Highlight performance tests provide visibility of key measurements such as round trip time (RTT), packet loss and jitter between two points on your network. These metrics give a great overview of how healthy a connection is and are often the basis of Service Level Agreements (SLA) between provider and customer.

Performance test results are shown graphically in a chart for instant understanding of how network delay changes in relation to the traffic, health and application fluctuations over time.

Performance testing works over most network types and can be measured across specific Classes of Service (when implemented), proving that prioritised applications within an MPLS network are performing correctly. This ongoing visibility can be the basis for future performance tuning, as new applications and requirements are introduced.

When a performance test is in maintenance, you will see a marker in the sidebar showing:

• the maintenance icon
• the name of the maintenance window (PMN 238 in the image)
• the time remaining in the maintenance window (1h 58m in the image). If it's less than one minute remaining, "<1m" shows.
• if you see a number in brackets (2), this means there's more than one maintenance window in effect for this test. The time remaining is when the first maintenance window is due to end. This time will then adjust to show the next maintenance window in effect.

If the name of the maintenance window is shortened, hover to see the full name.

Note: Performance tests in maintenance do not send alerts nor change the colour of heat tiles

Today only

When viewed for today only, the sidebar for each test gives an indication if it is currently impacting the associated heat tile colour. There is an overall colour applied to the Performance Analysis section which applies for the collapsed section also. This overall colour will reflect the test in the worst state, red in the example image here.

Green

No issue, this test is not currently impacting heat tile colour

Amber

Issue, this test is currently impacting heat tile colour.

Red

Issue, this test is currently impacting heat tile colour.

Not today

Each test sidebar will be grey when viewed for a week, a month or any day other than today.

ICMP Ping, UDP Echo and TCP Open tests all use the same type of chart:

1. Side bar

   • Icon:

     each test will have the icon which indicates a performance test, created on this watch

   
   

   • Title:

     shows the test type with from and to devices; if these are test source/destination descriptions, hover over the text to view a tooltip of the IP addresses

   •   Scale: ▼ ▲  

     incrementally adjusts to the scale of the chart

   •    Data table   

     displays text results for the current and preceding 6 time periods, see separate section for more details

   Today only  The sidebar is coloured to show how this test is impacting the associated heat tile: Green (no current issue) or Amber/Red (current issue)

2. Tests shown and Target

   • Showing X of Y Tests:

     where Y is the total number of tests carried out in this period and X is the number of tests plotted on the visible chart. Some results may be above the maximum on the chart if for example, the chart goes up to 50 milliseconds but some tests returned at 60 milliseconds. Adjustments made with   Scale: ▼ ▲   will change this. This text also shows the number and percent of tests within target.

   • Target:

     both the thin blue line and within show the target test response specified in the test configuration

3. Chart area

   • Coloured spot:

     plotted for each test, the colour shows how the test response compared with the target time with cool (blue/green) colours when measurements are well within target turning hot (orange/red) when measurements approach and exceed the target

   • Vertical axis:

     plots the test response in milliseconds, adjustable using   Scale: ▼ ▲  

   • Horizontal axis:

     hours, days or dates depending on the time period chosen in the time bar (day, week or month)

4. Failures

   Shows a coloured blip where packet loss occurred, colour details below:

   Colour	Green	Yellow	Orange	Red	Magenta
   % Packet Loss	Up to and including 20%	Up to and including 40%	Up to and including 60%	Up to and including 80%	Up to and including 100%

   For example if Highlight collects 6 performance test results every poll and 2 of the 6 had failed (33%), a yellow blip will be displayed.

Precision Delay

1. Side bar

   • Icon:

     each test will have the icon which indicates a performance test, created on this watch

   
   

   • Title:

     shows the test type with from and to devices; if these are source/destination descriptions, hover over the text to view a tooltip of the IP addresses

   •   Scale: ▼ ▲  

     incrementally adjusts to the scale of the chart

   •    Data table   

     displays text results for the current and preceding 6 time periods, see separate section for more details

   Today only  The sidebar is coloured to show how this test is impacting the associated heat tile: Green (no current issue) or Amber/Red (current issue)

2. Tests shown and Target

   • Showing X of Y tests:

     each test comprises a large number of packets, sent with a short interval in between (20 milliseconds by default). The minimum, average, and maximum responses for each test are plotted, with grey used for average response. The X of Y shown here are based on the value of the grey plots. Y is the total number of tests carried out in this period and X is the number of test averages actually plotted on the visible chart. Some results may be above the maximum on the chart if, for example, the chart goes up to 5000 microseconds but a test average is 5500 microseconds. Adjustments made with   Scale: ▼ ▲   will change this. This text also shows the number and percent of test averages within delay target. An overall loss figure (as a percentage) and the average jitter are shown.

   • Target:

     both the thin blue line and within show the target test response specified in the test configuration

3. Chart area

   • Coloured spots:

     the minimum, average, and maximum responses for each test are plotted, with grey used for average response. The colour of minimum and maximum spots show the test response when compared with the target time, with cool (blue/green) colours when measurements are well within target turning hot (orange/red) when measurements approach and exceed the target.

