the network's health. 

Comprehensive data collection ensures you leave no stone unturned. By capturing data from different layers, you gain a holistic view of the network's behavior and performance.

Data analysis

Raw data in itself isn't very useful unless you apply advanced analytics to extract actionable insights. Machine learning algorithms play a substantial role here. They analyze network behavior to detect patterns and trends. 

For example, by setting baselines, you can determine appropriate thresholds and identify any deviations from expected performance. This helps you anticipate possible problems. 

Alerting and notification systems

These mechanisms send alarms when specific thresholds are breached or anomalies detected. The goal here is to be proactive. 

For instance, if a router's CPU usage spikes suddenly, an alert lets you address the issue before it impacts overall network performance. This proactive approach drastically reduces the time taken to troubleshoot and resolve network issues. In turn, it ensures minimal impact on business operations.

These components collectively make sure you have complete operational visibility. It means you can quickly identify the root cause of issues and make intelligent decisions to resolve them efficiently.

The pillars of network observability

Metrics

Metrics give you the data you need to keep everything running smoothly. Without the right metrics, you are flying blind. So what are the key metrics that matter for network observability?

• Latency 

Latency is the time it takes for data to travel from one point to another. High latency can mean slow applications and unhappy users. 

For example, if your internal email server takes too long to respond, productivity takes a hit. You must monitor this closely and set benchmarks so you know when something's off.

• Packet loss

This is when data packets don't make it to their destination. The best example of packet loss happens when you are having a conversation over a bad cell phone connection and bits and pieces of your dialogue get lost. It’s hard to have a conversation. 

For a typical business, packet loss could mean failed transactions or incomplete data. Monitoring packet loss helps you catch these issues early. For example, if you see increased packet loss on a specific network segment, you can troubleshoot before it affects the whole office.

• Bandwidth utilization

This is another crucial metric that tells you how much of your available bandwidth is being used. If your network is constantly hitting its bandwidth limits, everything slows down. By keeping an eye on this metric, you can plan for upgrades or reallocate resources to keep things running efficiently.

• Jitter

Jitter measures the variability in packet arrival times. This metric often flies under the radar, but it's essential, especially for real-time applications like VoIP or video conferencing. 

Imagine watching a video where the frames keep skipping or arriving out of order. That's jitter. Monitoring jitter helps you ensure that your real-time communications are smooth and clear. If you notice high jitter during company-wide meetings, it's a sign you must optimize your network paths.

• Throughput

Throughput measures the amount of data successfully delivered over a network in a given time frame. Think of it as how many cars can get from Point A to Point B on a highway in an hour. 

High throughput indicates a healthy network, while low throughput can signal congestion or issues with network devices. For instance, if your file servers show low throughput, employees will experience delays in accessing shared resources, which can drag down productivity.

• Error rates

This is a metric you can't afford to ignore. Errors can occur at various points in the network, from physical layer issues like faulty cables to higher layer problems like configuration errors. 

Monitoring error rates helps you pinpoint where things are going wrong. For example, a spike in error rates on a specific switch could indicate a hardware failure, which should prompt you to replace it before the entire network is compromised.

Keeping an eye on these metrics allows you to maintain a healthy, efficient network. These metrics give you the visibility you need to preempt problems and quickly resolve any issues that do arise.

Logs

Logs are essentially the digital breadcrumbs left behind by devices, applications, and services. These breadcrumbs help you trace the paths and actions taken within the network.

Consider a scenario where an employee reports that their access to a critical application is intermittently failing. By reviewing the logs from the relevant network components – such as firewalls, routers, and the application servers themselves – you can pinpoint where the failure occurs. 

Maybe the firewall logs show that specific packets are being dropped due to a rule that's recently been updated. Or perhaps the server logs indicate that the application is facing connectivity issues due to a misconfigured network interface.

Logs are also invaluable when it comes to security. If there's a suspected breach, the logs can provide a timeline of events. You may detect an unauthorized login attempt from a suspicious IP address. 

By following the logs, you can determine if the attempt was successful, what actions the intruder took, and how they navigated your network. This information is crucial for both mitigating the breach and preventing future incidents.

Additionally, logs can help with performance monitoring and optimization. If a network slowdown is reported, performance logs can reveal patterns over time. 

For example, logs might show that network latency spikes every day at noon, which could correlate with a scheduled task or a surge in user activity. Understanding these patterns allows you to adjust configurations or plan network upgrades strategically.

In your daily operations, you might look at different types of logs. Syslogs from network devices, event logs from servers, and even logs from your cloud services. Each of these logs offers a piece of the bigger puzzle. 

By aggregating and analyzing those different logs, you can get a comprehensive view of your network's health and activities. Tools like Splunk, ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana), or even cloud-native solutions like Azure Monitor or AWS CloudWatch can help in collecting and visualizing these logs efficiently.

In essence, logs are the narrative of your network's life. They tell you where you have been, what you have encountered, and sometimes even where you might be headed. By paying close attention to these narratives, you can keep your network stable, secure, and optimized for whatever comes next.

