Home > Store

Cisco ThousandEyes: Digital Experience Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Add To My Wish List

Cisco ThousandEyes: Digital Experience Monitoring and Troubleshooting

By Aaron Trompeter, Robert W. Webb
Published Aug 22, 2024 by Cisco Press. Part of the Networking Technology series.

eBook

Your Price: $38.39
List Price: $47.99
Includes EPUB and PDF
About eBook Formats

This eBook includes the following formats, accessible from your Account page after purchase:

ePub EPUB The open industry format known for its reflowable content and usability on supported mobile devices.

Adobe Reader PDF The popular standard, used most often with the free Acrobat® Reader® software.

This eBook requires no passwords or activation to read. We customize your eBook by discreetly watermarking it with your name, making it uniquely yours.

Add to cart

Also available in other formats.

Description

Sample Content

Updates

Copyright 2025
Edition: 1st

eBook
ISBN-10: 0-13-830897-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-830897-1

Cisco ThousandEyes, the cloud-based network intelligence tool, delivers expanded visibility, automated insights, and seamless workflows to ensure digital experiences across any networkwhether on premise, on the Internet, or in the cloud. ThousandEyes is the authority when monitoring SaaS, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. With unparalleled real-time analytics and insights, it enables IT admins to quickly identify and resolve issues for a reduction of downtime and improved user experience.

In Cisco ThousandEyes, network solutions specialists Aaron Trompeter and Robert Webb offer a deep dive into the intricacies and power of the Cisco ThousandEyes platform and demonstrate how to leverage it to solve complex problems and optimize your digital experience. Through real-world experiences and use cases, the authors demonstrate how to plan and design network monitoring solutions, as well as how to improve performance and availability. Youll also learn how ThousandEyes can be integrated with other Cisco products and third-party tools.

This is an essential resource for any network administrator, DevOps engineer, IT professional, enterprise IT team, cloud engineer, application team, and service provider responsible for managing and optimizing the performance of an organizations network infrastructure and application performance.

Explore Cisco ThousandEyes and its capabilities, and learn how to harness its potential for your organization
Delve into agent setup, test configurations, alerts, and dashboards, and learn how to apply them effectively
Understand the intricacies of monitoring and troubleshooting network performance issues, and use these skills to enhance network efficiency
Conduct advanced tests using transactional scripts and integrations, and use them for complex problem-solving
Implement best practices for test optimization and device monitoring to ensure optimal functionality
Understand the importance of account settings and automation and their roles in streamlining operations
Align the role of business strategy in the context of digital experience monitoring with your organizations goals

