Cloud Analytics Workflow History for Network Traffic Investigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for monitoring network usage lack a comprehensive workflow for investigating trends and taking remedial actions, particularly in cloud-based environments, where drill-down capabilities are not tracked, making it difficult for administrators to report on investigation steps.
Innovation Solution
A cloud-based system for interactive analytics that logs data traffic, allows users to request visualizations with specific date ranges and groupings, and maintains a workflow history for context-aware drill-down and progressive filtering, enabling tracking and reporting of investigation steps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional drill-down capabilities are provided for viewing network traffic data, then administrators can investigate trends and analyze data at different levels, but the drill-down activity is not tracked and administrators cannot report on investigation steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by automatically capturing and storing administrator drill-down activities in a workflow history. Each interaction with the data visualization (filtering, drilling down, pivoting) is recorded and made available for reporting, providing feedback on the investigation process without requiring additional manual input from the administrator.
Solution Approach 2:
The workflow tracking operates autonomously by automatically recording administrator actions during data analysis. The system self-services the tracking function without requiring administrators to manually log their investigation steps, yet still provides comprehensive workflow information for reporting purposes.
2Loss of information
If comprehensive workflow tracking is implemented to record all drill-down activities, then administrators can report on investigation steps, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The workflow tracking functionality is merged with the existing data visualization and analysis tools. The same interface that administrators use to drill down into network traffic data also automatically captures and records these actions. This integration eliminates the need for separate tracking systems or additional hardware components.
Solution Approach 2:
The analytics platform is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a data analysis tool and an automated workflow tracking system. The single platform performs multiple functions: visualizing network traffic data, enabling drill-down analysis, automatically recording investigation activities, and generating reports on workflow - reducing the need for multiple separate systems.
3Quantity of substance
If cloud-based logging is used to store network traffic data, then the system can handle large volumes of data from multiple users and devices, but the need for comprehensive analytics tools to process and visualize this data increases complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The analytics platform is segmented into modular functional components that can independently process different aspects of the logged data. The system divides the complex task of data analysis into separate modules for filtering, drilling down, pivoting, and workflow tracking, allowing each component to handle specific processing tasks efficiently without requiring the entire system to become increasingly complex.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer implemented method, a cloud system, and a log system provide interactive analytics providing various intuitive mechanisms for interaction with data visualizations of Internet traffic, email, etc. The methods and systems utilize a cloud based monitoring system where all traffic from an organization may be monitored in a location and platform independent manner. The methods and systems include context-aware drilldown with progressively applied filtering and grouping while maintaining workflow history such that a user can go back to any point in the flow and proceed down a new path of investigation.