JaxView as Network Appliance

About JaxView Network Analyzer Options

JaxView can be setup to run as a network appliance and detect service message traffic. A switch port analyzer (SPAN) port can be configured to direct network traffic to the JaxView server and the JaxView server will automatically pick up SOAP requests and responses. JaxView can be configured to run a network analyzer (sniffer) product that is part of the Ethereal project called Tethereal.

There are three operational modes that can be used when JaxView is configured to run as a network appliance:

1. Auto-discovery, Configuration, and Monitoring - JaxView can discover Web services by analyzing network traffic and automatically add the discovered services to its services list. JaxView then automatically assigns performance monitors to the new services and begins monitoring the message traffic.
2. Service Monitoring - In this mode, service definitions are added manually to JaxView and the network analyzer provides the message stream for JaxView monitoring of the defined services.
3. Packet Capture - JaxView can be configured to capture service messages from network traffic and forward them to a data storage database without performing monitoring or reporting functions. This mode is designed to maximize message collection performance in high traffic environments. In this configuration a second JaxView installation is dedicated to processing messages from the data storage database for monitoring and reporting functions.

The following diagram illustrates the first two operational modes described above. Option 1 illustrates the auto-discovery and monitoring option. Option 2 is configured to only capture message data from the network packet stream.

The following diagram illustrates the thrid operational mode described above. This illustrates the use of two or more JaxView servers. One JaxView is configured to only capture message data and write it to a database. Another JaxView is configured to only read the packet data, correlate message data, and perform other management functions.

Considerations and Prerequisites

The following are some deployment considerations and prerequisites for integrating JaxView with a network analyzer.

• A network switch (or hub) must be configured with a switch port analyzer (SPAN) port.
• The network switch needs to be in a location where it will handle all of the Web service message traffic that needs to be monitored by JaxView.
• JaxView needs to be deployed in a place where it has network access to the switch configured with the SPAN port.
• The Tethereal product (www.ethereal.com) must be installed on the platform on which JaxView is installed.

Configuring JaxView as a Network Appliance

After configuring the network switch and installing the Ethereal product and the JaxView server, you need to configure several properties in JaxView to use the network analyzer.

To configure JaxView as a network appliance

1. Log in to the JaxView console and click on the Admin tab in the Main view
2. Click on the Options node. The Edit Options page is displayed in the right side panel.
3. Click the arrow icon on the left end of the Network Analyzer Options bar to expand the sub panel.
4. Check the Analyzer On check box to activate the JaxView interface with the Tethereal listener.
5. Enter complete path to Ethereal installation in the Tethereal Path text box.
6. In the Tethereal Args text box, modify the arguments to Tethereal executable. The only variable should be the -i command which is the capture interface followed by the number for the interface. To find out the number to use, run the tethereal -D command from a shell or command window to get a list of network interfaces.
7. Select the operational mode for JaxView as a network appliance:
   • To have JaxView auto-discover and configure Web service monitoring for services that it detects through the network traffic, check the Service Auto-Discovery check box. With this option, use the monitor object tree at the bottom of the form to select which monitors should automatically be configured to monitor any services that JaxView adds through auto-discovery.
   • To have JaxView only use the network traffic stream for monitoring manually added Web service definitions, leave the Service Auto-Discovery check box unchecked.
   • To have JaxView only capture packets identified as service messages and log them to a data storage database, check the Capture Packets To DB checkbox.
     Note: The Database configuration options must also be completed and activated to enable this mode.
   • To configure a JaxView to read message packets captured by another JaxView that is operating in network appliance, check the Read Packets From DB check box.
     Note: The Database configuration options must also be completed and activated to enable this mode.
8. Click the Save button to activate the settings.

Network Sniffer Properties

The following are the properties used to integrate JaxView with a network analyzer.

Sniffer On:

Select this option to enable JaxView as a network appliance. This option must be checked to enable JaxView to read and analyze network traffic from the network switch through the Tethereal application. To disable this mode, clear the checkbox.

Tethereal Path:

Enter the path to the installation directory to Ethereal network analyzer. For example: C:\Program Files\Ethereal\.

Tethereal Args:

This field is for passing command line arguments to the Tethereal application. For example: tethereal -i 2 -R XML -T text -V -l The only parameter argument that should be modified in this entry is -i 2 where 2 is the capture interface of the network card to use for sniffing. Please see the Tethereal documentation for more information.

Capture Packets To DB

Check this box if you want to use this JaxView server as a packet sniffing server. Selecting this option will configure this JaxView installation to record all the packets it detects to a database table. The packet data can then be processed by another JaxView server. Use this option when using one or more JaxView servers as network appliances in high traffic environments in order to off load JaxView monitoring and reporting load to another server.

Read Packets From DB

Check this box if you want this JaxView server to process packets from the packet table in a shared database. Selecting this option will enable this JaxView installation to process packets written to the database by other JaxView servers that have the Capture Packets To DB option checked.

Service Auto-Discovery:

Select the Service Auto Discovery check box to have JaxView automatically add Web services that it detects into its catalog when configured as a network appliance. JaxView deduces the location of a WSDL file for the discovered services by appending ?wsdl to the Web service endpoint address.

Monitors to assign to the new services discovered

Select the checkbox(es) to the left of the monitor types in this list that you want to assign to any new Web services detected by JaxView. JaxView will automatically assign those monitors to every operation defined for the Web service in the WSDL file.