COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Router analysis tool vendor Packet Design Inc. landed an important OEM pact this week when Hewlett-Packard Co. agreed to integrate Packet Design's Route Explorer in the HP OpenView network-management environment.
Packet Design, located near HP headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., has emphasized having its router simulator and fault-analysis tools integrated with network-management and system-management software suites.
Integration will be accomplished by extending the HP Network Node Manager within OpenView to access Layer 3 routing data collected by the Packet Design Route Explorer.
Data access will allow OpenView device analysis tools to perform root-cause analysis, including routing information. The Route Explorer tools also will be able to analyze pure Layer 3 problems that Layer 2 diagnostic tools cannot pick up, such as misconfiguration of redundant links.
The HP-branded tools will include all protocol-specific packages developed at Packet Design, including those for Open Shortest Path First, Intermediate System-Intermediate System and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).
In all three environments, the HP appliance will be able to monitor a network control plane directly and compute and display a Layer 3 topology map which can be updated in real time.
In the second quarter of 2004, HP and its resellers will sell the Packet Design software bundled with HP appliances.
