7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.
Preface Document scope This document is aimed for people that shall manage and configure 7signal Sapphire quality tests on wlan networks. The test pattern configuration and 7signal Sapphire system administration are explained in this document. This document does not describe how the software is installed and how to handle the monitoring station. This is found in 7signal Sapphire Deployment Guide. To get guidance on how to interpret the measurements, please turn to 7signal Sapphire Loupe User Guide.
Preface ii Contact us at 7signal by mail: by email: by phone: report defects by email: any other request: Panuntie 6, FI-00620 Helsinki, Finland info@7signal.com +358 40 777 7611 (exchange) defect-report@7signal.com support@7signal.com 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.
Table of Contents iii 1 7signal sapphire – WQA Solution .......................................................................................1 1.1 System overview ............................................................................................................. 2 2 Sapphire Eye .....................................................................................................................3 3 Sapphire Carat ..................................................................................
Table of Contents iv 8.6.4 Editing User Information ................................................................................... 17 8.6.5 Removing Users ................................................................................................. 18 8.6.6 Changing Password For Users ............................................................................ 18 9 Network topology configuration...................................................................................... 19 9.
Table of Contents v 14.3 Creating Link Groups ................................................................................................... 39 14.4 Removing Link Groups ................................................................................................ 39 14.5 Adding Link To Group .................................................................................................. 39 14.6 Removing Links From Group ............................................................................
Table of Contents vi 17.9.2 Use case: Multiple SSID testing ....................................................................... 52 17.10 Running test profiles ................................................................................................. 53 18 Manual tests ................................................................................................................. 54 18.1 “Network Scan” test.........................................................................................
Table of Contents vii 20.2 Adding Report Items ................................................................................................... 79 20.2.1 Adding SLA compliance report item ................................................................ 80 20.2.2 Adding KPI report item .................................................................................... 81 20.2.3 Adding SLA report item .................................................................................... 83 20.2.
1 7signal sapphire – WQA Solution 1 Welcome to learn about 7signal Sapphire, that provides you a new way to continuously and automatically measure the health and quality of a wireless network from the user's perspective. A commonly used term here is wireless quality assurance, or WQA. Companies and their business processes are becoming increasingly dependent on the performance and service quality of their wireless networks.
1 7signal sapphire – WQA Solution The 7signal Sapphire Quality Monitoring Solution consists of a Sapphire Eye monitoring station, a Sonar test server, the feature-rich Sapphire Carat management software, and Sapphire Loupe for viewing and reporting on results. The system components are described in chapters 2–6. The remaining chapters describe the management software. The result viewing and reporting tool (Loupe) is described in its own user guide.
2 Sapphire Eye 3 Sapphire Eye is a monitoring station for WLAN environments. Unlike a common access point or client, the Eye monitoring station uses advanced broadband antenna technology, which creates an exceptionally large coverage area. Consequently, one Eye can monitor several access points, or WLAN cells. The typical number of monitored cells is 5–8.
2 Sapphire Eye 4 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 A monitoring station conducts both passive and active measurements in a WLAN environment. The passive measurements consist of listening to data traffic that uses the IEEE 802.11 protocol and of general analysis of the radio frequency spectrum in the coverage area.
3 Sapphire Carat 5 With the Sapphire Carat management tool, you can manage the Sapphire Eye monitoring stations, run interactive and real-time measurements, configure and manage automatic measurements, and generate reports of the measurement results. The reports shows measurement results in tables and charts. Sapphire Carat stores the profiles used in the automatic testing of the monitored network, and the network’s access rights information.
4 Sonar 6 The role of the Sonar test server in 7signal Sapphire is to emulate one of the customer’s production servers. Sapphire Eye connects to Sonar to measure QoS provided by the network. Measurements are performed both directions (uplink and downlink). Uplink means traffic from end-user device (e.g Eye) towards network (e.g. Sonar). Downlink means traffic from network towards the end-user device. Single Sonar can serve several monitoring stations which has access through IP networks to Sonar.
5 Sapphire Loupe Sapphire Loupe is the performance and QoS analysis tool in the WQA solution. Loupe cannot be used to control Sapphire’s functions and measurements themselves. Loupe makes the network’s key performance indicators (KPIs) available at a glance, or in more detailed form for a given time period. Loupe is browser-based, so authorized persons can use any of the most common browsers to view the results as long as they have an Internet connection.
