Perspective Administration and User Guide

Overview

Nectar Perspective analyzes network performance delivering real-time traffic. Perspective generates synthetic Real-Time Protocol (RTP) traffic. Metrics are collected and reported to expose underlying network issues, either before or after deployment of a Unified Communications (UC) solution.

Perspective is used to perform network assessments, or scheduled to run after hours, pro-actively monitoring network performance when no live traffic exists.

Perspective may be deployed locally, reporting to a Client Remote Intelligence Gateway (RIG), while Perspective-as-a-Service (PaaS) uses a cloud-based Controller for Managed Services Providers (MSPs) to perform network assessments. For more information on architecture, see Section 3 Architecture.

About this Guide

This guide provides the information required to administer the Perspective solution, including:

Prerequisites - End User and Network

Architecture

Controller Deployment and Initial Configuration

Agent Deployment and Registration

Controller Configuration

View Active Sessions

Groups and Group Sessions

Reports

Troubleshooting

Audience

This guide is intended for system administrators or engineers who are responsible for the Perspective solution administration and configuration. Appropriate system administration access and technical knowledge of corporate standards for operating system and security practices along with a familiarity with the deployment of Nectar Unified Communications Management Platform (UCMP) and related components are recommended. A subset of information is intended for service providers, technical resources, and operations in the use of Perspective for voice quality reporting, proactive problem identification, and network pre-assessment deployments.

*** MS 0365Nectar-certified partners are authorized to use Perspective for Microsoft O365 readiness assessments. Throughout this document, you will see call out boxes, like this one, to indicate a function, setting or requirement that is specific to O365 testing.

*** MS O365 A special Nectar Analytics license is required to unlock MS O365 reporting. Again, only Nectar-certified partners are authorized to use Perspective for Microsoft O365 readiness assessments.

Supported Software Versions

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    • Perspective Controller v8.1
    • Perspective Agents v8.0

Operating System

The Perspective Controller is supported on the following operating system:

Table 1-1 Operating System

The Perspective Agents are supported on the following operating systems:

Table 1-2 Operating System

Prerequisites - End User and Network

This section provides the prerequisites for:

Users

Network - Ports and Protocols

Network - Firewall

Linux Line Editor

Linux Line Editor

Users

Users involved in deploying the Nectar Perspective application should be familiar with Nectar UCMP and participated in Nectar training.

Network - Ports and Protocols

The Nectar components (Perspective Controller, Perspective Agents) use various ports and protocols to communicate with each other. These are defined in Section 3 Architecture. Users need to be familiar with network communication, ports and protocols.

Network - Firewall

Users must understand Firewall rules in order to accommodate the ports and protocols mentioned above.

It is recommended that the Client Network Team is involved during deployment to ensure communication between devices.

Linux Line Editor

It is possible, though unlikely, that knowledge of Linux and its line editor are necessary.

Architecture

This section describes the following:

Components

Example Deployment

Ports and Protocols

Components

This section describes the following Perspective components:

Perspective Controller

Perspective Agents

Sessions

Reports

Perspective Controller

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      • A Perspective Controller provides the User Interface (UI) wherein you configure the test(s) you wish to run. The Controller instructs the Agents and collects RTCP feedback from the Agents.
      • A Controller may be local, within a Client environment, or in the cloud (PaaS). When deployed locally, the RIG functions as the Controller.

Perspective Agents

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      • Perspective Agents generate RTP Sessions between each other and send their RTCP feedback to the Controller.
      • Agents connect to a Controller in order to receive their configuration/instructions.
      • Sending RTCP feedback to the Controller can be configured to use UDP packets or the Agent/Controller configuration connection.
      • Agents are deployed in various locations and subnets within a Client environment. Placement should be planned to mirror call flows of the UC platform.
      • Agents can be software or a hardware appliance. Nectar offers a pre-loaded,

pre-configured hardware appliance based on the Intel NUC via the Nectar Appliance Program. You can find more information about the Appliance Program and ordering details on the Nectar Partner Portal.

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      • Refer to the Nectar Appliance Sizing Guide for the NUC Agent session capacity.
      • Agents may be deployed as Software on Client devices. These may be: Windows 7 or above, CentOS Linux 6, physical or virtual.

Sessions

A Session is a RTP communication stream(s) between two Agents. It consists of a codec (such as g.729, g.711, etc.), schedule (such as 24x7, 6pm-8am), DSCP priority tag, and a quantity.

For example, you may wish to test a g.729 call between a branch and the Data Center, while you might test a g.711 call between two Agents within a branch.

Codec selection, call flows and DSCP should mirror the UC platform. For instance, if all communication flows through the Data Center, then you would not configure Sessions directly between branches.

The table below lists the set of codecs that are currently supported.

Table 3-1 Codecs Supported

*** MS O365When testing for MS O365 and Skype for Business, use g.722. This most closely aligns to the MS RT-audio codec.

Note

Nectar now supports H.264 video codec

Reports

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      • Reports are used to evaluate test results and determine how well the network is delivering real-time, priority traffic.
      • Reports may be generated by a Controller (RIG), or via Nectar's Analytics Reporting Engine. In either case, you load the respective Nectar Perspective Report Pack that includes the pre-defined Reports.
      • Report Packs can be found on the Nectar Partner Portal.