Traces

Traces are the footprints that packets leave as they traverse the network. Think of them as the breadcrumbs Hansel and Gretel left behind. They help you map out the journey of data, identifying each hop's latency and potential bottlenecks along the way. 

When you set up trace routes, you instantly get a visual representation of paths taken by packets from their source to the destination. 

For instance, using tools like traceroute or MTR, you can uncover which routers your data passes through and spot where delays are occurring. It's like peeking into the arteries of your network to catch any cholesterol build-ups that might slow down data flow. 

So, you can use trace routes to diagnose an issue where your remote office is experiencing abysmal connection speeds to a server at another remote office. By running a trace, you may discover that packets were looping through a misconfigured router somewhere on the route. Fixing that router will reduce latency. Problem solved. 

Another good example is the use of advanced network monitoring solutions like ThousandEyes. Their platform takes traces to another level by providing real-time visibility across both internal networks and external ISPs. 

Not only do you see where delays happen, but you also get metrics like packet loss and jitter. This can be invaluable for maintaining a high-quality VoIP service, ensuring your calls don't drop or lag.

If you've ever been frustrated by intermittent slowdown and can’t pinpoint why, traces can be your best ally. They allow you to see the network from the data's perspective. Each hop on the trace provides insight into network performance, so you can take targeted action to improve it. 

Traces, in essence, are the network’s way of communicating with you, showing where it’s healthy and where it needs attention. They might seem like just another technical tool, but in the world of network observability, they're the storyteller, guiding you through the intricate dance of data.

Understanding network flows

Network flows refer to the movement of data packets from one device to another. It's like watching traffic on a busy highway. Just as traffic patterns tell you a lot about road conditions and potential bottlenecks, network flows reveal the health and performance of your network.

By examining the network flow data, you can discover that the reason why an application runs slowly at a certain time of the day is that a backup process would be running simultaneously, hogging bandwidth and causing the slowdown. It is a classic case of unintended interference, and you wouldn't catch it without network flow visibility.

Below are other benefits of examining network flows:

Real-time flow monitoring

Network observability gives you the tools to see these flows in real-time. Tools like NetFlow, sFlow, and IPFIX generate records of these flows, providing data on where packets come from, where they're going, and how much data is being transferred. 

For instance, if you see a spike in traffic from an unknown IP address, it could indicate a security issue. You can identify a compromised IoT device on your network this way. The device would be quietly sending data to a remote server. Without flow data, it might go unnoticed for far longer.

Performance optimization

Network flows can help you optimize performance. By monitoring flows, you can see if certain paths are overburdened while others are underutilized. 

For example, if your video conferencing tool is lagging during meetings, flow analysis may reveal that too much traffic is being routed through your primary data center. Adjusting the routing policies to balance the load will resolve the lagging.

Anomaly detection

Normal network behavior follows consistent patterns. When something deviates from the norm, it stands out against the backdrop of regular traffic. 

A sudden surge in outbound traffic late at night may be because an employee has mistakenly uploaded sensitive data to a public server. Detecting and addressing this quickly is vital to maintaining our security posture.

Capacity planning

By understanding flow data trends, you can predict when and where you might need to expand your network infrastructure. 

For example, a gradual increase in traffic to your customer support portal is a sign your network infrastructure needs upgrading. You can use flow data to justify and plan for this upgrade before performance issues arise.

So, understanding network flows is like having a superpower that lets you see inside the network. It helps you troubleshoot issues, optimize performance, and keep everything running smoothly. Without it, managing a complex company network would feel like flying blind.

The role of dashboards and visualization in network observability

Dashboards and visualization are essential for network observability, making it easier to understand and manage complex company networks. 

A single dashboard that shows real-time traffic flow across your entire network gives you a bird's-eye view of everything that's happening, without needing to dig through tons of data.

Get alerts of unusual activity on the network

With dashboards, you can set up alerts for unusual activity. Let’s say you notice a sudden spike in traffic on one of your servers. A good dashboard will highlight this anomaly, allowing you to dive deeper and figure out if it’s something benign like a software update or something more sinister like a DDoS attack. 

There are tools that let you create custom dashboards that can track metrics like latency, packet loss, and even user activity.

Pinpoint the source of network bottlenecks

Visualization also plays a huge role in understanding network performance. Remember those times when you couldn't figure out why the network was so slow? 

Visualization tools show you where the bottlenecks are. They have charts that display the performance metrics of different network segments, making it easier to pinpoint the exact spot that needs attention.

There are also tools that can capture and visualize packet data in real-time. You can see what protocols are being used, how much bandwidth is being consumed, and even identify unauthorized devices trying to connect. This kind of granularity is vital for maintaining a secure and efficient network.

Another cool feature to have in your dashboard is geolocation. By visualizing the geographical data of your network traffic, you can see where your data is traveling. 

For instance, if you notice data packets bouncing through an unexpected country, it might be worth investigating further. Tools like SolarWinds offer this kind of visualization, adding another layer of insight into your network’s behavior.

Incorporating these dashboards and visualization tools into your network observability strategy can make a world of difference. They give you the power to see, understand, and act on what's happening in your network, all in real-time.