6 Carat user Interface 8 The Carat user interface (GUI) is a stand-alone java client. The purpose of the Carat user interface is to configure and manage the Sapphire solution. Several users can access and configure single Carat simultaneously. 6.1 Menus 6.1.1 Navigation The menu contents are dynamic based on context, user access rights and the current license. Menu Description File Log in / log out, lock the session, and close the application.
6 Carat user Interface 9 The Network topology is a hierarchical tree displaying hierarchy from the Organization to Eyes and Access Points. The user can select from multiple ways to access the network: either via monitoring stations or via the network’s service areas. Both methods support network testing, but monitoring stations can only be managed by using their respective icons. The network hierarchy is displayed as a tree, with an icon representing each item at each node.
6 Carat user Interface 10 Access Point In this menu, you can perform tests and set alarm limits for an access point. Access point info Active tests Bind to alarm limit group Unbind to alarm limit group Remove access point Bind SLA 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 to configure the encryption method used in the network.
7 Starting the Carat configuration 11 The access rights and user management heavily relies a group-based model. The group is the starting point: every user belongs to one of the groups and the group determines the access rights of any given user. The technical details and management instructions are in the next section. Any objects in the system – Eyes, Sonars, topology elements such as Organizations and Locations – belong to some administrative group.
7 Starting the Carat configuration 12 Use a descriptive name, f ex LocalConfigurator1. 4. Continue using Sapphire. All other configurations related to network topology, test profiles, wlan network keys etc. should be made by the user LocalConfigurator1 to enable proper operation of the automated object access rights management system. Some top-level operations for Solution Administrator are explained right below 7.
8 User Management 13 User management in 7signal Sapphire is based on user groups. A user's access rights in the system derive from the user group that the user belongs to. A user may belong to one or more user groups. In addition to normal user management the Sapphire system supports user group specific view virtualization. The system can be configured so that different user groups have access to different objects that have been created into the system.
8 User Management 14 The Sapphire system supports three elementary access levels for user groups: Reporter, Configurator and Administrator. Access rights are inherited from lower to higher levels: Reporter users only have their own level’s access rights, Configurator users have reporter level rights plus additional rights granted by their configurator level, and Administrator users have all rights.
8 User Management 15 A new user group can be added into the system in three different ways: 1. As a new root group under which to start creating a new user group hierarchy. 2. As a subgroup to an already existing user group. 3. As a symbolic (referencing) group for an already existing group.
8 User Management 16 8.5.6 User Group Status In certain situations it may be desired to inactivate some user group. An inactive user group has no access rights in the system. A user group can be inactivated by right-clicking on the desired group and selecting "Inactivate" from the pop-up menu. An inactive group can be reactivated by right-clicking on the group and selecting "Activate" from the pop-up menu. An example of changing a group’s status: 1. Log in as an administrator group user 2.
8 User Management 17 1. 2. 3. 4. From the top menu bar select “Manage | Users and Groups” to open a pane on left Right-click the relevant group to get a submenu Select “Add user” to open a pane on right Enter the relevant user information a. Username: login name for the user b. (optional) Alias: alternative name for the user c. (optional) Email address: contact information for the user d. (optional) Organization: user’s organization e. Status: Active or inactive. Only active users may login. f.
8 User Management 18 8.6.5 Removing Users A user can be removed by right-clicking on him/her and selecting "Remove" from the pop-up menu. An example of removing a user: 1. Log in as an administrator group user 2. Open the user group and user management dialog by clicking "Manage | Users and Groups" from the top menu bar 3.
9 Network topology configuration 19 Network topology is defined in Carat to reflect geography and organization and help with reporting necessary entities separately. Network topology consists of organizations, locations, service areas, Eyes and managed access points. 9.1 Choosing Networks To Be Monitored 9.1.1 Organization Sapphire can simultaneously manage networks in several independent organizations. A company or other organization can have many separate locations.
9 Network topology configuration 20 Location is used to define the network’s location in a precise or descriptive way. A location might be a city, a part of the city, a building, or a single floor in a building, depending on the coverage area of the organization’s network. A small organization might have only a single location, an office.
9 Network topology configuration 21 7signal Sapphire considers a hidden network to be a property of certain Organization. The network scans are based on listening and actively requesting beacon information on the Service Areas. The hidden networks shall not actively transmit beacons nor respond to requests with partial information only. Due to this the various scans - including the initial scan in 7signal Sapphire do not capture hidden networks.