Example Deployment

The following Figure 3-1 shows a sample environment. The goal is to isolate network performance issues. To that end, segment the network into call legs. At all times, mirror the call flows of the UC platform (codec, DSCP, do calls route directly between branches?).

Figure 3-1Sample Environment

Based on the diagram, it is recommended to test the following segments:

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    • Data Center Core ↔ WAN Access

Are there issues within the Data Center?

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    • Data Center Core ↔ Internet Access

While we cannot affect performance issues on the Internet, we need to monitor remote user performance from the ingress point of the Data Center (VPN concentrator, etc.). If the internal talk path is clean, then the Internet would be the likely cause of the communication issues.

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    • Data Center WAN ↔ Branch Edge Isolate and evaluate WAN performance.
    • Segment the Larger Branch

If a Branch is large enough to have multiple subnets, you may deploy multiple Agents to test each network segment.

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    • Branch ↔ Branch

Only if direct Branch communication is configured. As it is optional, this will be red in the following diagram.

The Agents will be placed, and Sessions configured as shown in Figure 3-2:

Figure 3-2Configuration

*** MS O365The following diagrams describe testing for a MS O365 deployment. Three segments will be tested:

• Client Edge ↔ Azure Edge (see Figure 3-4)
• Client LAN ↔ Azure Edge (see Figure 3-5)

If a Branch is large enough to have multiple subnets, you may deploy multiple Agents to test each network segment.

• Client LAN ↔ Client Edge (see Figure 3-6)

Figure 3-3Typical Environment

Figure 3-4MS O365 - Client Edge to Azure Edge

Figure 3-5MS O365 - Client LAN to Azure Edge

Figure 3-6MS O365 - Client LAN to Client Edge

Ports and Protocols

The following excerpts are specific to Perspective.

Perspective Controller, also known as Nectar Foundation Server/RIG

Table 3-2 Perspective Controller

Perspective Agent

Table 3-3 Perspective Agent

Nectar Analytics Reporting

Table 3-4 Analytics Reporting

Note

For more information, see the Ports and Protocols Job Aid on the Partner Portal.

Controller Deployment and Initial Configuration

This section describes the following:

Ports and Protocols

Controller (RIG/Nectar Foundation) Installation and Licensing

Network Mode/Externalize Database (DB) (Optional)

Detail Table Setting (Optional)

Controller Module Verification

Configure Controller

Ports and Protocols

Confirm with the Client that the necessary Ports/Protocols are open between the various components, as defined in Section 3.3 Ports and Protocols.

Controller (RIG/Nectar Foundation) Installation and Licensing

Deploying a Perspective Controller is identical to deploying a Nectar Foundation Server (also known as a RIG). Perspective Controller is another function the Nectar Foundation server performs.

For instructions regarding installation and licensing of a Nectar Foundation server, see Nectar Foundation RIG/EIP Install Guide.

Note

Prior to deploying your Controller, see the following sections:

• Network Mode/Externalize Database (DB) (Optional)
• Detail Table Setting (Optional)

Network Mode/Externalize Database (DB) (Optional)

Note

This step is only necessary if you are using the Nectar Reporting and Analytics solution.

*** MS O365MS O365 testing requires Nectar Reporting and Analytics. The dB must be externalized.

By default, the Nectar monitoring database is configured in Embedded mode, which means only the RIG service can access it. In order for Nectar's Analytics Reporting Server to access the database, it must be in Network mode.

You can change an existing installation from Embedded to Network. However, once in Network

mode, you cannot modify back to Embedded.

This section discusses Network and Embedded mode for each of the following:

New Installation

Upgrade

Update/Change

New Installation

During a new installation, the database mode is selectable. It defaults to Embedded mode. If you plan to use Nectar Analytics for reporting, select Network mode when deploying a Perspective Controller.

Upgrade

During an upgrade, the installer analyzes the existing installation. If it finds that the database is in Network mode, there will be no prompting for the database mode. If the database is currently in Embedded mode, you will be prompted for the database mode, giving you the option to change it to Network, if you plan to use Nectar Analytics for reporting.

Update/Change

If you have already installed the Perspective Controller and need to change it from Embedded to Network mode, simply re-run the Nectar installer and select Target an existing installation. This is functionally the same as an upgrade. However, the version remains the same. Aside from enabling you to change the database mode, this will not affect the current installation or existing data.

Note

Once in Network mode, it is not possible to revert to Embedded mode.

Detail Table Setting (Optional)

Note

This step is only necessary if you are using the Nectar Analytics Reporting Solution.

Important After upgrading to v8.3, if you have or plan to manipulate a properties file that uses a file path or directory, then you must verify that you are using the proper backslash (\) or forward slash (/):

• Windows:

Use double backslash (\\), for example, :\\\\

or

Use single forward slash (/), for example, ://

• Linux/iOS:

Use single forward slash (/), for example, //

Follow these steps to edit the avayaPhone-module.properties file on the Controller. The file’s default location is C:Apps/nectar/etc.

