Top Destinations Test

While the Top Sources test indicates the hosts that could be engaging in bandwidth-intensive activities over the network, the Top Destinations test sheds light on what those activities might be. This test discovers the destinations of the net flows, and for each destination, reports the data traffic (in bytes and packets) leading to that destination. This way, the test points you to the destinations that are been frequently accessed and the level of traffic they generate.

Target of the test : A Cisco device

Agent deploying the test : An external agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every destination host.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test period	How often should the test be executed
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
SNMPPort	The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; the default is 161.
SNMPversion	By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the snmpversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.
SNMPCommunity	The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the firewall. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.
Username	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the snmpversion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against the Username parameter.
Context	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the username provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the Username in the context text box. By default, this parameter is set to none.
Authpass	Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPversion selected is v3.
Confirm password	Confirm the Authpass by retyping it here.
Authtype	This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options: MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit
Encryptflag	This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option.
Encrypttype	If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types: DES - Data Encryption Standard 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard AES - Advanced Encryption Standard AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit
Encryptpassword	Specify the encryption password here.
Confirm Password	Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.
Timeout	Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.
Report Host Names	This test captures statistics on traffic to destinations, where each destination host is by default represented by its IP address in the eG monitoring console. Accordingly, this flag is set to No by default. You can set this flag to Yes so that the names of the individual hosts are displayed in the eG monitoring console instead of their IP addresses.
Data Over TCP	By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.
EngineID	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.
Minimum Flow Percent	By default, the value 3 is displayed here. This indicates that, by default, the test will consider only those destinations that are using 3% or more of current traffic. You can increase or decrease this value based on your monitoring needs. If you set this value to 0, then all net flows will be monitored.
Report No Of Flows Limit	By default, this parameter is set to all indicating that this test will monitor all destinations by default. If you want the test to report, say only the top 5 destinations in terms of the amount of traffic they generate in their net flows, then set this value to 5.
Ignore Local Traffic	By default, this flag is set to Yes, indicating that the test will ignore the destinations of all the intranet traffic on the router. If you want the test to report metrics pertaining to the destinations of local traffic as well, set this flag to No.
DD Frequency	Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD frequency.
Detailed Diagnosis	To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option. The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled: The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Data to destination	Indicates the amount of data transmitted to this destination over the network.	KB	Compare the value of this measure across destinations to identify which destination host is contributing to the high level of network traffic. Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to view the top net flows (in terms of the volume of data transacted) to a particular destination, and the amount of data transacted in bytes and packets in every flow. With the help of this detailed diagnosis, you can quickly compare the top net flows, know which net flow generated the maximum traffic, and figure out which source that traffic originated from. Once the problem source is isolated, you can then investigate why traffic from that source is high. Also, using the detailed diagnosis, you can also identify sources that have interacted with the said destination more than once. This will point you to sources that have frequently connected with the destination.
This destination as fraction of top network flows	Indicates the percentage of top network flows in which this host is the destination.	Percent	Compare the value of this measure across destinations to know which destination is part of many top net flows. A high value is indicative of a 'suspect' destination.
Packets to destination	Indicates the number of data packets transmitted by this source over the network.	Pkts	Compare the value of this measure across sources to identify which source host is contributing to the high level of network traffic.

Use the detailed diagnosis of the Data to destination measure to view the top net flows (in terms of the volume of data transacted) to a particular destination, and the amount of data transacted in bytes and packets in every flow. With the help of this detailed diagnosis, you can quickly compare the top net flows, know which net flow generated the maximum traffic, and figure out which source that traffic originated from. Once the problem source is isolated, you can then investigate why traffic from that source is high. Also, using the detailed diagnosis, you can also identify sources that have interacted with the said destination more than once. This will point you to sources that have frequently connected with the destination.

Detailed diagnosis for Top Destinations measure

Figure 1 : The detailed diagnosis of the Top Destinations measure