9 Network topology configuration 22 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 9.1.5 Channel Configuration In addition to access points, a wireless network can include a controller, which remotely sets RF parameters for a network. In such a case, the transmitting power and channels may change over time, due to operator actions or the controller’s own actions.
9 Network topology configuration 23 7signal Sapphire Enterprise extends this functionality such that all access points or networks within the service area can have their own allowed and forbidden channels. This allows Sapphire to monitor the channel configuration in several networks, and to obtain information on other networks that use channels in unexpected ways.
10 Eye configuration 24 10.1 States of Monitoring Stations The Eye unit may be in an inactive state. This happens if there is no network connectivity to the monitoring station when a monitoring station is being added to the system. Also, an active monitoring station may be turned inactive. This allows exceeding the number of monitoring stations limited by the license. Only active monitoring stations may run the tests but the topology may contain unlimited number of inactive monitoring stations.
10 Eye configuration 25 10.1.2 Monitoring Station Settings 1. Activate the monitoring station by right-clicking on it in the Network topology 2. Select “Edit” a. This opens the settings window in the right pane 3. The settings window allows you to view and edit the following information about the monitoring station: a. Name b. Description c. IPv4 address d. TCP port for management traffic e. Test profile f. Settings for the Eye’s heating resistor g. Monitoring station’s uptime h.
10 Eye configuration 26 By default, the monitoring station is in active state. This is flagged with the green background color in the Network topology. An inactive monitoring station would have orange background color. It is possible to deactivate the monitoring station. This feature is mainly targeted for temporary installations. An inactive monitoring station exists in the system and its measurements are accessible as usual.
10 Eye configuration 27 10.2 Initial network scan When the Eye has been installed or needs to be reconfigured, you must run a network scan. There are various preconfigured scanning durations. When an Eye has been installed for the first time, it is recommended that you run the longest scan, titled “Initial scan.” The purpose of the initial scan is to scan the monitoring station’s radio frequency environment very thoroughly and to detect the access points suitable for monitoring.
10 Eye configuration 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 The changes are saved in Sapphire Carat’s database and the installed monitoring station. The test is described in more detail below, under the “Network Scan” description.
11 Creation And Use Of Encryption Keys 29 Related icons wpa2 encryption wpa eap encryption wpa 1 encryption wep encryption ieee encryption http encryption Before accessing secured wlan, an encryption key for that network should be created. 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.
11 Creation And Use Of Encryption Keys 30 Key type Authentication method Inner authentication WPA 1 PSK WPA 2 PSK EAP_TLS EAP_PEAP WPA with EAP EAP_TTLS GTC MD5 MSCHAPV2 OTP TLS MSCHAP MSCHAPV2 PAP CHAP EAP-MSCHAPV2 EAP-TLS EAP-GTC EAP-OTP EAP-MD5 EAP_PSK EAP_FAST LEAP EAP_MSCHAP_V2 EAP_TLS EAP_PEAP Dynamic WEP with EAP EAP_TTLS GTC MD5 MSCHAPV2 OTP TLS MSCHAP MSCHAPV2 PAP CHAP EAP-MSCHAPV2 EAP-TLS EAP-GTC EAP-OTP EAP-MD5 LEAP EAP_MSCHAP_V2 WEP WEP 104 Hex WEP 104 Asc WEP 40 Hex WEP 40 Asc O
11 Creation And Use Of Encryption Keys 31 11.2.1 Passphrase and pre-shared key Pre-shared key authentication is sometimes called passphrase authentication. Standard configuration interfaces allow user to type passphrase (that is converted to PSK) and proprietary interfaces can allow direct entry of PSK. WPA and WPA2 are both vulnerable to brute force attacks if you use weak PSK. The user may enter either a PSK or a passphrase when creating WPA1/2 PSK. 11.2.
11 Creation And Use Of Encryption Keys Private key – PKCS12 (aka PFX) As a corollary, a single PKCS12 formatted file that contains the CA certificate as well as the private key, can be used in both of the cases. If conversions are required to achieve these formats, please consult Your Certificate Authority. In Linux and Unix environments OpenSSL is commonplace tool and can handle the conversions required. TIP: Microsoft environments have certificate files with file extension CER.