1. Select one of the following
   • Remote desktop (RDC) to the RIG and edit locally. This only applies to a Controller running on Windows.
   • Use Nectar's File Manager to download the file to your machine. Edit the file offline; then upload it back to the RIG.
   • Add the following two lines, exactly as shown, to the end of this file:

createDetailTablesEveryHours=4 createDetailTablesThreads=2

1. Restart the RIG for this change to take effect. Navigate to RIG > Server License; then click

Restart.

Controller Module Verification

Once the Nectar software has been deployed to the Controller, confirm the necessary Modules are active.

1. Navigate to RIG > Module Configuration and ensure that the following Modules are checked.
   • Perspective QoS Configuration/Display
   • Real-Time Phone QoS Collector
   • EIP/Perspective Controller (Mother)

Note

Perspective QoS Transponder should not be checked. A Controller cannot be a Transponder (Agent).

1. If any of the required Modules above are not checked, check them and click Apply.
2. Restart the RIG for the changes to take effect. Navigate to RIG > Server License; then click Restart.

After the server is back online, navigate to RIG > Module Configuration to confirm the modules from Step 1 are active.

1. Navigate to Configure > Distributed.

This is where you will see your Agent registration status. At this point, we do not expect any Agents to be registered. We are confirming that the menu option is available.

Note

If this option is not available in the Configure menu, contact Nectar Support to repair your license.

Configure Controller

This section configures the Controller using the following:

Create Login for Agent Registration

Configure Real-Time QoS (RTQ)

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    • Select Apply.

Create Login for Agent Registration

You must create a login for the Agent on the Controller (RIG). The suggested credentials are:

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      • Username: paSatellite
      • Password: paSatellite

Note

paSatellite is the default Username and Password an Agent uses. It is recommended that you use paSatellite. If you wish to use something different, you must modify the credentials on each Agent.

Note

The user has no rights or privileges. It is used strictly to authenticate the Agents.

Follow these steps to add a user, paSatellite (see Figure 4-7):

1. Navigate to RIG > Permissions. The Permissions - Users window appears.
2. Click Add. The Add User dialog window appears.
3. Username: Enter paSatellite.
4. Password: Enter paSatellite.
5. Confirm: Enter password again.
6. Organization: Do not change; leave root as default.
7. Default Dashboard: Select default.
8. Click OK.

Figure 4-7Add Permissions Window

Configure Real-Time QoS (RTQ)

Follow these steps to configure the RTQ module:

1. Navigate to Configure > Quality Management > Real Time QoS. The Real Time QoS window appears.

Figure 4-8Real Time QoS

1. Configure Real-Time QoS using the following data:

Table 4-5 Real-Time QoS

Note

There is no need to use Configure > Quality Management > Perspective QoS yet.

1. Select Apply.

Create a Schedule

You must create a schedule for sessions to follow. For a Network Assessment, you will likely want a 24x7 schedule. If Perspective is being used to monitor the network after hours, you could create a schedule from 6 pm to 8 am.

Note

At least one schedule is required. If no schedule is assigned, any sessions will not auto-start, nor will they restart if there is a network outage.

Follow these steps to create a 24x7 schedule (see Figure 4-9):

1. Navigate to Configure > Quality Delivery > Service Window. The Service Window appears.
2. Click Add.

The Add Schedule dialog window appears.

1. Enter your Schedule Name; then click OK.

Figure 4-9Add Schedule

The new schedule appears in the Schedules pane; the schedule Status defaults to Off.

1. Select the new schedule (see Figure 4-10).
2. Click Add in the Windows pane. The Add Window appears.

Figure 4-10Add Recurring Schedule

1. Complete the following:
   1. For Type, use Recurring, which is the default value.
   2. For Days of the Week, select Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
   3. For Begin Time, click the down arrow to select the start time for the schedule in the

Hour field. You can also use 12 am, which is the default value.

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  1. For Duration, click the up arrow to enter 24 in the Hours field; leave 0 for Minutes.

5. Click OK.

When the new Service Window is created, the Service Window status is automatically set to On, reflecting the 24x7 schedule that was created.

Figure 4-11Status Set to On

Agent Deployment and Registration

This section describes the following:

Configure Domain Name System (DNS)

Nectar Appliance Agent

Software Agent/CPE Hardware

Registration Confirmation

Configure Domain Name System (DNS)

The recommended method to streamline Agent deployment and configuration is to use the Domain Name System (DNS) to define the Perspective Controller IP address. This simplifies and accelerates deployment by minimizing the necessary amount of staging and configuration. With DNS configured, an Agent connected to the network automatically registers with the Controller, which can be accomplished by creating a Perspective Controller “A” record.

Note

You can skip the following step if you have configured your Agents to register to an fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or a specific IP address, as opposed to the default perspectivecontroller.

*** MS O365Partners conducting tests for O365 will have a centralized Perspective Controller in the cloud. In this case, you should have the Agents configured with the FQDN, or IP address of your cloud-based Controller. For more information, see Section 5.2 Nectar Appliance Agent.

Identify Perspective Controller IP Address

Follow these steps to identify the Perspective Controller IP address:

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      1. From the Perspective Controller, navigate to RIG > Admin > Maritime Terminal.
      2. Enter tools myip to view the IP address of the RIG.

Figure 5-1IP Address

Configure DHCP Option

Ensure that Option 15 - DNS Domain Name is configured on the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server, or that the base domain/zone is listed in the DNS Suffix Search list.

