Riverbed extends reach of Cascade network monitoring platform

Riverbed Technology is adding new monitoring capabilities to its Cascade network analysis platform, designed to allow administrators to use a single interface for flow-based and packet-based traffic monitoring.

Scheduled for release by the end of June, the update will equip the Cascade Shark appliance with technology acquired in Riverbed's 2010 acquisition of CACE Technologies.

The appliance will provide constant flow-based monitoring, while stored packet traffic data will be delivered to administrators when requested.

Adding deep-packet monitoring allows administrators to dramatically cut the time needed to pinpoint problems with network traffic that would normally require switching between multiple tools.

Yoav Eliat, director of product marketing for Riverbed Cascade, told V3.co.uk that the company designed the platform to get around the huge data archives collected by conventional packet analysis platforms.

"We realised there was a huge amount of information being recorded and it was like looking for a needle in a haystack," Eliat explained. "We felt there was more detail needed to troubleshoot problems."

Riverbed's solution was to make the monitoring process function much like a mapping site. The aim is to allow administrators to use the high-level tools to view the general area of a problem and then 'zoom' in on trouble spots with packet analysis tools.

In doing so, Eliat said that the Cascade appliance can in some cases reduce to minutes issues that might take hours to resolve on conventional systems.

Riverbed also plans to integrate the Cascade appliance with its Steelhead wide area network optimisation platform, allowing administrators to use the Cascade system to monitor and diagnose issues in remote offices and locations through the Steelhead appliance.