11 Creation And Use Of Encryption Keys Select “Dynamic WEP with EAP key” to get the dialog above Select WPA key type, either 1 or 2, according the local environment EAP method must be set to “EAP_MSCHAP_V2” Fill in the account user name to the field “Identity” Enter and confirm the account password. Enter Windows infrastructure CA certificate. One may enter the same certificate as “Client Certificate” as well. The Eye is now properly authenticated in Windows PKI environment.
12 Test End-Points 34 12.1 Sonar Sonar is 7signal specific server that handles typical network requests i.e. it emulates numerous servers in the network. Sonar (icon ) is the server needed for executing elementary tests. There can be several Sonar servers configured. Each test can be configured to use any of the configured Sonars. Configuring Sonar servers makes it easy to define the parameters for the automatic measurements. 1. From the top menu bar, select “Manage | Test endpoints” 2.
12 Test End-Points 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 point of view while the actual access credentials and test queries are defined per test. Therefore the endpoint definition is a simple procedure and is similar to all supported test endpoints.
13 Access Point Information 36 Related icons unknown access point (unwanted state) known access point (in the coverage area but outside administrative domain) own access point (in administrative domain) managed access point (target to a monitoring station, in administrative domain) The access point information can be displayed by right-clicking the access point in the Network topology and selecting “Access Point Info.
13 Access Point Information 37 1. Scan the network to get hold of the new access point hardware 2. Right-click on the access point that has been replaced to summon the edit dialog 3. Locate the replace panel and choose from the drop-down list the new access point that shall assume the role of the replaced access point. The intended use of this feature is to help with replacing identical hardware. If the hardware is not identical, the results may be many-fold.
14 Links And Link Groups 38 In 7signal Sapphire a link denotes an end to end connection between an Eye monitoring station and a Sonar server. Link consists of a monitoring station, an access point and a Sonar server. In the Network topology links are positioned below the managed access points. 7signal Sapphire forms the links automatically when it detects an established end to end connection. Related icons link link group A link group is a grouping of links defined by a user.
14 Links And Link Groups Create a link group as follows: 1. Click on "View | Network topology" from the top menu bar 2. Right-click on the desired Location into which the link group is to be added 3. Choose "Add Link Group" from the pop-up menu. A dialog for adding a link group is opened to the right. 4. Name the link group 5. Define the SLA group to be bound to the link group (optional) 6. Click "Save" 14.4 Removing Link Groups Remove a link group as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4.
15 Alarms 40 Related icons alarm configuration critical alarm informational message alarm configuration group network error warning message The system alarms are initiated by significant changes in the monitored network's status or topology. It is possible to send the alarms to an SNMP system. Please see the instructions later in this document. Alarms are used through alarm groups to which the desired alarms can be assigned.
15 Alarms Non-Managed Access Point Channel Violation Unknown Access Point Detected End to end latency time exceeded. End-to-End Connection Loss Retransmission Rate Exceeded DCHP Server Unreachable Access Point MAC Change.
15 Alarms 42 Or 1. Open Service Alarm Binder Dialog by right clicking Service Area Node and selecting “Bind Alarms” 2. Select Alarm Limit Group from the Combo Box 3. Select Access Points for the binding 4. Save 15.3 Alarm Messages To view the alarms issued, select “View | Alarms” from the top menu bar. You can indicate whether you want to see all alarms or only alarms that are currently active. You can also select how the alarms are listed.
15 Alarms 43 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 1. From the top menu bar, select “Manage | Alarms | Email” 2. Enter target email address to “New recipient” field 3. Select “Add” to register the email address as a recipient. It shall appear in the box named “Email recipients” a. Incorrectly added or not any more relevant recipients may be removed by activating the recipient in the box and then selecting “Remove” 4.
15 Alarms 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 9. Click Save all Changes.
16 Traffic Classes 45 The IEEE 802.11e standard defines eight traffic classes. Most mission-critical access points support this standard. Traffic classes are becoming more and more important, especially on account of wireless VoIP. 7signal Sapphire Enterprise supports the 802.11e standard. Active tests can be configured to have a traffic class.
17 Automated test configuration 46 The tests are grouped into passive listening tests and active tests in the radio network. There are two ways to run tests in Sapphire Carat: user-initiated tests to locate a fault and automated tests for continuous monitoring and collecting of measurement results. You can run the tests from a hierarchical tree. Test menus are accessible by right-clicking a monitoring station or an access point. You can also run tests from the floor plan. 17.
