Private Network &
MPLS Network Monitoring Tool For IT Pros
Obkio makes MPLS monitoring simple. Validate Your QoS, track DSCP Tags, and keep your network performing at its best!
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Master Your
MPLS Network Performance
Ensure seamless, high-priority traffic flow and optimize your MPLS network with Obkio's powerful MPLS Monitoring tool.
From 2010 to 2017, MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) reigned as the go-to solution for enterprise networks. Since then, many companies have shifted to SD-WAN, drawn by its cost-effectiveness and flexibility. However, some businesses still rely on MPLS due to its security features or simply because their existing network works perfectly. For those sticking with MPLS, issues are bound to happen.
Over time, older MPLS networks may face congestion, particularly if the circuit size is no longer adequate to meet modern demands for speed and bandwidth. That’s why, ensuring that your QoS is key. It’s important to verify that the propagation of Class of Service (CoS) or DSCP codes is consistent across the network and that all CoS settings are respected. This ensures that the service quality you’re paying for is delivered, allowing your network to function as intended.
Obkio was built with MPLS monitoring in mind, leveraging our extensive experience in operating an MPLS network. With Obkio, you can monitor every end of your MPLS network using synthetic traffic, ensuring that it performs as it should. By generating synthetic traffic with the appropriate DSCP code to match your CoS, Obkio eliminates the need for packet capture. This approach ensures simplicity, avoids security risks, and provides a precise method to validate your QoS configuration.
Obkio’s agents identify whether the correct DSCP code was received and immediately raise alerts if there is a mismatch. They also pinpoint the direction where the DSCP tag was lost, providing actionable insights to address the issue. This proactive monitoring guarantees that your network performs optimally, offering peace of mind and a seamless user experience. With Obkio, you can confidently monitor and troubleshoot your MPLS network, ensuring it continues to deliver the reliability and quality of service you need.
How How Obkio’s MPLS Monitoring Tool Works
With Obkio, you have the tools to take control of your MPLS network’s performance and ensure your QoS configurations are always respected.
Why MPLS Networks Need Monitoring
MPLS is a private network service provided by telecom operators, but even the most reliable networks can experience issues. Misconfigurations during maintenance or disruptions within the provider’s network can lead to QoS (Quality of Service) failures, such as DSCP tags not propagating end-to-end. Since many MSPs don’t monitor QoS configurations, customers are left in the dark when problems arise.
Simplifying the Customer's Responsibility
Ensuring your MPLS network performs as expected ultimately falls on you, the customer. When something goes wrong, having clear, actionable data is crucial for addressing issues with your MSP. But packet captures and tools like Wireshark are overly complex and can introduce security risks.
How Obkio Makes MPLS Monitoring Simple
Obkio eliminates the need for packet captures by generating synthetic traffic with the appropriate DSCP code to match your Class of Service (CoS). Our monitoring agents verify if the correct DSCP code is received and raise alerts if any mismatches occur.
Actionable Insights for Faster Resolutions
Obkio doesn’t just identify problems—it helps you trace them. If DSCP tags are lost, Obkio pinpoints the direction where the issue occurred, whether within your network or further down the provider’s infrastructure. Armed with this data, you can provide your MSP with clear evidence to expedite investigations and ensure your network runs smoothly.
3 Key Use Cases for Monitoring MPLS Performance with Obkio
MPLS is known for its ability to prioritize traffic, ensuring that critical applications like VoIP get the attention they need. But even with MPLS, there are challenges to ensuring your network traffic is properly prioritized and performs as expected.
Validate QoS
QoS ensures critical applications get the bandwidth they need. With Obkio, confirm that your QoS policies are correctly implemented. Monitor DSCP codes & detect mismatches or missing tags to ensure your traffic classification and prioritization work as intended and you’re getting the service you’re paying for.
Ensure DSCP Propagation
When a DSCP tag marks a packet as a priority (like VoIP), you want to ensure it stays prioritized as it travels across your MPLS network. Obkio ensures that these "fragile" packets maintain their priority from start to finish, travelling smoothly like first-class passengers.
