Collection Tasks to Create Network Archives
In the Task Scheduler window, you can launch a collection tasks that creates a network model in a database, for use in the NorthStar Planner. You also have the option to archive the network model.
Tunnel design attributes that are configured in the web UI are inherited by the NorthStar Planner, even though they are never pushed to the router. When you run Network Archive device collection, the tunnel information in the Planner (which came from the router) is merged with the tunnel information in the Controller (which includes design attributes that are not pushed to the router). The merged version is then available in the Planner.
The following design attributes that are configured in the Advanced, Design, and Scheduling tabs of the Provision LSP window in the web UI are inherited by the Planner via network archive collection:
Advanced tab: Symmetric Pair Group, Diversity Group, Diversity Level
Design tab: Routing Method, Max Delay, Max Hop, Max Cost
Scheduling tab: all scheduling information
To schedule a new collection task, navigate to Administration > Task Scheduler.
- Click Add in the upper right
corner. The Create New Task window is displayed as shown in Figure 1.Figure 1: Create New Task Window
- Enter a name for the task and use the drop-down menu to
select the task type Network Archive. Click Next to display the first Create New Task – Network
Archive window as shown in Figure 2.Figure 2: Create New Task–Network Archive
Click the check boxes beside the options in this window to select or deselect them:
Process Equipment CLI
Equipment CLI data is collected in Netconf collection tasks that include the Equipment CLI option. The Process Equipment CLI option in Network Archive collection parses the Equipment CLI data collected in Netconf collection and generates the Inventory Report available in both the NorthStar Controller and the NorthStar Planner.
To view Hardware Inventory in the NorthStar Planner, you must run Netconf collection with the Equipment CLI collection option (collects the inventory data) and you must run Network Archive collection with the Process Equipment CLI option (processes the inventory data).
Archive network data after processing
This option makes the created model available in the NorthStar Planner under the Archives tab in the Network Browser window. Otherwise, the result of the Network Archive collection task is reflected in the new spec file for the Latest Network Archive in the NorthStar Planner, but it is overwritten by the next Latest Network Archive.
Include LDP traffic
This option loads the aggregated results of LDP traffic collection into the network model created by the Network Archive task. The LDP traffic is loaded as demand with 24 periods of statistics. You can choose up to 60 days’ worth of LDP traffic to be aggregated, using the specified aggregation statistic, into 24 data points that represent hours of the day. The options in the Aggregation Statistic drop-down menu are described in Table 1.
Note:This option is only applicable if you have scheduled LDP traffic collection.
Table 1: Aggregation Statistics Options Aggregation Statistic
Description
Max
For each of the 24 hours, the maximum of the sample values within that hour is used.
Average
For each of the 24 hours, the samples within that hour are averaged. If there are N samples for a particular hour, the result is the sum of the all the sample values divided by N.
80th, 90th, 95th, 99th Percentile (X percentile)
For each of the 24 hours, the X percentile value of the samples within that hour is used. The X percentile is computed from an equation that takes into consideration the average for the hour and the standard deviation. The result is that X percent of the sample values lie at or below the calculated value.
Selecting the Include LDP Traffic data option is required for full utilization and manipulation of traffic load data in the Network Planner.
- Click Next to proceed to the
scheduling parameters. The Create New Task - Schedule window is displayed
as shown in Figure 3. You
can opt to run the collection only once, or to repeat it at configurable
intervals. The default interval is 15 minutes.Figure 3: Device Collection Task, Scheduling
Instead of scheduling recurrence, you can select to chain the task after an already-scheduled recurring task, so it launches as soon as the other task completes. When you select the “Chain after another task” radio button, a drop-down list of recurring tasks is displayed from which to select.
- Click Submit to complete the
addition of the new collection task and add it to the Task List. Click
a completed task in the list to display the results in the lower portion
of the window. There are three tabs in the results window: Summary,
Status, and History. Figure 4 shows an example of the Status tab for a complete Network Archive
collection task. Figure 4: Network Archive Collection Results, Status Tab
