Key features

Following are the key features of Hawkeye:

  • Uses a web-based platform for multi-user access, test scheduling, data storage, and real-time analysis.

  • Deploys endpoints with turnkey hardware or software endpoints.

  • Verifies virtual infrastructure with software and VM endpoints.

  • Installs the endpoints automatically within complex network topologies that include network address translation (NAT) and firewalls.

  • Verifies user experience, monitor and diagnose wireless networks with inspect features.

  • Continuously injects real-time traffic into the network as per schedules between nodes or in a mesh.

  • Conducts distributed tests with on-premises or off-premises servers, that is, cloud servers.

  • Verifies fixes that are available in your network in real-time with Pass/Fail status.

  • Finds network or application faults quicker with interval testing throughout the day, week, and month.

  • Tracks services and network trends proactively based on time-of-day and day-of-week of services.

  • Registers Hawkeye Express online and creates an account to your server.

  • Deploys Hawkeye on-premise web server in central locations such as NOC and data center.

  • Strategically deploys the software and hardware endpoints to reach any network location at lowest cost. Network locations can be the following:

    • Customer premises
    • Mobile devices (wireless network or cellular)
    • Remote sites and head offices
    • Network aggregation points (PEs)
    • Core network, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) routers
    • Data centers
    • Virtual machines and servers
    • Cloud locations such as Amazon and Microsoft Azure
Plan and design your active test scenarios

You can do the following to plan and design your active test scenarios using Hawkeye:

  • Define test topology with node-to-node or mesh with hub and spoke.
  • Build a large topology test (full mesh).
Test types selection among pre-calibrated tests in Hawkeye library

Hawkeye supports a variety of service level agreements (SLA) and quality of experience (QoE) objectives, that include the following tests:

    • For both Hawkeye Express and Hawkeye:
      • Speed test from site-to-site with the advanced configuration on traffic profiling
      • Bandwidth availability or verification with TCP-based testing
      • IP network SLA verification (one-way delay, jitter, loss)
      • Unified communications tests (Skype for Business), which is Microsoft Certified
      • Voice over IP calls (G711, G729) with MOS score
      • Ping (ICMP) and path discovery to any interface on the web
      • User experience downloading web pages
      • DNS response time
    • For advanced test types and metrics on Hawkeye:
      • Advanced bandwidth availability or verification with bit blasting or TCP-based testing
      • Class of service (COS) implementation validation with oversubscription scenarios
      • IP network SLA verification (one-way delay, jitter, loss) with COS verification

      • Real-time streaming verification:

        • Mean opinion score (MOS) for voice
        • Media delivery index (MDI) for video streaming
      • Server response time for transactional applications emulating user profile
      • Unified communications tests (Skype for Business), which is Microsoft Certified, volume calls verification
      • Voice over IP calls (G711, G729) with MOS score, volume calls verification
      • Access to any HTTP/HTTPS servers by using one arm test to any URL
      • Netflix, YouTube, and any Dash/Adaptive streaming test
      • Video streaming
      • Multicast video
      • TCP, UDP echo tests
      • Quality of Experience for email, torrent, YouTube, Dropbox
      • Remote destination port opening verification
      • Wireless network advanced metrics
    • Monitor distributed wireless networks from the end-user perspective

    Perform the following steps to monitor distributed wireless networks from the end-user perspective.

    1. Connect XRPi to a wireless network in key locations and software agents in devices for ad-hoc verifications.
    2. Collect wireless network's signal strength information while running Hawkeye tests.
    3. Prove your wireless network connectivity to different SSIDs with recurrent connectivity tests. Diagnose any issues connecting to the wireless network and quickly identify issues, such as authentication, DHCP, and Layer 3 connectivity.
    4. Collect and display the wireless network coverage dashboards and understand wireless network environment.

    5. Build floor plans with the real-time wireless network coverage.

    Create target thresholds for different tests

    Thresholds are the baseline to decide if tests are passing or failing. You can configure target thresholds for different tests by using Hawkeye.

    • Adjust applications, test variables, and thresholds based on trial data to match expectations of the network and its performance.
    • Decide whether the test is passing or failing based on thresholds.
    • Set up correct thresholds to understand the test results and make sure that the right level of information is in the database.
    • Pre-configure the default test thresholds in the system.
    Leverage Path Discovery for troubleshooting

    Path discovery helps to provide visibility into network topology from a location with Hawkeye endpoint to any remote location. Path discovery leverages the Hawkeye test execution framework to allow historical data collection and perform analysis in real-time or with retrospective views. Following are the advantages of Hawkeye Path Discovery:

    • Advanced topology discovery from Ixia endpoints to any remote location.
    • Hop-by-hop discovery.
    • Path discovered based on specific application settings
    • Powerful and intuitive result display
    • Quick troubleshooting tools that identify nodes with loss or long delay

    • Geolocalization on each identified public node

    Analyze results

    Hawkeye helps you to analyze test results with the following features:

    • Use different result levels and granularity to get quick and efficient results and understanding.
    • Ensure that team members can access the data required with simple Pass or Fail criteria or detailed test reports.
    • See results in real-time in the geographic dashboard.
    • Run your test and view single instance results or group of test results.
    • Quickly identify problematic links.
    • View specific tests and understand results.
    • Run trend reports on historical data and analyze network behaviors.

    • Export and send reports through email to share results between teams.

    Monitor Pass or Fail for trouble spots

    Hawkeye allows you to set the following on troubled spots to get notified for test status:

    • Alarms on critical paths
    • Notification email, SNMP traps, and other customized notifications
    Run reports

    Hawkeye allows you to generate an array of reports, which helps you to monitor the performance of your network. You can do the following:

    • Create reports and dashboards from the reporting engine, based on the results stored in the database.
    • Schedule daily automatic reports to follow critical networks.

    • Receive automatic emails with comprehensive reports.