Monitor MPLS Queues
Just like in an airport, your network has queues for different traffic priorities. The more you pay for MPLS, the more priority your traffic should get. Obkio helps verify that your high-priority packets are treated as VIPs, ensuring you get the performance you're paying for.
MPLS vs. SD-WAN
SD-WAN promises to replace MPLS with regular internet circuits, but MPLS still offers superior priority handling. Obkio lets you monitor both MPLS and SD-WAN, ensuring your network traffic performs as expected, whether you stick with MPLS or switch to SD-WAN.
Our Customers Love Monitoring SD-WAN With Obkio
No Matter Your Network Issue
We've Got the Solution For You
Obkio's solution is designed to be the easiest Network Monitoring tool on the market, making it the ideal choice for businesses of all sizes, from IT professionals working from home to managing the complexities of large-scale corporate networks.
- 14-Day Proof Of Concept
- Single and home offices
- SMEs with less than 3 locations
- Mid to large multisite networks
- MSPs & large businesses
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Colleges and Universities
Check out our plans, all available with a free 14-day trial, no credit card required!
Deploy Obkio's MPLS Monitoring Tool In Only 10 Minutes
With Obkio’s free 14-day trial and access to all premium features, you can set up MPLS monitoring in just 10 minutes using our intuitive onboarding wizard.
Whether you’re a network professional or a non-expert, the step-by-step process ensures that anyone on your team can deploy and use Obkio to gain a clear understanding of MPLS network performance.
How to Deploy Obkio for MPLS Monitoring
- Agent Deployment: Install one monitoring agent at each MPLS site or branch location. These agents will act as your eyes across the network.
- DSCP Configuration: For optimal monitoring, configure a separate monitoring template for each DSCP code used in your MPLS network. Obkio simplifies this by allowing you to duplicate a standard configuration template and adjust the DSCP code for each traffic class. This ensures precise monitoring tailored to your QoS setup.
- MPLS Optimization: Obkio’s setup is custom-built for MPLS, making it straightforward to deploy and manage.
Obkio’s purpose-built MPLS Monitoring solution takes the complexity out of MPLS monitoring, giving you everything you need to ensure your network is running smoothly—all in record time.
Establish a Baseline and Continuously Monitor MPLS Performance
Once Obkio is deployed, the Monitoring Agents get to work immediately, exchanging synthetic traffic between all MPLS network locations to monitor performance.
Obkio's Monitoring Agents generate synthetic traffic using the correct DSCP code to match your Class of Service (CoS). This eliminates the need for packet capture, simplifying the process and avoiding potential security risks. Obkio’s continuous monitoring validates your QoS configuration by ensuring that DSCP codes are respected end-to-end.
Obkio also monitoring your MPLS network performannce as a whole by measureing critical network metrics like:
Latency: The time it takes for data to travel across the network.
Packet Loss: The percentage of data packets that fail to reach their destination.
Jitter: Variations in packet delivery times, crucial for real-time applications like VoIP.
Bandwidth Utilization: How much of your allocated bandwidth is being used.
Use A Distributed Solution to Monitor A Distributed MPLS Network
MPLS networks are fully routed, meaning every site communicates with every other site, creating a complex, distributed network. This architecture allows issues to arise from any location, making it vital to adopt a distributed monitoring solution.
With Obkio’s premium plan, you can configure monitoring sessions from anywhere to anywhere within your MPLS network. Using a distributed mesh design, Obkio’s solution ensures that no part of your network is left unchecked, enabling comprehensive visibility and precise issue identification across your entire MPLS infrastructure.
Monitor Every CoS and QoS Queue
MPLS performance is heavily reliant on proper QoS configuration, where bandwidth and priority are allocated to business-critical applications. Congestion can occur within individual CoS buckets, making it essential to monitor each one separately.
With Obkio’s Premium Plan, you gain access to 10 monitoring sessions per agent. This allows you to monitor not just the overall MPLS circuit but also each QoS queue, ensuring visibility into every bucket of traffic. By doing so, you can proactively address congestion and confirm that your network delivers the service quality you expect.