17 Automated test configuration Test profile is a collection of test elements that may be executed. The user is supposed to copy either templates or elements to a test profile. There may be numerous profiles for different purposes. A test profile is always bound to a monitoring station. 17.2 Contents Of A Test Profile The purpose of the network dictates which tests should be used to get the best picture of its functionality.
17 Automated test configuration 48 17.2.3 Office The “Office” template is intended for office use wherein the clients are mostly laptops running office applications. An office WLAN must have superb usability and a robust data transfer capacity. This profile can be used in all environments with similar circumstances. 17.2.4 Lightweight The “Lightweight” profile is intended for environments that do not have several concurrent users and that have a narrowband link to a central server (<512 kbit/s).
17 Automated test configuration 49 Whenever it is possible to define an essid to a test element there may be exactly one essid per element or no essid at all. The latter means that the test in question shall be executed against all access points managed by the monitoring station. The former limits the access points to ones that have the essid and are managed by the monitoring station. 17.4 Operations on Templates Templates are for copying and editing.
17 Automated test configuration 50 17.6 Operations on Test Profile Node Save All Changes Any change in the sub-tree shall be made persistent. Add empty Test Profile A new test profile object to the tree shall be inserted. The only input required is the name of the profile. 17.7 Operations on Test Profile Edit Open a pane with “Common Values” and “Name” field ready for editing. “Bound Tests” remains read-only, the elements are managed in the tree. Duplicate Create identical test profile with a new name.
17 Automated test configuration 51 Make the changes in the sub-objects persistent. Insert Essid Paste previously copied essid into this profile as the last element. Insert New Essid Create a new empty essid into this profile as the last element. 17.8 Operations on essid inside a test profile Edit Open a pane with “Common Values” and “Name” field ready for editing. Copy Enable pasting of the object.
17 Automated test configuration 52 Select an access point Select an IP address Select the number of bytes to be downloaded/uploaded Select the number of repetitions Select the client’s IP address policy: i. DHCP in use (1) ii. Static address (0) – enter address data 5. Select “Keep changes” 6. Select “Save all changes” 17.9.2 Use case: Multiple SSID testing There are two ways to achieve testing on multiple networks on one single monitoring station.
17 Automated test configuration 53 Select “Tools | Eye auto tests management” to see current status of Eye units. The Eyes of the user context are enlisted in the box on the right. The Eye name, the test profile name and the state of the test profile run are indicated. By selecting one of the Eyes brings additional information such as the run time and test profile content on the left.
18 Manual tests 54 Manual tests can run simultaneously with automated testing. Sapphire will perform ongoing automated test first and then run user defined manual test. Automated test will continue after manual test has been finished. Manual test results will not be saved to database. 18.1 “Network Scan” test The network scan test can also be used as a separate test outside initial deployment. The deployment is described in the previous section of this guide. To scan the network, do the following: 1. 2.
18 Manual tests 55 The information in the table can be edited. Remember to save the changes.
18 Manual tests 56 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 MAC hidden 8. Select “Save”; the clients detected remain in the table 9. You can enter a friendly name and description for each user; this name will be displayed in future results instead of the MAC address MAC hidden MAC hidden 10. Select “Save” to save the friendly names and descriptions The data can be viewed and edited. 1. From the top menu bar, select “Manage | Network clients” 2.
18 Manual tests 57 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 3. Right-click and select “Edit” 4. Edit the information 5. Select “Save” MAC hidden 18.2.1 Addition of a new client 1. From the top menu bar, select “Manage | Network clients” 2. In the hierarchical tree in the left pane, right-click the topmost element, titled “Network clients” 3. Select “Add network client” 4. Enter a friendly name for the client 5. Enter a user’s name, if known 6. Enter a description (optional) 7.
18 Manual tests The monitoring station supports frequency-sweep-based radio spectrum analysis. The frequency status is displayed as a colored map. 1. 2. 3. 4. In the Network topology, select the Eye that will run the test Right-click and select “Spectrum Analysis” Select a suitable sweep method from the pull-down menu Select the presentation mode from the pull-down menu a. Off-line: one-time draw b. On-line: regularly updated image 5. Select the test duration from the pull-down menu 6.
