Application Dependency Graphs for Network Event Impact Scoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems struggle to effectively relate network disruption events to their impact on distributed applications, leading to challenges in troubleshooting application performance issues.
Innovation Solution
A network monitor generates a dependency graph to associate applications with networking components, determining impact scores based on communication relationships and event effects, enabling targeted troubleshooting and configuration adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If network monitoring is performed without application graph data, then network events can be detected, but the impact on specific applications cannot be determined
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by constructing application graphs in advance that map application dependencies on networking components. This pre-established knowledge structure enables rapid impact assessment when network events occur, eliminating the need for complex real-time analysis and directly providing the missing application impact information.
2Reliability
If comprehensive network monitoring is implemented to track all network events, then complete network visibility is achieved, but the ability to relate events to specific applications is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The application graph serves as an intermediary data structure that connects network events to applications. It stores pre-analyzed dependency relationships between applications and networking components, acting as a mediator that translates raw network event data into meaningful application impact information without requiring complex real-time detection algorithms.
3Measurement precision
If detailed dependency tracking is implemented to map all application-network relationships, then precise impact scores can be calculated, but system complexity increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary dependency analysis by constructing application graphs that pre-map all application-network relationships. This upfront work captures dependency information in a structured format, enabling precise impact score calculations when events occur without requiring complex real-time tracking mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The application graph creates a simplified copy or representation of the complex application-network dependency relationships. This graphical model captures essential dependency information in an easier-to-manage format, allowing precise impact assessment without directly managing the full complexity of actual network dependencies.
Data Source
AI summary
Network events that disrupt networking devices are evaluated with respect to the impact of the events on particular applications communicating on the network. To associate applications with network events, a dependency graph is generated that associates individual applications with various components on which the application relies, which may include different hosts and virtual machines across a network. To associate the applications with particular networking devices, networking devices may inspect packets handled by the devices and determine related applications based on the components in the dependency graph. An impact score for an application relative to individual networking devices is determined based on the respective portion of packet traffic for the application handled by the networking devices. When an event disrupts a particular networking device, the impact score may then be used to determine the actual effect of the disruption on different applications.