Identify QoS, DSCP, or CoS Issues in Your MPLS Network
When it comes to MPLS networks, QoS (Quality of Service) and DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point) configurations are critical for ensuring your network operates smoothly. With Obkio, you can monitor DSCP codes for every Class of Service (CoS) in your network to ensure your QoS is functioning as intended.
In an MPLS setup, customers often have limited visibility into their MSP’s network or devices. The only insight they might have is through tools like traceroutes. Obkio fills this gap by providing unparalleled visibility with Obkio Vision, offering all the details you need to monitor QoS configurations and DSCP propagation.
Two Common QoS Configurations
- Customer-Tagged Packets: In some setups, it’s the customer’s responsibility to tag packets, such as VoIP traffic. The MSP’s role is to propagate these tags throughout their network, ensuring the packet retains its priority from end to end.
- MSP-Tagged Packets:In other cases, the MSP is responsible for tagging packets as they enter their network.
Regardless of who is responsible for tagging, Obkio has found that many issues stem from misconfigurations:
Sometimes the configuration never worked properly but went undetected.
After network maintenance, human errors can cause misconfigurations, breaking QoS or DSCP propagation.
These problems often remain hidden until a congestion issue arises, triggering user complaints and a lengthy troubleshooting process.
Step 3.1. Detecting Hard to Find MPLS Issues with MPLS Performance Monitoring
MPLS QoS issues are notoriously difficult to detect and troubleshoot.
With Obkio, you gain the visibility you need to pinpoint the root cause of issues, whether it’s within your network or the MSP’s. Get insights into:
- Where the issue occurred
- Whether the DSCP tag was lost
- The direction in which the problem lies
MPLS networks are often treated as premium services managed by the MSP. Once installed, customers usually rely on their MSP for maintenance and troubleshooting - but MSP usually don't have these expertise. Obkio to fill this gap. By giving you the visibility MSPs lack, Obkio ensures that even legacy networks operate at peak performance.
Determine if It’s an Internal or External MPLS Issue
When troubleshooting MPLS network problems, the first step is identifying whether the issue originates within your internal or MSP’s networks.
Obkio's MPLS Performance Monitoring tool makes this process straightforward with precise data and insights.
You have an internal MPLS issue
If Obkio's intuitive graphs and alerts have identified anomalies within your internal MPLS network, it’s a clear sign the issue originates from your side. Whether it's misconfigurations, improper QoS settings, or device-specific problems, Obkio provides the visibility needed to pinpoint the cause.
Using Obkio’s detailed network metrics, such as latency, packet loss, and DSCP code mismatches, you can confirm the problem isn't with your MSP but within your internal configuration.
It's not an internal MSP issue
If the problem doesn’t stem from your internal network, it’s time to escalate. Use the detailed insights provided by Obkio’s app to open a service case with your MSP. Obkio's MPLS performance dashboards, network deivce data and traceroute results equip you with precise information about where and when the issue occurred, helping the MSP resolve the problem faster and more efficiently.
Check Your Internal Network Configuration
If Obkio’s monitoring identifies an issue, start by reviewing your internal network configurations. Specifically, verify:
- QoS and DSCP Tagging: Ensure that packets, such as VoIP traffic, are correctly tagged and prioritized within your network.
- Routing and Traffic Policies: Confirm that traffic flows and routing policies are consistent with your desired network performance goals.
Analyze Obkio’s MPLS Performance Data
Use the data collected by Obkio’s agents to pinpoint where the issue lies. This can help determine whether the problem is with your internal network, the MSP’s network, or the transition between the two.
Identify Common Issues of MPLS Issues with Obkio
By now, Obkio has provided you with all the data you need to determine if there’s an MPLS issue, pinpoint where and when it occurred, and understand why.
With Obkio’s intuitive dashboards, real-time alerts, and detailed reports, you can uncover and address some of the most common causes of MPLS performance problems, including:
Network Congestion
Detect when traffic exceeds available bandwidth, leading to performance degradation in critical applications.
QoS Misconfiguration
Ensure that your Quality of Service settings are correctly applied and propagated across your network.
DSCP Mismatch
Identify inconsistencies in DSCP tags that disrupt your Class of Service, ensuring packets travel with the right priority.
