Network monitoring and visualisation tools		13th April 1993
	netman@cs.curtin.edu.au


Overview:

    We have developed a set of tools (3) which may be used to monitor and
"display" network communications.  Two of the tools provide a real-time
picture of network communications, while the other provides retrospective
packet analysis.  These tools are designed to allow network managers to 
passively monitor a network and diagnose common network problems as quickly
and efficiently as possible.

The tools:

    Etherman is an X11 based tool which displays a representation of real-time
Ethernet communications.  Network data is promiscously received via a system
"network tap" and summarised into useful statistics.  These statistics are
displayed in a graphical manner, as to allow both experienced network managers
and newbies an insight as to how a network is being used.  Etherman will also
provide protocol summaries, usage statistics and postscript(tm) snapshots of
network activity.

    Interman focusses on IP connectivity within a single segment.  As with
Etherman, this tool allows a real-time representation of network communications
to be displayed.  Interman employs the same methods of network data
capture as Etherman, except only IP traffic is considered.  Since IP is a
network-level protocol, Interman will display multiple networks - both local
and remote.  Protocol summaries, usage statistics and postscript snapshots
are also available.

    Packetman is a retrospective Ethernet packet analyser.  This tool allows
the capture and analysis of an Ethernet packet trace.


Availability:

    At present, only binaries for SUN Sparc (SunOS 4.1.x) and DEC-mips
(Ultrix 4.2a and above) are avaliable.  Each tool must be run as root.

	ftp.cs.curtin.edu.au:
	~ftp/pub/netman/[sun4c|dec-mips]/[etherman|interman|packetman].tar.Z

You will also need:

	~ftp/pub/netman/hershey-[sun4c|dec-mips].tar.Z

--
Mike Schulze, Craig Farrell and George Benko.
Department of Computer Science
Curtin University
Perth, West Australia