Avaya ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool ELAT User manual
ExpertNet™ Lite Assessment Tool
User Guide
May 2008
© 2008 Avaya Inc. All rights reserved.
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While reasonable efforts were made to ensure that the information in this document was complete and
accurate at the time of printing, Avaya Inc. can assume no liability for any errors. Changes and corrections
to the information in this document may be incorporated in future releases.
Documentation disclaimer
Avaya Inc. is not responsible for any modifications, additions, or deletions to the original published version
of this documentation unless such modifications, additions, or deletions were performed by Avaya.
ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool - User Guide
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About this guide
This guide is intended for BusinessPartners and Avaya Associates using the
ExpertNet™Lite Assessment Tool (ELAT) for the first time. It describes how to get
started and how to use ELAT for customers purchasing an IP Telephony solution that
requires an IP Network Readiness Assessment.
About the ExpertNet™ Lite Assessment Tool
ELAT is a software application designed to gather information from an IP network. The
data gathered is used to produce a Network Readiness Assessment report. It is
designed to run for an extended period of time (usually 5 days), in order to see trends
in network performance. The data is summarized graphically and can be included in
the report.
Three types of queries are used to perform the measurements: RTP tests, ping probes
and SNMP GET requests.
● ELAT provides RTP test functionality through the use of Traffic Simulators, which
are installed on remote machines on the customer network.
● ELAT supports two ping protocols: UDP (default) and ICMP. On some networks,
the default UDP protocol may not work. (For example, a firewall may be
configured to block traffic to certain ports.) In such cases, the user can switch
the protocol to ICMP.
● ELAT Controller supports SNMPv1 and SNMPv2 protocols. It collects processor
and layer-3 interface utilization variables from devices on network paths. For the
Controller to be able to retrieve SNMP data, it must be configured with a list of
SNMP community strings.
The ELAT Controller collects Round Trip Time and One Way Delay measurements along
network paths. Network paths can be entered manually by the user, or discovered
automatically. To discover paths automatically, the Controller employs, transparently
to the user, a bundled ExpertNet Discovery Tool. The EDT tool discovers network
topology in a scope configured by the user.
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ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool Architecture
● ExpertNet™Lite Assessment Tool Controller – Runs on a PC to measure delay
and packet loss and to produce a dataset.
● Avaya Traffic Simulator – A remote agent that is deployed on various PCs on the
customer network to work with the ELAT controller.
● Dataset from the agent in the form of a compressed file is uploaded
automatically or manually to the FTP server.
● ExpertNet™Lite Assessment Tool Server – Analyzes uploaded datasets to
produce graphical representations that can be browsed or included in the
Network Assessment Report.
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Requirements for ELAT Controller
Hardware
● Standard IBM PC-compatible
● Intel x86 CPU or compatible, Pentium 1Ghz performance
● 512MB of RAM for Windows XP
● 3GB free disk space.
Operating System
● Windows XPTM Professional Edition with Service Pack 2
● .Net framework 2.0 preferable.
Network
● 100Mb /s (or greater) Ethernet adapter (NOTE: If multiple NIC’s exist, it is
preferable, but not required, to disable all but one)
Requirements for Avaya Traffic Simulator
Hardware
● Standard IBM PC-compatible
● Intel x86 CPU or compatible, Pentium 1Ghz performance
● 512MB of RAM for Windows XP
● 150MB free disk space.
Operating System
● Windows XPTM Professional Edition with Service Pack 2
● .Net framework 2.0
Network
● 100Mb /s (or greater) Ethernet adapter (NOTE: If multiple NIC’s exist, it is
preferable, but not required, to disable all but one)
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Installing ExpertNet Lite Assessment Tool
Controller
Before installing ELAT, please ensure that all PCs on which ELAT will be installed are
set up as follows:
● Disable screen savers.
● Disable any time synchronization services.
● Check the Power control panel and disable any options that make the PC move
from the active state.
● Verify the current time and date.
● If the Controller PC has time synchronization services enabled, there is a
potential problem of having the Controller PC time roll back to some past time.