Create a DNS Entry

Follow these steps to create a DNS entry for perspectivecontroller using the IP address identified in

Section 5.1.1 Identify Perspective Controller IP Address.

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      1. From the DNS Administration Tool, right-click on the domain/zone being delivered by DHCP Option 15. In Figure 5-2, it is nectarco.net.

Figure 5-2Example

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      1. Select New Host (A or AAAA)…

The New Host window appears.

Figure 5-3New Host

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      1. Enter perspectivcontroller in the Name field.
      2. Enter the Controller IP address.
      3. If you are providing Reverse Lookup, click Create associated pointer (PTR) record.
      4. Click Add Host.

Verify DNS Resolution

Once DNS Replication has completed, you can verify using a command prompt on any network device (connected to this Client network).

From the command prompt, enter:

ping perspectivecontroller

• If the ping is successful, DNS is complete.
• If the ping does not resolve and repeatedly fails, review the above steps for accuracy.

Figure 5-4Ping

Nectar Appliance Agent

Agents (NUCs) acquired from the Nectar Appliance Program are pre-loaded with the Nectar software and configured to register to perspectiveController, leveraging DNS/DHCP, as described in Section 5.1 Configure Domain Name System (DNS).

Optionally, when ordering the Agent appliance, you may specify an FQDN or IP address for the Controller. If you are deploying these Agents as part of PaaS, the FQDN of your cloud-based Controller is recommended.

*** MS O365Partners conducting tests for O365 will have a centralized Perspective Controller in the cloud. In this case, you should have the Agents configured with the FQDN, or IP address of your cloud-based Controller.

Additional Agent defaults include:

• Customer - Nectar Customer
• Site - Nectar Customer Site
• Server Name - MAC address plus a 10-digit number

Note

You can assign a friendly name to the server later

When delivering Appliance Agents to a Client, note the end (last 6 digits) of the MAC address (which appears on the box). This identifies which Agent is where. In addition, if you set Customer and Site above, those fields are visible on the Controller (Configure > Distributed) to identify the Agents.

Software Agent/CPE Hardware

If you plan to deploy the PA as software on a Client device, or provide your own hardware, see

Nectar Foundation RIG/EIP Install Guide, available on the Nectar Partner Hive.

You need to download the Nectar software to the machine and execute the automated installer.

Registration Confirmation

Once connected to the Client network, the Agents should automatically register to the Controller. This can be verified on the Controller by navigating to Configure > Perspective Agent Control.

Satellites refer to units registered to this Controller. You should see two connections per Agent. If you do not see all of the deployed Agents, confirm the following:

• Port 443 is open from the Agent to the Controller.
• You created the paSatellite user and password in Section 4.6.1 Create Login for Agent Registration.

Figure 5-5Satellites

Agent Nickname

*** MS O365If you are using Nectar Appliance Agents, it is likely they will be redeployed at another client in the future. Therefore, it is best to give them a more generic name for reference. This nickname is used to identify the unit in the future. It does not show up in reports. Agents will be given a client-specific name later that is used in reporting.

Setting a nickname for the PA speeds identification in the future, if you do not want to use the MAC address. The nickname is sticky, which is helpful if this PA is for PaaS and will travel to different clients in the future.

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      1. Navigate to Configure > Distributed.
      2. Select an Agent.
      3. Right-click on the Agent Name and select Edit.

Figure 5-6 Edit Satellite

It is recommended to do the same for the backup connection (e.g., Agent 123-backup). Should the primary connection be unavailable (e.g., power outage during an upgrade), it identifies your backup access.

After setting the nicknames, you should see something similar to the following:

Figure 5-7Agent Nickname

Agent Remote Access

Remote access to an Agent, via the Nectar GUI, is helpful in the following instances:

• Upgrading the Agent software
• Testing port connectivity between Agents

Add Agent to Management Folder

To remotely access an Agent from the GUI, first assign it to a Satellite Folder, also known as a

Management Folder.

Follow these steps to add an agent to a Management Group:

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      1. Navigate to Configure > Distributed.
      2. Right-click in the upper left pane and select Add > Folder. The Add Folder dialog appears.
      3. Enter a name for the Folder; then click OK.

In this example, we will use Perspective Agents. You may wish to use a Client name to segment your Agents based on the Client engagement.

Figure 5-8Add Folder Navigation

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      1. Select the new Management Folder name in the upper left window.
      2. Select an Agent from the Satellites window.
      3. Right-click in the top, middle pane and select Add > Element.

Figure 5-9Add Element Navigation

The Add Element dialog window appears.

Figure 5-10Add Agent to the Group

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        • The Agent you highlighted will already be selected in the Add Element window.
        • Notice the Host or Server name is shown in the Add Element window. Do not change the name here. The Nickname you assigned will be visible when you wish to connect.
      • Click OK to add the Agent to the Group.
      • Repeat this process to add all of the Agents to a Management Group.

Note

Deleting an existing Satellite/Management Group has no effect on the underlying Agents.

Remotely Connect to a Satellite/Agent

Follow these steps to remotely connect to a Satellite/Agent:

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      1. Navigate to Tools > Satellites.
      2. Select the Management Group in the Satellites window (e.g. Perspective Agents). The Agents will populate in the middle column.
      3. Double-click an Agent to connect to the Agent remotely and securely. Once connected, any menu actions will affect the Agent, not the Controller.