18 Manual tests 59 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 18.5 “Client Traffic Test” This test listens to radio traffic in the Sapphire Eye’s coverage area and gathers information on wlan clients that are active i.e. exchange traffic with access points in the proximity. The result contains all the clients that were active during the test. Please note that both channels and antennas work in an exclusive manner, only one antenna and only one channel are active at the time.
18 Manual tests 60 The table “Client Scan Results” shows individual clients and their antenna sectors. By activating a row on this table, more detailed information on the client is displayed on the table named “Client Results” below. 18.6 “Air Utilization” test To capture spectrum heavy-users and misconfigurations – such as extensive use of legacy codecs - in the wlan network, air utilization test should be run. This test is not part of the test profiles as it is lengthy troubleshoot test.
18 Manual tests 61 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 Antenna/channel row is presented in a pie-chart form that show frame type distribution on the left and codec distribution on the right. 18.7 “Optimal Antenna Selection” test The antenna test is used to verify the suitability of the selected antenna. Because of reflections, the network scan can show similar results for different antennas.
18 Manual tests 62 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 18.8 Download Tests This test gives an indication of an access point’s FTP or UDP downlink capacity. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
18 Manual tests 63 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 18.9 Upload Tests This test gives an indication of an access point’s FTP uplink capacity. 1. 2. 3. 4. In the Network topology, select the Eye that will run the test Right-click and select ”Manual tests” From the submenu select either “FTP Upload Test” or “UDP Upload Test” Configure the test target in the target area: a. Select the Sonar against which you want to run the test, or type another IP address b.
18 Manual tests 64 18.10 “Ping” test A ping test tests the accessibility of a device, the number of packets sent and received, and latency time. 1. In the Network topology, select the Eye that will run the test 2. Right-click and select ”Manual tests | Ping test” 3. Define the test target in the target area: a. Select the Sonar against which you want to run the test, or type another IP address b. Select an access point from the pull-down menu c. Select the Eye’s IP address (DHCP or static) i.
18 Manual tests 65 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 18.11 Traceroute Test This test helps one perform network troubleshooting and identify routing problems or firewalls that may be blocking access to a host. 1. In the Network topology, select the Eye that will run the test 2. Right-click and select ”Manual tests | Traceroute Test” 3. Define the test target in the target area: a. Select the Sonar against which you want to run the test, or type another IP address b.
18 Manual tests 66 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 18.12 “Access point traffic” test This test listens to radio traffic in the Sapphire Eye’s coverage area and gathers many kinds of information. 1. In the Network topology, select the Eye that will run the test 2. Right-click and select ”Manual tests | Access Point Traffic Test” Note: This test is among the active tests since it requires you to select a target access point 3. Select the target access points from the table 4.
18 Manual tests 67 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 18.13 “MOS test” This test creates a VoIP call between Sapphire Eye and Sonar. Both uplink and downlink call quality can be measured. 1. In the Network topology, select the Eye that will run the test 2. Right-click and select ”Manual tests | Http test” 3. Define the test target in the target area: a. Select the Sonar against which you want to run the test b. Select an access point from the pull-down menu c.
18 Manual tests 68 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 18.13.1 MOS test parameters 1. Select the initial display format for the results (Table/Graph) 2. Select the direction of the test (Downlink/Uplink) 3. Select the codec to be used in the test (VoIP Codec): a. G.711 PCM Linear 16 = 64 kbit/s b. G.729 GSM data = 8 kbit/s 4. Select an optional error correction method (Stream FEC) 5. Configure sender information: a. Enter a port for the MOS test (Local port) b.
18 Manual tests 69 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 Elements of the results image: • MOS result: The distribution of MOS values related to test duration. The color coding indicates quality. • Loss Rate: Packet loss as a function of test duration. • Average Jitter: Variation in delay as a function of test duration. • Codec: The distribution of codecs used during the test. If only one result is visible, the codec was not changed during the test.
18 Manual tests 70 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 To run the Intranet test: 1. Select an access point from the pull-down menu 2. Select the Eye’s IP address (DHCP or static) a. If static, enter the (1) local IP address, (2) local netmask, and (3) gateway 3. Choose URL from the box a. To add a URL i. Write a well-formed and proper address to the input box ii. Select “Add URL” b. To remove a URL i. Activate the URL to be removed with a right-click ii. Select “Remove URL” 4.
