Auvik adds visualization tool to its network management platform

Auvik points to a new Northstar for network visualization

One of the main new features in the ANM platform update is Northstar, which provides a visual representation of network traffic paths.  

The tool provides a trace-route-like functionality, but in a more visual and intuitive way, that makes use of Auvik’s existing network mapping capabilities. The Northstar tool was built in-house by Auvik.

Astorino said that Northstar allows users to see the path that network traffic takes from a selected device to the internet. When a user clicks the “Northstar” button on a device in Auvik’s network map, the tool removes all other elements and shows the visual path of that device’s traffic. A dashboard will highlight information about that device so users can get to troubleshooting and optimization to improve or fix network issues.

Smaller networks get more visibility with ARM support

A new ARM64 collector is another core piece of the ANM update. ARM64 is a commonly used silicon architecture for smaller network devices and appliances.

Astorino said that Auvik’s traditional collector required deploying a server or virtual machine, which was often too expensive for smaller customer sites.  

“Our collector is a small device that sits in the network, collects all the information from all the network devices, and then pushes it to the cloud so that our cloud software can do its magic,” he said.