Packet Loss and Latency
Monitor for disruptions in packet delivery or increased delay, which can severely affect performance, especially for VoIP or video traffic.
Link Failures
Quickly detect and isolate issues caused by failed or degraded links within your MPLS network.
Troubleshoot Your MPLS Network Performance with Obkio
Internal MPLS issues often stem from misconfigurations within your own network, making it crucial to validate QoS, DSCP tags, and traffic queues to ensure seamless performance.
Troubleshooting Internal MPLS Issues with Obkio's NPM Features
When MPLS problems are happening in within your internal network, start by examining your configurations:
- Verify QoS Settings: Check that Quality of Service (QoS) is configured properly within your network devices and aligns with the intended traffic prioritization.
- Validate DSCP Tags: Ensure that packets are correctly tagged with the appropriate DSCP code to match the Class of Service (CoS) defined in your MPLS network. Obkio’s Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) features use synthetic traffic to detect if tags are misapplied or missing.
- Inspect Traffic Queues: Look at individual traffic queues to identify congestion in any specific CoS bucket that could be impacting performance. Obkio’s NPM features and Network Device Monitoring allow you to monitor and track traffic performance across different queues, making it easy to identify congestion and network issues.
6.1:Troubleshooting External MPLS Issues with Obkio & Your MSP
External MPLS issues, comong from your MSP’s network, require clear visibility and data to pinpoint misconfigurations, link failures, and other performance-impacting problems.
For MPLS issues happening in MSP’s network, Obkio provides the visibility to pinpoint and communicate the issue with your MSP with solid proof:
- Identify Misconfiguration: Use Obkio’s core NPM features and DSCP validation to detect if the QoS configuration was improperly propagated by the MSP or if there’s a mismatch in the tagging process.
- Detect Link Degradation: Pinpoint where and when packet loss, latency, or link failure occurred, using Obkio’s real-time performance metrics, historical data, and Obkio Vision: Visual Traceroute tool to view the path and performance of your packets across the network.
- Escalate with Confidence: Share detailed performance data and insights from Obkio with your MSP to expedite their investigation and resolution process. Obkio Vision traceroute feature gives you a clear, visual representation of where the issue might be occurring, making it easier to communicate with your MSP.
Continuously Monitor MPLS Performance With Proactive Reports & Alerts
MPLS networks are reliable but can be prone to issues like congestion, misconfigurations, and DSCP mismatches. That’s why it’s crucial to stay on top of MPLS performance at all times.
Obkio makes it easy by continuously monitoring your MPLS network and tracking key metrics like latency, packet loss, jitter, and QoS adherence.
With Obkio’s proactive alerts, you’ll get notified the moment something goes wrong before they impact critical business applications — no more waiting for users to complain. Plus, automated reports give you a clear view of your network’s performance over time, helping you spot trends and make informed decisions to keep everything running smoothly.
Think of it as having a an MPLS network watchdog that never sleeps, so you can stay ahead of problems before they impact your business.
Conquering Network Issues with
Expert Insights and Effective Strategies
Welcome to our blog, where we address the common challenge of identifying network issues and provide you with effective solutions. At times, network problems can be elusive, causing disruptions, performance bottlenecks, and frustration. But fret not, because we are here to help. Our team of experts has extensive experience in tackling network issues head-on, and we are excited to share our knowledge and insights with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
MPLS Monitoring is the continuous monitoring of your MPLS service or MPLS network (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) from the end-user perspective, by class of service, to locate network problems affecting your SD-WAN network performance.
Obkio monitors the real performance of MPLS network from the end-user perspective, by class of service, to find and fix issues quickly. Obkio monitors the impact of your MPLS network by injecting synthetic traffic to monitor from the end-user perspective.
Yes! Obkio monitors QoS (Quality of Service) to validate that QoS is in place to reduce latency, jitter and packet loss. In case of a network congestion, performance sensitive apps can run without degradation and only less critical applications (such as web browsing) are impacted.
Yes! Obkio monitors your MPLS service by measuring network metrics to identify if your MPLS Service Level Agreement (SLA) has been maintained.
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