Figure 5-11Agent Selection

Your connection is indicated in the Satellite title bar, as shown below.

Figure 5-12Connection to Satellite

Note

You have two options to disconnect from this Satellite and return to the Controller.

• Click the X at the right side of the Satellite title bar.
• Click the word Satellites in the navigation link above the Satellite Title bar. These are illustrated in the following Figure 5-13.

Figure 5-13Disconnect from Satellite

Simultaneous Session Limit

Agents default to a maximum of 50 simultaneous Sessions. To change this limit, remotely connect to the Agent as described above.

Follow these steps to edit the rtppassive-module.properties file on the agent. The file's default location is C:Apps/nectar/etc (Windows) or /opt/rig/etc (Linux).

1. Select one of the following:
   • Remote desktop (RDC) to the RIG and edit locally. This only applies to Agents running on Windows.
   • Use Nectar's File Manager to download the file to your machine. Edit the file offline; then upload it back to the RIG.
2. Restart the Agent for this change to take effect. To do this, stop and restart the Nectar service on the Agent.
3. You must switch to the Backup Connection. If you stop the service from the primary connection, you will be disconnected from the Agent and will not be able to restart the service.
4. Click on the Backup link (the release number of the Backup connection), as shown below.

Linux

1. Navigate to Backup RIG >Admin > Command Line.
2. Enter stop NectarRIG.
3. Enter start NectarRIG.

Windows

1. Navigate to Backup RIG >Admin > Command Line.
2. Enter net stopservice NectarRIG.
3. Enter net startservice NectarRIG.

Alternatively, you can do this via Remote Desktop (Windows only).

1. Remote desktop to the machine by navigating to RIG > Admin > Remote Desktop.
2. Open Services from the Control Panel/Administrative Tools.
3. Restart the NectarRIG Service.

Controller Configuration

This section explains how to configure the Controller using:

Test ID

Perspective Agent Setup

Bulk Add Agents

Sessions

Test ID

The Test ID is used in PaaS to separate test results from different Clients. If this Perspective deployment is part of your PaaS practice, reporting to your cloud-based Controller, then create a new TestID, using the Client or an engagement name (see Figure 6-2)

If this is a local deployment for a Client, reporting to their RIG, PerspectiveDefault is sufficient, though you have the option of creating a Test ID here as well.

Each configured Test ID has an associated Real Time QOS threshold Category. A default set of threshold values are created automatically. This default thresholds can be modified as well as making the thresholds specific to audio or video codecs. See the Nectar Foundation RIG Administration Guide for more information.

Follow these steps to configure the Controller:

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    1. Navigate to Configure > Quality Management > Perspective QoS.

The Configure Perspective QoS window appears; TestIDs is the first tab.

Figure 6-1Configure > Quality Management > Perspective QoS

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    1. Right-click in the Test ID area and select Add.

The Add Test ID window appears.

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    1. Enter the Test ID Name; then click OK.

Note

No spaces are allowed in the TestID Name.

Figure 6-2Add Test ID

Perspective Agent Setup

*** MS O365This is where you give the Agent a specific name that is used in reporting. It is recommended that you append Edge or LAN to an Agent to specify its location in the Client network. This is then leveraged in reporting. Microsoft specifies different performance thresholds for Client Edge to Azure Edge versus Client LAN to Azure Edge. A proper naming convention will prevent any misinterpretation of data when reporting.

Follow these steps to set up a PA:

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    1. Navigate to Configure > Quality Management > Perspective QoS.
    2. Right-click in the pane below and select Add. The Add Perspective Agent window appears.

Figure 6-3Add Perspective Agent

Note

The terms, Transponder and Agent are used interchangeably.

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    1. Enter the following data; then click OK:

Table 6-1 Add Transponder

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    1. When complete, view your Agents as shown below in Figure 6-4.

Figure 6-4Agents

Bulk Add Agents

The Bulk Add command lets you add multiple Agents in a single step. If you use this command, the Agent Description will be the host name (MAC address, plus a 10-digit number). You then edit each individual Agent to assign a name.

The system will discover and add all Agents currently registered to the Controller that have not yet been added in the Agents tab.

Follow these steps to add multiple agents to a Perspective Controller:

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    1. Navigate to Configure > Quality Management > Perspective QoS.
    2. Click the Agents tab.
    3. In the Agents area, right-click and select Bulk Add. The Bulk Add dialog window appears.

Figure 6-5Bulk Add

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    1. Complete the following fields:

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    1. Click OK.

Table 6-2 Bulk Add SNMP Settings

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  1. Sessions

This section describes the following:

Add a Session

Add a Session

*** MS O365For clarity in reporting, it is suggested that you name Sessions to indicate whether they are from a Client Edge, or LAN. For instance, New York Edge to Azure Edge. This will prevent any misinterpretation of data when reporting.

When testing for MS O365 and Skype for Business, use g.722. This most closely aligns to the MS RT-Audio codec.

Follow these steps to add a RTP session.

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      1. Click the Sessions tab.
      2. Right-click in the Sessions area and select Add. The Add RTP Session window appears.

