Abstract: A testing tool for Internet Service Provider (ISP) network engineers which is used to diagnose network faults, characterize network performance and evaluate new equipment and software releases. The tool can be used to schedule and run proactive tests to identify network problems before subscribers are affected. Further, the tool can be used to provide testing on demand to quickly isolate the root cause of a problem identified by the tool or by network management systems or subscribers. The tool is topology independent and thus does not have to be reconfigured as the network changes. The tool only sends traffic as directed by the network engineer and thus does not generate undesirable heavy network traffic loads, unless such a heavy network loads are desired by the network engineer.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of backtracing network performance by locating a Quality of Service (QOS) monitor at a web site that actively monitors incoming traffic. When the monitor detects a new user, the monitor traces the route back to the user, measuring the performance of as many intermediate links as the monitor can traverse. In some cases, this trace will extend back all the way to the end users machines. More often the trace will end at a corporate firewall or a router near the end users dial-up modem pool. Regardless of how close to the user the trace gets, it will track the performance of the actual routes that are being traversed by actual users at the time that those users are actually accessing the web site. The result, spread across measurements of many users, is a snapshot of the network quality of service that the site is actually experiencing, for the routes that are actually being used to access the site. Accordingly, a more realistic and accurate result is obtained.

Abstract: A method of determining a physical locale from a node name is presented. The method includes the steps of obtaining a DNS name from a node on a network, parsing the name, and obtaining the name of the Network Service Provider (NSP) from the parsed name. Each NSP has a particular rule set associated therewith, and the appropriate rule set is executed. The rule set extracts the city name, which indicates the general area where the node is located.