Improved Main Menu
We have improved the main navigation menu to help both new and current users navigate the Catchpoint Portal more easily. The menu now includes labels even when collapsed, and fewer clicks are required to get where you are going. These improvements are only available in the Symphony UI. If you’re still using the legacy UI, this is another great reason to switch!
As part of this update, we have also renamed the Home module as “Dashboard” and relocated Smartboard to the Analysis section.
SLO Monitoring (Limited Preview)
A Service Level Objective (SLO) is a specific performance goal that a service provider must meet as part of their Service Level Agreement (SLA) with their clients. Your organization most likely provides services that are subject to SLOs, uses other providers’ services with SLOs, or both. You can’t afford to be in the dark about whether you and your providers are meeting the objectives for your business-critical services.
To make it easier to monitor service performance against SLOs, we are introducing a new SLO monitoring feature. Use it to define Objectives based on Availability or Test Time, and then track application performance against these objectives on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis, and drill-down to see more detail in a burndown chart.
This feature is being released as a limited preview at this time. Please contact your Catchpoint CSM if you are interested in participating!
REST API v2 (GA)
We are pleased to announce that Catchpoint’s REST API v2 is now GA! The API helps you build custom applications or integrate Catchpoint with other tools to support your business-critical workflows and includes significant improvements over the v1 REST API.
With this release, we have added new endpoints for Node management, account activity, Endpoint configuration and performance, enumerations, and more. We have also separated the API endpoints into two categories - configuration endpoints and analytics endpoints - of which only calls to Analytics endpoints are counted against the usage limits.
Note that any API v2 keys generated during the preview period are revoked and must be regenerated.
Playwright Transaction Test (Limited Preview)
We are introducing a new transaction test type that lets you run multi-step web tests using Playwright scripts. The initial version of this test type supports the Microsoft Edge monitor. This feature is dependent on the latest Agent version, which will be rolled out to our public nodes after the initial release. Please reach out to your CSM if you would like to be part of this preview.
Traceroute Enhancements
Grouping Filters in AS & IP Network Graph
Grouping filters can help you identify patterns and trends within complex network data, making it easier to understand and manage network paths and traffic flows. When a “group-by” filter is applied, it creates a subset of the network data based on a specific characteristic or attribute. Network path graphs now support grouping filters per IP Address, ASN, Location, and Location & ASN.
- The IP Address filter is the default view in the IP Network graph, displaying each individual hop. This filter is not applicable to the AS Network graph.
- The ASN filter aggregates network paths based on ASNs.
- The Location filter aggregates network paths based on Locations.
- The Location & ASN filter aggregates network paths based on both Location & ASN.
These grouping filters can be applied to sources, hops, and destinations. The grouped sources, hops, and destinations will appear slightly larger and include a count indicating the number of items in the grouping.
Repeated IPs & Routing Loop Visual
It is vital to identify any duplicate IP addresses or routing loops in a network path, as these can indicate network bottlenecks, security issues, or misconfigurations, and may severely impact network performance.
To help you detect these types of issues, we are updating the hop-by-hop graphs in the Records page and Smartboard. Now, any repeated IP addresses within the path will be marked with a circular yellow glyph in the Records page and Smartboard network graphs.
Download Raw Traceroute Data
Now you can download your raw traceroute test data, making it easier to share snapshots of network traffic from a particular timeframe with third parties when troubleshooting. The raw traceroute data follows Linux structure and can be downloaded via the Records page.
Min Path MTU & Min TCP MSS on Hovercards
Minimum path MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) is important for ensuring that data packets can be transmitted between devices without fragmentation or loss of data. TCP MSS (Maximum Segment Size) refers to the smallest size of the TCP segment that can be transmitted without fragmentation over a particular network path.
In the Smartboard AS & IP Network view, hovering over node or destination will show minimum path MTU and minimum TCP MSS encountered by the multiple traceroutes used in the visualization. This helps you quickly confirm that all paths beginning at a particular node (source) or ending at a particular destination do not fall below an expected threshold. Path MTU discovery can be enabled for traceroute tests in the Advanced Settings section of the test properties, in Control Center.
MPLS Labels on Link Hovercards
MPLS (Multi-protocol label switching) routes traffic based on predetermined labels, unlike other network protocols that route traffic based on source and destination addresses. MPLS is designed to improve the efficiency and speed of network communication by identifying network paths and prioritizing network traffic, allowing for faster and more efficient routing of data packets.
MPLS labels are now displayed on the link hovercards of the IP Network graph on the Smartboard.
Undo Button
The AS & IP Network graphs in Smartboard now include an “undo” button, which returns you to the previous state of the visualization. This option makes it much easier to quickly remove any filters that might have been applied and get back to the desired view. The undo button is visible after one or more actions have been applied to the graph.
New Smartboard Updates
The recently launched Smartboard now includes improvements for Enterprise Nodes, providing more insight into performance across all tests running from a particular Enterprise Node. This enables teams to identify and analyze any network issues affecting performance at that node’s location more easily.
For Enterprise Nodes, Smartboard now has two main tabs: Tests and Network.
Tests Tab
The Tests Tab includes the following elements:
- Experience score, downtime, warning & critical alerts information are displayed in the timeline
- Experience Score widget aggregates performance of all tests running from the selected node
- Error widget displays network errors from all tests within the selected time-frame
- Network information widget provides details for the selected node
This tab also includes a Test Performance widget, showing you the performance of tests running on the selected node in either tile or list format.
Network Tab
The Network tab enables you to access network layer data for all tests run from the selected node, and view that in AS or IP Network visualizations.
Control Center Test Enhancements
In this release we have added two features to improve user experience in Control Center:
HTML Test - "Preview" Button
We have added the "Preview" button for HTML Tests, allowing you to see what the HTML code block would look like when rendered.
Divisional Alerts to Client Admins
We have also added the option for Client admins to be added to the alert recipients list within a Division.
WebPageTest
Public Share Records Page
The WebPageTest Records Page now supports public sharing, enabling you to distribute test results to team members and colleagues who don’t have access to the Catchpoint portal.
- Share Lighthouse results
- Share key web performance metrics such as Core Web Vitals
Updated Targeting and Scheduling
Based on user feedback regarding testing schedules, you can now choose to create custom test-run schedules, or to simply run tests every hour. You can also now add a maintenance schedule during which your tests will not run.