To avoid this, disable the time synchronization services during the ELAT run on
the Controller PC.
● Disable virus scan and SMS software.
It is preferable, but not essential, that you:
● Disable all background services, like Office Find, Indexing Service, SETI@home,
etc.
● If you have multiple NICs installed, enable only one NIC and disable all other
NICs.
Obtain the ELAT License File
After purchasing a 30-day ELAT subscription, email the ELAT administrator
(elatadmin@avaya.com) to obtain a license file. When you receive the file
(license.txt), save it in the ELAT config directory (by default it is C:\Program
Files\Avaya\ELAT\config).
BusinessPartners
After you have purchased a 30-day subscription, you can install ELAT on as many
machines as you like at the customer site. Once installed, the license permits 30 days
of usage.
Avaya Engineers
You do not need to purchase a subscription, but can generate one from ESDP directly.
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Install the Controller
Download the ELAT Controller (a 40Mb binary file) from http://support.avaya.com.
The installation typically takes less than 5 minutes. For more detail about installing
the Controller, refer to Appendix A: Installing the Controller and Test Agents.
Launch the Program
After you have installed the ELAT Controller application and copied a valid license file
to the config directory, you can launch the ELAT Controller. To launch ELAT select:
Start > All Programs > Avaya > ExpertNet™Lite Assessment Tool >
ExpertNet™Lite Assessment Tool > Controller. The main window is displayed:
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Configuring the ELAT Controller
To run the ELAT Controller Configuration wizard, select Configuration > Modify
Configuration. You can review all the parameters and accept the defaults or change
any parameter as per your network needs. The most frequently modified parameters
are:
● Data Collection Interval from the General Settings page.
● Community strings from the Read SNMP Community Strings page. (Without
the SNMP community strings ELAT cannot retrieve CPU and other metrics of
devices and the report will not be as detailed.)
● Topology option from the Network Discovery Options page.
Other configuration parameters rarely require modification.
Step 1. General Settings
This page allows to to set up general settings for the tool. Most fields will not need to
be changed.
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* Default values for these fields should never be changed.
Step 2: Network Discovery Options
Each time the user selects Network Paths > Discover Paths menu item from
ELAT’s main menu, the EDT tool discovers the network and leaves behind a topology
file. (The default location is C:\Documents and Settings\<userid>\My
Documents\Avaya\ExpertNet Discovery Tool\topology_files\ topology.vpa).
This file can be reused next time the user wants to discover paths.
Data Collection
Interval Specify the period for which the ELAT Controller will collect data. At the
end of this period, ELAT will stop running tests and automatically upload
the data to the Avaya FTP Server. The default interval is 5 days.
Logging Verbosity
Level Select the level of detail the logging subsystem will store in the log file.
You can select: None, Low, Medium, and High. The default is High.
Web Server Port Enter the port number of the bundled Web Server for downloading the
RTP Traffic Simulator to remote endpoints. To download the Traffic
Simulator, point the Web browser to http://
<controller_IP_address>:<port_number>
FTP User Name* Enter the user name of the FTP Server account for uploading data to
Avaya.
FTP Password* Enter the password of the FTP server account for loading data to Avaya.
FTP Server* Enter the name of the FTP Server to which the data is uploaded.
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Step 2.1: Location to Start Network Discovery
Steps 2.1 and 2.2 will only display if you selected the Discover Topology option.
Discover Topology Select this option if you want the Controller to discover network
topology from scratch. Steps 2.1 and 2.2 in the Configuration Wizard
are enabled. You must have SNMP access to network routers to use
this option.
Use Existing Topology Select this option if you want the Controller to reuse the existing
topology file from a previous discovery.
No Topology Select this option if you do not want to (or cannot) discover network
paths. The Network Tests > Discover Ping Tests entry in the main
menu bar will be disabled, but you will still be able to add Ping tests
manually. You may want to consider this option if SNMP access to
network routers is not allowed.
Use default gateway Select this option if you want the Controller to use the default gateway
configured on the Controller PC to start network discovery from.
Use this hostname or
IP address Select this option if you want the Controller to use a specified initial
gateway to start network discovery from.
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