Figure 6-6Add RTP Session

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      1. Enter the following data:

Table 6-3 Add RTP Session

Table 6-3 Add RTP Session

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      1. Review all of your entries; then click OK to activate the session(s).

Figure 6-7Add RTP Session

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      1. After you have created your Session(s), view them in the Sessions pane.

Figure 6-8Sessions Pane

*** MS O365MOS is not used in O365 testing. Therefore, you may leave the defaults.

View Active Sessions

Active Sessions can be viewed in two places:

Health > Quality Management > Perspective QoS

Health > Quality Management > Real-Time QoS

This section explains how to:

View Active Sessions in Perspective QoS

View Active Sessions in Real-Time QoS

Query Historical QoS Statistics

View Suspect Calls

View Active Sessions in Perspective QoS

Follow these steps to view the active sessions:

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    1. Navigate to Health > Quality Management > Perspective QoS. The Perspective QoS window appears.
       • Only Agents that are involved in an active Session(s) appear in this view. Configured but disabled Sessions/Agents are not visible.
       • Table 7-1 explains the diagram colors:

Table 7-1 Diagram Colors

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    1. Double-click on an individual Session in the lower Session pane to open the detail view of the Session, including the trace route and quality metrics histogram.
       • RTCP feedback is received from each side every 15 seconds.
       • Traceroute is re-run every 15 seconds as well.

Figure 7-1Active Sessions in Perspective QoS View

View Active Sessions in Real-Time QoS

Follow these steps to view the active sessions in Real-Time QoS:

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    1. Navigate to Health > Quality Management > Real Time QoS. The Real Time QoS window appears.
       • Only active Session(s) appear in this view. Configured but disabled Sessions/Agents are not visible.
       • Defaults to the All view.
       • Local Client RIG - If this RIG is also monitoring an Avaya system, this view includes Perspective Sessions and active Avaya calls. There are three methods to filter to Perspective Sessions:
         • Select the Perspective tab, to the right of the Phone tab. This restricts the view to only Perspective activity.
         • Select the Category that reflects your TestID in the Categories pane (upper left).
         • Use the filter below the histogram, to the right. You can filter on a TestID or enter PQoS to view only Perspective activity.
       • PaaS Controller - If this is a cloud-based Perspective Controller for PaaS, this view only includes Perspective Sessions. There are two methods to filter to a specific Client/test:
         • Select the Category that reflects your TestID in the Categories pane (upper left).
         • Use the filter below the histogram, to the right. You can filter on a TestID or enter PQoS

to view only Perspective activity.

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      • Sessions run for 15 minutes; then tear-down and re-initiate.
        • There may be an overlap between setup and tear down, so it may appear that you are running 1, 2, 4, 5, or 6 sessions instead of 3 (for example). This is normal and only lasts for a few seconds.

Note

In the following figure, the columns have been rearranged from the default order. Your view may differ slightly and can be customized to your preferences.

Figure 7-2Active Sessions in Real-Time QoS View

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    1. Double-click on an individual Session in the lower right pane to open the detail view of the Session, including the trace route and quality metrics histogram.
       • RTCP feedback is received from each side every 15 seconds.
       • Traceroute is re-run every 15 seconds.

Figure 7-3Detailed View in Real-Time QoS

Query Historical QoS Statistics

Follow these steps to query real-time QoS:

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    1. Navigate to Health > Quality Management > Real Time QoS.

b. Click Search in the upper left-hand corner next to Traces.

1. Set Endpoint 1 to Extension/Device Name and set Endpoint 2 to IP.

Note

Be sure to select the appropriate Endpoint for the type of search you are performing, such as select IP, if you put an IP address in the Search box.

1. If your search is based on a specific date and time, select a date from the drop-down list next to the Start On and/or Stop At check boxes.
2. When all of your criteria is entered, click Search to perform your search and view the results in the table.

View Suspect Calls

Follow these steps to view suspect calls:

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    1. Navigate to Health > Quality Management > Real Time QoS.
    2. Select a Category, right-click and select View Suspect Calls.

View the calls that violated their configured MOS, RTD, Jitter, or Loss thresholds.

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    1. Double-click on a session.

The QoS Detail window appears wherein you can view additional detail about the suspect call.

Groups and Group Sessions

*** MS O365Due to reporting requirements, Groups and Group Sessions should NOT be used for MS O365 testing.

The Group function simplifies Session creation by enabling you to quickly create a hub-and- spoke, or a mesh of Sessions, in one step. The Group function automatically creates a Session(s) between all members of two Groups.

To create a hub and spoke topology, the single hub Agent must be a member of its own group. All of the spoke Agents are another group. For a mesh, the same Group of Agents is used. The system creates Sessions to and from each of the Agents in that single Group.

This section explains how to:

Create an Agent Group

Create a Group Session

Assign Agent Groups to a Group Session

Create an Agent Group

Follow these steps to create an Agent Group:

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    1. Navigate to Configure > Quality Management > Perspective QoS. The Configure Perspective QoS window appears.
    2. Click the Groups tab.
    3. In the Session Groups area, right-click and select Add. The Add Group window appears.
    4. Enter a Name for the group, such as HUB; then click OK.