   • Vertical axis:

     plots the test response in microseconds or milliseconds depending on scaling, adjustable using   Scale: ▼ ▲  

   • Horizontal axis:

     hours or days depending on the time period chosen in the time bar (day, week or month)

4. Jitter and Loss

   • Jitter:

     the displayed colour is based on the calculated jitter value as a percentage of the configured jitter threshold. The colour gradient starts with blue (up to 10% of threshold) through to red (100% of threshold), and remains red if the threshold is exceeded.

     0%25%50%75%100%125%150%

   • Loss:

     each blip shows packet loss as a percentage of overall packets sent using this scale:

   Colour	Blue	Green	Yellow	Orange	Red
   % Packet Loss	Up to and including 0.50%	Up to and including 1.00%	Up to and including 2.50%	Up to and including 5.00%	Greater than 5.00%

MOS Test

A MOS test has two separate charts. The lower chart is similar to a Precision test

1. Side bar

   • Icon:

     each test will have the icon which indicates a performance test, created on this watch

   
   

   • Title:

     shows the test type with from and to devices; if these are source/destination descriptions, hover over the text to view a tooltip of the IP addresses

   •   Scale: ▼ ▲  

     incrementally adjusts to the scale of the chart

   •    Data table   

     displays text results for the current and preceding 6 time periods, see separate section for more details

   Today only  The sidebar is coloured to show how this test is impacting the associated heat tile: Green (no current issue) or Amber/Red (current issue)

2. Upper Chart (MOS)

   • Showing all X tests:

     where X is the number of tests sent. This text also shows the number and percent of tests within MOS target. Note   Scale: ▼ ▲   has no effect on a MOS chart.

   • Target MOS:

     both the thin blue line and at score of show the MOS target specified in the test configuration.

   • Chart area:

     a coloured spot is plotted for each test. The colour of each spot shows how the MOS score compared with the target with cool (blue/green) colours when measurements are above target turning hot (orange/red) when measurements fall below the target.

   • Vertical axis:

     shows the MOS scores on the scale of 1-5, explained as follows:

     1. Perfect, like face-to-face conversation or digital radio reception
     2. Fair, imperfections can be perceived, but sound still clear; supposedly the range for cell phones
     3. Annoying
     4. Very annoying, nearly impossible to communicate
     5. Impossible to communicate

   • Failures:

     a blip is drawn if the test failed (for example, due to the line being down or to poor line quality). The colour of the blip is not meaningful.

3. Tests shown and Target

   • Showing X of Y tests:

     each test comprises sending 100 128-byte packets at intervals of 50 milliseconds. The minimum, average, and maximum responses for each test are plotted, with grey used for average response. The X of Y shown here are based on the value of the grey plots. Y is the total number of tests carried out in this period and X is the number of test averages actually plotted on the visible chart. Some results may be above the maximum on the chart if, for example, the chart goes up to 50 milliseconds but a test average is 55 milliseconds. Adjustments made with   Scale: ▼ ▲   will change this. This text also shows the number and percent of test averages within delay target. An overall loss figure (as a percentage) and the average jitter are shown.

   • Target:

     both the thin blue line and within show the target test response specified in the test configuration

4. Lower Chart area

   • Coloured spots:

     the minimum, average, and maximum responses for each test are plotted, with grey used for average response. The colour of minimum and maximum spots show the test response when compared with the target time, with cool (blue/green) colours when measurements are well within target turning hot (orange/red) when measurements approach and exceed the target.

   • Vertical axis:

     plots the test response in milliseconds, adjustable using   Scale: ▼ ▲  

   • Horizontal axis:

     hours or days depending on the time period chosen in the time bar (day, week or month)

5. Jitter and Loss

   • Jitter:

     the displayed colour is based on the calculated jitter value as a percentage of the configured jitter threshold. The colour gradient starts with blue (up to 10% of threshold) through to red (100% of threshold), and remains red if the threshold is exceeded.

     0%25%50%75%100%125%150%

   • Loss:

     each blip shows packet loss as a percentage of overall packets sent using this scale:

   Colour	Blue	Green	Yellow	Orange	Red
   % Packet Loss	Up to and including 0.50%	Up to and including 1.00%	Up to and including 2.50%	Up to and including 5.00%	Greater than 5.00%

Data table shows text statistics for your selected period (day, week or month) and compares it with the previous six periods.

The columns are:

Pkt Loss %

the percentage packet loss over this period.

Average mS

average round trip packet delay, in milliseconds.

In Target %

the percentage of tests which completed within the specified test threshold.

Jitter mS

for MOS and precision tests this is the average variation in round trip delay times.

MOS Avg and 95th

average score and 95th percentile score for MOS tests. Results are given on a scale from 1 to 5.

Toggle between showing statistics taken across the entire 24-hour period, or just including business hours, using the tabs on the top right of the window. If you select business hours for a 'day' view, you may see empty statistics rows for weekends if these are outside the defined business hours. Learn more about: business hours in Highlight

Note: Highlight calculates statistics for this panel at the end of each day, so on a 'day' view there will be no results for 'today' (the current day).