18 Manual tests 71 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 To run the Internet availability test: 1. Select an access point from the pull-down menu 2. Select IP address a. Use DHCP of the wlan network by checking the box i. DHCP result shall affect other test parameters as the actual servers shall be dictated by the result and the reliability is expected. b. Use of static IP address configuration i. enter the (1) local IP address, (2) local netmask, and (3) gateway ii.
18 Manual tests 72 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 To run the SIP test: 1. Select the SIP server to register to a. From the pull-down menu i. SIP end-point has to be defined as a test end-point to be selectable b. Arbitrary IP address i. Enter IP address and the port 2. Select an access point 3. Select the Eye’s IP address (DHCP or static) a. If static, enter the (1) local IP address, (2) local netmask, and (3) gateway 4. Enter the SIP protocol specific parameters a.
18 Manual tests Unregister time, milliseconds 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.
19 Service Level Agreement 74 Service Level Agreement (SLA) groups a number of KPIs and their expected target values. In a nutshell, typically a KPI has a scalar value while SLA is combination of numerous KPI values and statistical rules that result in a higher-level view on the quality of the network. The ultimate goal is to bind together a contractual agreement and actual measurements, the expression of the desired or required level of the service and the proven real-life phenomena.
19 Service Level Agreement 75 The table below explains how an SLA value is calculated based on target KPI, it’s measurement and statistical analysis. Boundary value Green level above 5,5 Mbit/s 99,0% Yellow level 95,0% Red level below 95,0% The threshold value for KPI. At least 99,0% of measured samples must attain an upload throughput of at least 5,5Mbit/s in order to attain the green level for the KPI in question.
19 Service Level Agreement 76 19.4.2 Creating an SLA group from scratch The dialog pane is identical to the case of duplicated template. Naturally the contents of the pane are empty, but the look and the process is identical. Create the SLA group as follows: 1. Click on "Manage | SLA definitions" from the top menu bar 2. Right-click on "SLA groups" from the tree hierarchy 3. Choose "Add SLA group" from pop-up menu. An SLA group editing dialog opens to the right. 4. Name the SLA group 5.
19 Service Level Agreement Bind an SLA group to a link group as follows: 1. Click on "View | Network topology" from the top menu bar 2. Right-click on the link group that you want to bind an SLA group to from the tree hierarchy 3. Choose "Set SLA group" from the pop-up menu 4. Choose the desired SLA group from the menu that opens or alternatively 1. Click on "View | Network topology" from the top menu bar 2. Right-click on the link group that you want to bind an SLA group to from the tree hierarchy 3.
20 Continuos And Automated Reporting 78 Loupe is an interactive tool for studying network phenomena of interest and for in-depth investigation of problems. Reports in standard, easy-to-interpret formats are available to support routine monitoring. By using the report view in Carat, the user can configure reports from elements that are familiar from Loupe.
20 Continuos And Automated Reporting In the “Report destination settings” area: 12. Choose the delivery format (Media type) of the PDF report a. Email b. save to File system i. an absolute path gives the location in the Carat server file system ii. relative paths are relative to the Carat startup directory (default: /opt/7signal/Carat/7signal) 13. Add one or more formats in the “Destinations” field by clicking “New” 14. Save the subscription by clicking “Save” 20.
20 Continuos And Automated Reporting 80 20.2.1 Adding SLA compliance report item 1. Select the method of aggregation in Area aggreation 2. From the hierarchical tree presented, select the corresponding elements depending on the selected area aggregation. 3. Click “Next” to continue to “Report item time configuration” 7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, +358 40 777 7611, info@7signal.com, www.7signal.com 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 To add a report item: 1.
20 Continuos And Automated Reporting 20.2.2 Adding KPI report item 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Select the desired KPI by left-clicking it in the right-hand pane Right-click and select “Add KPI” in the submenu Repeat steps 2–3 until all desired KPIs are in the left pane Select the Chart type Select the method for displaying the measurement series in Chart content Select the display method a. Data Table, Aggregation Chart 13.
20 Continuos And Automated Reporting 82 7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1 14. Select the method of aggregation in Area aggreation 15. From the hierarchical tree presented, select the corresponding elements depending on the selected area aggregation. 16. Click “Next” to continue to “Report item time configuration” 17. Select the time interval for the report a. History uses pre-defined intervals from the generation time backwards b.
