Using Route Forwarding State to Identify Routing Errors in Mission-Critical, Military Data Network

This research verified route forwarding state information from an example, mission-critical, military data network against a network architecture definition in order to aid inexperienced network administrators in identifying routing errors. Aiding inexperienced administrators is important because network administrators in the military vary widely in experience and it is more likely that mission-critical, military data networks are administered by people who lack experience.;As part of this research, an Architecture Definition Language (ADL) was developed to specify physical topology and data-link attributes of a network. That architecture definition was then used to define a model of the network using graph theory tools. Next, a web-based visualization of the architecture model was developed that included an interactive form to evaluate the shortest path between subnetworks. The shortest path between subnetworks was calculated on the architecture model, inspected on the live network, and overlaid on the web-based visualization to depict the inconsistencies for an inexperienced network administrator.;With the tool developed in this research, an experienced network administrator can use the developed ADL to describe how the network should work to network administrators at any experience level. Using the architecture definition, inexperienced network administrators can identify routing errors by visualizing how a live network compares to the architected network. Quickly identifying and resolving routing errors in mission-critical, military data networks enhances the operational effectiveness of the military.