NView: a visual framework for network tool integration

Monitoring and managing distributed applications and networks present a number of problems. Tracking down the source of connection problems over a large area, such as the Internet, can be time-consuming and confusing, as one must deal with many small utilities. In this paper, we present NView a framework program for integrating network tools into a uniform visual interface with a minimum of effort. We also discuss an example implementation which has been applied to the Internet´s Multicast Backbone. This easily customized tool allows various “what if” questions to be asked, and results to be displayed in different ways. NView can be used both off-line as a design tool, and on-line as a network monitoring tool