20 Continuos And Automated Reporting 83 . 1. Choose the appropriate aggregation in the drop-down box. 2. Select the elements in the topology tree 3. Select the SLA group to be applied. Available SLA groups are in a drop-down menu on the right of the topology element name. 4. Repeat steps 2-3 until all desired elements are bound to SLA groups. 5. Click “Next” to continue to “Report item time configuration” 6. Select the time interval for the report a.
20 Continuos And Automated Reporting 1. Select the desired alarm by left-clicking it in the right-hand pane 2. Right-click the alarm and select “Add alarm” in the submenu a. One may remind oneself about the alarm by selecting “Description” 3. Repeat steps 2–3 until all of the desired alarms are in the left pane 4. Select “Next” to continue to “Report item topology configuration” 5. Select the method of aggregation in Area aggregation 6.
21 Viewer Software 85 Test result information and other results can be transferred outside Carat in spreadsheet format and as raw or delimited text and pdfs. You can select the applications you want to use to process these files in Carat. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
22 Email Servers When one configures an email server (icon ), one can send reports and alarms to email addresses. This setting is only for the SMTP server, the email account information is given in each of the features using the SMTP server. There should be only one SMTP per organization. Solution Administrator has visibility to all SMTP servers but local Administrators and Configurators may add only one SMTP server. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
23 Database Backup 87 It is possible to backup databases in 7signal Sapphire. Given a proper backup, the system state may be recovered completely in case of system crash. There are two remarkably different alternatives and an option not to backup the database. The default in 7signal Sapphire is no backup. While this option is known to be non-optimal for any production environment, it is chosen as default to force every organization to define their own backup policy. 23.
23 Database Backup 88 # 7db backup now /mnt/backups offline Archival logging Sapphire processes will not be stopped during backup process. Example: # 7db backup now /mnt/backups online 23.2 Database logging In short, the logs of a database system are the most precious. It is justified to say that the logs are the database as they are written first and the tables are updated after that. IBM DB2 provides alternative logging methods that affect the backup options.
23 Database Backup 89 The infinite archival logging is provided in order to support online backups (see below) but it should also be seen as a method to make system run longer automatically without user interruption. However, the system has to be maintained and administered. It is outside of the scope of this document to fit 7signal Sapphire to IT processes of all organizations but offline backups with planned system halts are highly recommended. 23.3 Backup method options 23.3.
23 Database Backup 90 Method handicaps: - backup process requires downtime Method strengths: - simple to recover - recovered system state is thoroughly consistent TIP: offline backup is suitable for environments that require automated backup but do not have special backup policy hardware nor other extensive resources. 23.3.3 2nd degree of backup: online backup The requirement for the online backup is that infinite archive logging is enabled.
23 Database Backup 91 23.3.4 Changing log settings Install time gives the option to set all the backup related settings including log setup. To change the settings while the system is installed and in production later, please use the tool 7db and the logsetup sub-command. Complete guide to 7db tool is in the appendix of Deployment Guide. 23.3.5 Managing backup levels By default the system is in default state, no automated backups at all.
23 Database Backup 92 # # # # # # # 7db 7db 7db 7db 7db 7db 7db backup backup backup backup backup backup backup remove set weekly Wed 00:30 /mnt/backups /mnt/backups set daily 03:00 /mnt/backups set directory /mnt/newbackups set weekly Sun 01:30 set type online now /mnt/backups online 23.4 Restoring backups Backups are located in the user-defined directory. Backup files contain timestamp in the name, also the operating system timestamp exists.
24 Nagios Support 93 7signal Sapphire supports Nagios, a commonplace open license tool for IT infrastructure monitoring. In this case Sapphire is the object of monitoring, not the monitor itself. Therefore we assume the general concepts and usage of Nagios to be well-known to the user. If this is not the case, one may start exploring the topic from the Nagios web pages (http://www.nagios.org).
24 Nagios Support 94 The prerequisite is that client-side tools of Nagios have been installed on the host running 7signal Sapphire software. The protocol being used is NRPE. There is no SSH support concurrently. 24.2.1 Install NRPE daemon Use online install with yum: # yum install nrpe 24.2.2 Install toolset ‘Nagios plugins’ Use online install with yum: # yum install nagios-plugins-nrpe NOTE: the following installers shall open port tcp/5666 for Nagios traffic in the firewall settings.