Introduction xvi
Chapter 1 Introduction to ThousandEyes and Its Capabilities 1
How ThousandEyes Was Conceived 1
Understanding ThousandEyes Use Cases 2
Fundamental Network Metrics 3
    Its the Network 3
    Operational Impact 3
        Packet Loss 4
        Network Latency 7
    Maximum Theoretical Throughput 11
        Results 15
Review Questions 16
Chapter 2 Agent Setup 17
Enterprise Agents 17
    Enterprise Agent Installation 18
        Cisco Application Framework Installation 18
        Open Virtual Appliance Installation 25
        Enterprise Agent Using Docker 33
        Enterprise Agent Using Linux 37
    Enterprise Agent Utilization 39
    Agent Cluster and Agent Clustering 41
    Enterprise Agent Placement 44
Cloud Agents 45
Endpoint Agents 46
Review Questions 48
Chapter 3 Configuring Tests 49
Tests for Enterprise and Cloud Agents 49
    Routing Layer 49
        Configure Inside-Out BGP Visibility 51
    Network Layer 53
        Agent to Agent Test 53
        Agent to Server Test 56
    DNS Layer 58
        DNS Server Test 59
        DNS Trace Test 62
        DNSSEC Test 64
    Web Layer 66
        HTTP Server Test 66
        Page Load Tests 70
        Transaction Test 73
        FTP Server Test 74
    Voice Layer 76
        SIP Server Test 78
        RTP Stream Test 80
Endpoint Agent Tests 82
    Adding Multiple Tests to a Template 90
    Dynamic Tests 90
    Real User Tests 97
        Monitored Domain Set 97
        How Real User Tests Work 97
Review Questions 99
Chapter 4 Configuring Alerts 101
Alert Rules 101
Alert Conditions 103
Alert Notifications 104
    Email Notifications 104
    Webhooks 105
Alert Suppression 107
Finding the Source of the Alert 109
Alert History 110
Review Questions 110
Chapter 5 Dashboards 111
Dashboard Basics 111
Widgets 114
Creating a New Dashboard 116
Review Questions 121
Chapter 6 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Network Performance Issues 123
Understanding Views 123
Understanding Network Monitoring 125
    System/Application Testing 127
    End-to-End Network Testing 127
    Hop-by-Hop Network Testing (Path Visualization) 129
SD-WAN Performance Monitoring 134
    Network Overlay 134
    Network Underlay 135
MPLS Performance Monitoring 136
MTU Best Practices 137
    Overlay Network MTU 138
    Underlay Network MTU 140
    Alerting 141
Overloaded: An NFL Story 142
Review Questions 145
Chapter 7 Scripted Synthetic User Testing with Transaction Tests 147
What Is Selenium? 148
Page Load Test Versus Transaction Test 148
Set Up and Create a Transaction Test with the ThousandEyes Recorder 149
Troubleshooting and Debugging Transaction Test Scripts 153
Transaction Test Script Best Practices 154
Viewing the Transaction Test Data 155
Full Stack Observability for the Network Engineer 158
    Output 158
    Input 159
    Processes 161
Review Questions 162
Chapter 8 Integrations 163
API Basics 163
Custom Webhooks 166
ServiceNow Integration 168
Cisco Integrations 175
    Cisco Catalyst Center (Formerly Cisco DNA Center) 175
    Cisco Meraki 181
    Cisco Webex Control Hub 185
    Cisco AppDynamics 187
    Cisco SD-WAN 192
OpenTelemetry Integration 197
Review Questions 202
Chapter 9 Best Practices: Test Optimization, Collaboration, and Stories from the Field 203
ThousandEyes Test Optimization 203
    End-to-End Testing: Probing Mode 206
        Cumulative Acknowledgements 206
        Selective Acknowledgements 208
        SYN 210
    Path Visualization 211
        Path Trace Mode 211
        No. of Path Traces 215
        Probing and Path Trace Modes for Different Agent Types 216
Monitoring Collaboration Meetings 216
    Webex 218
        Cloud & Enterprise Agents 218
        Endpoint Agents 218
        Internet Insights 221
    Teams 222
        Cloud and Enterprise Agents 222
        Endpoint Agents 227
        Internet Insights 230
    Zoom 231
        Cloud and Enterprise Agents 232
        Endpoint Agents 232
        Internet Insights 233
Stories from the Field 235
    FTP Throughput Analysis and Optimization 235
    User Experience Versus Application Performance MetricCall Center SLA 239
    Connections Failing at Load Balancer 241
    Load Balancing with 20% Failure Rate 243
    When MSS Matters 244
    Bizarre Failure Is Not Adding Up 248
        Problem Description 248
        First Progress 249
        Hypothesis 250
        First Significant Finding 250
        Eureka! 251
Review Questions 253
Chapter 10 Device Monitoring 255
ThousandEyes Device Monitoring 255
    Device Discovery 259
    Scheduled Discovery 262
    Discovered Devices 264
    Device Details 265
    Device Alerts 266
    Device Notifications 269
    Device Views 269
    Path Visualization with Device Monitoring 272
Operational Insights 273
    Replacing a Device with a New Piece of Hardware 273
    Polling 273
    Topology 273
    Agent Clusters 274
Review Questions 274
Chapter 11 Account Administration 275
Adding a New User 275
    Default Roles 276
    Account Groups 277
    Role-Based Access Control 279
    Single Sign-On with ThousandEyes 281
        Identity Provider Setup 282
        ThousandEyes Setup 282
        Imported Metadata Configuration 284
    Activity Log 285
        Time Selector 286
        Add a Filter 287
        Download Logs 288
    Usage 289
        Usage Tab 290
        Quotas Tab 291
Review Questions 293
Chapter 12 AutomationUse Cases and Case Studies 295
Use Case 1: Automated Testing Basics 295
    Webhooks on GitHub 296
Use Case 2: Jenkins 297
Use Case 3: Ansible Playbook 299
Use Case 4: Kubernetes 300
    Scaling ThousandEyes via Automation 301
Operationalizing 301
    Dashboards for Comparisons 301
        Inside Your Network vs. Outside Your Network (the Internet) 302
        Comparing ISPs 304
        Comparing In-Office and Outside-of-Office User Experience 304
        Comparing Inside a Building by Floors and Zones 306
    Data Center Monitoring 306
    VXLAN Versus Traditional Layer 2/Layer 3 307
    Agent Placement 307
    Additional Note for Cisco Nexus Devices 308
Review Questions 308
Chapter 13 Business Strategy for Engineers 309
Bridge the Divide: Aligning Technical Expertise with Business Strategy 309
Appendix A Answers to Review Questions 315
Appendix B Troubleshooting 323
Glossary 333

9780138309183   TOC 8/1/2024

Submit Errata

Cisco Press Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Cisco Press and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Privacy Notice

Overview

Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Cisco Press products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information

To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@ciscopress.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information

Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security

Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children

This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing

Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information

If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out

Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Cisco Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.ciscopress.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information

Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents

California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure

Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

As required by law.
With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links

This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact

Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020

Email Address