Figure 8-1Add Group

Notice that the new group appears in the Session Groups pane.

Figure 8-2New Group, Customer1-PA-Group1

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    1. Select the newly added group, HUB.
    2. View the available agents for this group in the Available Agents pane.
    3. In the Available Agents pane, right-click on each Agent that you want to add to the group, HUB, and select Add.

Each selected Agent moves from the Available Agents pane to the Assigned to Group pane. In this example, we will be placing only the Data Center in the HUB Group. We will also create a SPOKES Group for the branches. We will then use Group Session to create Hub-to-Spoke Sessions in one step.

Figure 8-3Add PA to Group

Note

Each Agent you add must be assigned to the same Test ID, in this case,

NecTech.

The newly added agents appear in the Assigned to Group pane.

Figure 8-4Add Agents to Assigned to Group

Note

You can also double-click on an Agent to add it to the Assigned to Group pane.

If you want to add multiple Agents to a group name at one time, you can hold down the Ctrl key and select multiple agents; then right-click and select Add.

Create a Group Session

Follow these steps to create the Group Session that defines the schedule, codec, etc. that will be used.

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    1. Navigate to Configure > Quality Management > Perspective QoS.
    2. Click the Sessions tab.
    3. Right-click in Sessions area and select Add. The Add RTP Session dialog window appears.

Figure 8-5Add RTP Session

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    1. Enter the following data:

Table 8-1 Add RTP Session

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    1. Review all of your entries; then click OK to create this Group Session(s).
    2. After you have created your Session(s), view them in the Sessions pane.

Assign Agent Groups to a Group Session

Follow these steps to assign Agent Groups to a Group Session:

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    1. Navigate to Configure > Quality Management > Perspective QoS. The Configure Perspective QoS window appears.
    2. Click the Sessions tab.

The Sessions pane appears with the Session Group pane to the right.

Figure 8-6Session Group - Select Add

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    1. Select the group session in the Sessions pane.
    2. Right-click in the Session Group window; then select Add.

Note

The Session Group pane contains the groups that have been created.

The Select Agents to Add window appears.

Figure 8-7Select Agents to Add

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    1. Select an agent to add or hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple agents.

In this example, we will add both the HUB and SPOKE Groups. This will create a Session between all members of the two groups. As there is only one member in the HUB Group, it will create a Session from the HUB to each of the SPOKES.

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    1. Click OK.

If you select the Group Session, the Session Group pane will contain the Agents belonging to the Group Session.

Note

If you want to make any edits to the default settings before proceeding, see Section 8.3.1 Group Sessions.

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    1. Right-click on the Group Session in the Sessions pane and select Enable.

Note

By default, the Group Session will not be enabled.

Figure 8-8Enable a Session

This action creates all of the Sessions, which will be visible in the Group Sessions pane.

Figure 8-9Group Sessions

Note

All Sessions within the Group can be disabled by right-clicking on the Group Session in the Sessions pane and selecting Disable.

Reports

*** MS O365MS O365 testing requires Nectar Reporting and Analytics. Only Nectar-certified partners are enabled for MS O365 Analytics Reports.

There are two options for reporting:

RIG Reports

Nectar Analytics Reports

RIG reports run directly on the Perspective Controller (RIG). Nectar Analytics Reports require the Nectar Advanced Analytics Server.

For more information on reporting, see RIG Administration Guide and Nectar Analytics Administration Guide.

RIG Reports

Download the QoS Report Pack from the Nectar Partner Portal; then use the following, as needed:

Load Report Packs

Report Retention

Enable a Report

Edit a Report Schedule

Create a Report Schedule

Remove a Report

Load Report Packs

Follow these steps to upload report packs from your computer:

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      1. Navigate to Reports > Report Manager.

The Report Manager window appears (see Figure 9-1).

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      1. Right-click on a report name and select Report Packs > Load Report Pack. The Open window appears (see Figure 9-1).
      2. Browse to the report on your computer and click Open to load the report.

Figure 9-1Load Report Pack File

Report Retention

Follow these steps to manage report retention:

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      1. Navigate to Reports > Report Manager. The Report Manager window appears.
      2. Select a report name; then click Edit. The Edit Report window appears.

Figure 9-2Edit Poller Export Report

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      1. Define the number of reports to have on file at a time using the following:

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      1. Click Save.

Table 9-1 Report Retention Properties

Enable a Report

Follow these steps to enable a report. A report will not run until it is enabled.

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      1. Navigate to Reports > Report Manager. The Report Manager window appears.
      2. Click on the Schedules tab.

A list of reports appears. Notice the schedule for each report in the Frequency column.

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      1. Select a report and schedule; then right-click and select Enable.

Note

You can select a report; then right-click and select Disable to disable a report.

Edit a Report Schedule

Follow these steps to edit a report schedule:

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      1. Navigate to Reports > Report Manager. The Report Manager window appears.
      2. Click on the Schedules tab.
      3. If you wish to create a different schedule for a report, select the report and schedule; then click Edit.

The Edit Report Schedule dialog appears.

Figure 9-3Edit Report Schedule

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      1. Define the following parameters for automatic report generation:

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      1. Click OK.

Table 9-2 Parameters - Automatic Report Generation

The details appear in the Schedules pane.

