| VisualRoute Casestudies |
WiscNet Employs VisualRoute
in Efforts to Improve Service and Lower Costs
 From
surfing the web and exchanging e-mail to video
conferencing and inter-school networking, WiscNet
provides Internet services and technology for
the State of Wisconsin. WiscNet is a membership
cooperative that caters to regional education,
research and government entities, providing
service to over 500 member organizations. WiscNet's
mission is to provide high quality, high value,
network technology and services to the members
of the cooperative. Services offered by WiscNet
include Web hosting, e-mail, Internet video
conferencing, Internet2, and inter-school networking
- services that link classrooms and public
agencies across Wisconsin to one another and
the world beyond. The WiscNet network consists
of interconnected POPs (point-of-presence locations)
at geographically and demographically distributed
locations across the state, serving institutions
such as the University of Wisconsin and its
26 campuses, as well as private colleges, the
Wisconsin Technical College System, and K-12
schools. In addition, libraries, hospitals,
and state and local government agencies rely
on WiscNet for Internet access and critical
information services.
WiscNet operates an ATM-based OC-3/OC-12 data network.
Internet access is made available through the interconnection
of WiscNet's statewide network to many Tier 1, 2
and 3 Internet service providers. Information services
such as Web hosting, e-mail list management services
and video conferencing are supplied through partnerships
with other institutions and service providers.
The Problem
WiscNet's goal was to provide more technical support
more efficiently. The difficulty is that the Internet
is a very big, often misunderstood space: a resource
request originates at an individual's workstation,
and extends through the WiscNet members Local Area
Network (LAN), the WiscNet network, and then often
through four or more other Internet service providers
on the commodity Internet before the target resource
is located. Many individuals are unable to visualize
the distinction between these "hops" of
the Internet path. What they would see is the Internet
as "working" or "broken", and
in either case they would see WiscNet as responsible.
Explaining difficulties associated with the Internet
(such as slow performance or inability to reach a
particular web site) was often a time consuming task
for both members and WiscNet technicians. With any
Internet connection, the root of a slowdown or access
problem could be at the end-user location, in the
intermediary Internet routing or with the end-point
destination-and determining where the problem lies
is the first step of problem resolution. When a member
contacted WiscNet with a problem report, WiscNet
technicians would often request that a member run
a variety of tests using standard command line utilities
that were unfamiliar to the end-user and often resulted
in diagnostic information that was difficult to read
and communicate. This process frequently ended in
lengthy support calls that could leave both parties
frustrated.
Craig Stephenson, WiscNet's manager of new services,
began to look for a means to provide technical support
more efficiently. Optimally, the tools would demystify
and illustrate the Internet and Internet issues and
enable self-directed network troubleshooting. When
a problem was reported, a standard set of diagnostic
information could then be easily communicated to
WiscNet support staff for evaluation.
The Solution
After researching many available options, the WiscNet
ToolBox was born. The ToolBox, offered at no charge
to WiscNet members, enables self-directed network
troubleshooting of common online problems by WiscNet
member technical contacts, enhances communication
between WiscNet member technical contacts and WiscNet
support staff, and promotes mutual aid among member
technical contacts. Members can easily download the
ToolBox from the WiscNet site, and then install it
in one easy step.
One of the most popular tools in the ToolBox is VisualRoute,
a graphical traceroute tool developed by Turlock,
Calif.-based Visualware, which automatically determines
precisely when and how data is flowing between two
points on the Internet. Using VisualRoute, WiscNet
members can view results of traceroute, ping and
whois utilities in an easy-to-read table. VisualRoute
also has the unique ability to identify the geographical
location of routers, servers and other IP devices,
and plot the path on a World map. The map helps users
to follow the actual path of a connection, and is
often used to help identify network intruders and
determine security risks.
"Since WiscNet began offering the ToolBox in early 2002, the response among
the membership has been tremendous", says Stephenson. "Members like
VisualRoute so much because it's fast, easy to use and provides a visual picture
of the path of an Internet connection and where data packets are being lost.
Instead of looking at lines of complicated text and command output to determine
the source of a problem, users are able to quickly see a graphical view of where
the problem is occurring. In addition, WiscNet members are using VisualRoute
to detect problems within their own networks and to trace suspicious online activity."
Kika Barr, WiscNet's technical support staff manager,
says VisualRoute is reducing the amount of time her
technical team spends on service-related telephone
calls, because members' technical representatives
can often use the information to solve problems on
their own. But if members can't interpret a problem,
VisualRoute allows them to run traceroutes, save
the results as a .jpg or .html file, which can be
easily e-mailed to WiscNet for further analysis.
"The ToolBox and VisualRoute has enabled WiscNet to provide more technical
support more efficiently. That is, more good information communicated in less
time", says Barr. "The beauty of the VisualRoute utility is that it's
easy to use and understand-it actually shows you the Internet. Previously, our
staff would spend a considerable amount of time on a call and often find the
problem was local to the member's site or with another provider on the commodity
Internet. Being able to pinpoint and communicate that information right away
saves considerable time and allows us to notify the appropriate support service
quickly."
Stephenson says VisualRoute and the WiscNet ToolBox
are turning out to be a great educational tool for
WiscNet member organizations. Not only can members
determine on their own where a bottleneck is occurring
along the Internet backbone, but they're able to
get a better idea about how the Internet and the
Web works, as it provides a graphical representation
of how packets of information travel along the Internet.
Tom Nykl, Technical Coordinator for the Tomorrow
River School District, displays the ToolBox applications
including VisualRoute on a large monitor while teaching
users (faculty and students) about the Internet or
networking concepts. "It really helps students
and teachers understand the Internet when they can
see the traffic move from one place to another",
he notes. "I recall when a class was studying
this past Winter Olympics and we lost connectivity
to the official web site one of the days. By using
Visual Route I could show the students why we could
not access the site -- the connection in Rome was
down for a few hours."
|
|
| Customer Support |
Check out our various support options, from the online manual to tutorials.....
Customer Support |
| Testimonials |
Check out some of the things customers have been saying about VisualRoute......
Testimonials |
|
