Sharkfest 2014 - Visualizing Problems Through Packets (by Kevin Burns)

This session was presented at Sharkfest 2014 - Dominican University, Ca - June 16-20,2014 Kevin Burns - Principal Engineer, Comcast Data Center Engineering One of the most challenging problems for a network engineer is the ability to bridge their knowledge of the network and protocol operation in troubleshooting unfamiliar applications and systems. In this presentation, we propose methods an engineer can use to address this problem. Specifically, we illustrate how to leverage knowledge of the network and protocols in combination with tools such as Wireshark to reveal how problems manifest themselves in the packets we collect and analyze. We will present real- world case studies to illustrate techniques to quickly gather the details necessary to identify and solve complicated application-network interaction problems. Kevin Burns is a Principal Engineer with Comcast and the author of "TCP/IP Analysis and Troubleshooting Toolkit". He has been performing and teaching protocol analysis for 18 years at various companies and the last 11 years with Comcast. Kevin began his career in protocols and complex troubleshooting back in 1995 when he attended a course taught by Scott Haugdahl and has had a passion for analyzing difficult problems ever since.