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      1. Right-click on the report and select Enable.

Figure 9-4Enable a Report

The Next Time Text field displays the future date and time that the report will run.

Create a Report Schedule

Follow these steps to create a new report schedule. You can assign multiple schedules to a report.

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      1. Navigate to Reports > Report Manager. The Report Manager window appears.
      2. Click on the Schedules tab.
      3. Click Add.

The Add Report Schedule dialog appears.

Figure 9-5Add Report Schedule

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      1. Select a Report for the new schedule using the drop-down arrow.
      2. Use the parameters in Table 9-2 to complete the remaining Report Schedule fields.
      3. Click OK.

Remove a Report

Follow these steps to remove a report you no longer want to use.

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      1. Navigate to Reports > Report Manager.
      2. Select report to remove; then click Remove. The Confirm Remove Report window appears.
      3. Click Yes.

Figure 9-6Confirm Remove Report

Terminate a Report

Follow these steps to terminate a report that is executing.

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      1. Navigate to Reports > Report Manager.

The Report Manager - Reports window appears.

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      1. From the Reports tab, select the report you want to terminate.
      2. Click the Progress tab.
      3. Select the report; then right-click and select Cancel. The report is terminated.

Nectar Analytics Reports

Nectar Analytics requires a Nectar Analytics Report Server. To deploy and configure this server, see Nectar Analytics Administration Guide on the Partner Portal.

Once deployed, download the Nectar Analytics Perspective Report Pack from the Partner Portal. This report pack will then be loaded on the Analytics server.

For report upload instructions, see Nectar Analytics Administration Guide.

*** MS O365The following Figure 9-7 is a sample Nectar Analytics Report for MS O365 testing. Microsoft uses the 90th percentile as a passing grade. The percent of Sessions that pass is indicated. If a test does not pass 90 percent of the time or more, it will be highlighted in yellow.

Stroke counts are included to indicated where/why a Session did not pass. The six thresholds and the count of breaches are shown in the orange box. A 33 in the Jitter Breach column indicates that the Boston-Azure Session had Jitter above the Microsoft-specified threshold 33 times.

The arrow points to a toggle wheel that switches between the following two threshold sets:

• Client Edge to Azure Edge
• Client LAN to Azure Edge

Microsoft's threshold specifications can be seen under the Thresholds tab in Nectar Analytics.

Figure 9-7Sample Nectar Analytics Report for MS O365

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting includes the following tasks:

Verify Session Status

Perform Trace Route

Verify Session Status

All enabled sessions have a status line displayed in Perspective QoS window. Navigate to Health > Quality Management > Perspective QoS.

Figure 10-1Perspective QoS

Each line contains the following:

Table 10-1 Status Line Values

When a session runs, the system goes through several stages to establish the session between the two Perspective Agents. The follow table summarizes those stages.

Table 10-2 Session Stages

Table 10-2 Session Stages

Table 10-2 Session Stages

If the session will not establish and the root cause is not readily known, a manual trace route can be performed to help isolate the underlying issue. In some cases, it is easier to troubleshoot an issue, if the sessions are stopped.

Perform Trace Route

Using the PA maritime terminal, it is possible to have the transponder send a trace route message using any of the types discussed above. The transponder keeps track of the number of retries before a response was received and the delay time. When the message exchange reaches the destination IP, the transponder sends the trace route message several times to try to detect some sense of packet loss.

Note

The behavior discussed above for the various trace route types may affect the reported results.

View the following examples. The command format is as follows:

rtppassive dotraceroute

Even though ICMP does not use the port number, it must be specified, because the command format is fixed. The command may take many seconds to complete when timeouts occur. The trace route sends to a maximum of 30 hops before quitting. Because every hop is sent three messages before giving up, the overall execution time can become quite long.

Below is an example of using ICMP (see Figure 10-2). The first line of output is the overall result. It will either be okay or fail. If this result text is not displayed when the command completes, verify that the transponder is running on this PA. The next line of output displays the number of hops

discovered. For each hop, the IP address, time delay, received count, and retry count are displayed. In this example, there were no retries. Each intermediate hop is only tested one time. The final hop is sent 50 messages. The largest delay calculated is also displayed.

Figure 10-2 Example - Using ICMP

A UDP trace route is used in the following example. It shows that 27 messages were received and 23 retry messages were sent, because of the throttling of the port unreachable message and not a result of a packet drop.

Figure 10-3Example - UDP Tracer Route

The following is an example of a TCP trace route between two Linux systems.

Figure 10-4Example - TCP Trace Route/Two Linux Systems

The following is an example of a TCP trace route from a Linux system to a Windows system. Note the longer delay time measured for the last hop. This is also an example of the behavior explained in the previous section.

Figure 10-5Example - TCP Route from Linux to Windows System

The following is an example TCP trace route from a Windows machine to a Linux machine.

Figure 10-6Example - TCP Trace Route - Windows to Linux Machine

It is possible to use the UDP trace route to test reachability to the RIG. However, if you use the UDP port assigned as the RTCP report, the trace route will not show the RIG properly. This is because the RIG is listening on the port, so no port unreachable message is returned. The RIG simply consumes the message. For this reason, it is better to use a UDP port number not in use but allowed by the firewalls.