Enterprise Node FAQ

What are some basic use cases of Enterprise Nodes?

Catchpoint offers Enterprise Nodes with a range of options to suit different needs:

• 1st Mile/Data Center - provides a clear view of application performance in the datacenter, free of Internet "noise."
• Branch Offices - supports office productivity in each location by tracking performance and connectivity to first-party and cloud applications.
• Point-of-Sale - ensures customer satisfaction from brick-and-mortar stores.
• Call Centers - monitors the performance of private applications needed to serve customers who contact the call center.
• Development and QA - improves quality by discovering problems during continuous development and testing.

What is the difference between Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Light?

Catchpoint offers two editions of Enterprise Node: Standard and Light

• Standard
  This edition supports the full set of test types you may be familiar with from public nodes. The software is feature rich and works for many use cases ranging from network monitoring to browser-based transaction tests. The software has a larger footprint in terms of memory and resources utilized, so it is not recommended for use on small form factors or shared hardware such as switches and other network infrastructure.

• Light
  This variety of node software supports a smaller subset of the features and test types with a focus on protocol-level tests such as Traceroute, Ping, and Object, where the primary use-case is network monitoring. The smaller footprint and lighter resource utilization makes it easy to deploy in a wide range of environments, including small form factors and network infrastructure like routers and switches.

What tests can Enterprise Nodes perform?

Standard Enterprise Nodes can test the availability and performance of online systems through different monitor types. Enterprise Nodes can test websites through Edge and Chrome, DNS (domain name system), APIs, video streaming, FTP (file transfer protocol), ping traceroute, and more. Nodes allow multiple tests to be run simultaneously and store up to three years of raw data for historical analysis within the Catchpoint SaaS portal.

Can I use any set of monitors on any Enterprise Node?

Monitor types such as Edge, Chrome, and Chrome Mobile are grouped by their functionality into convenient Monitor Sets. Today's Monitor Sets includes the following monitors, and Catchpoint is continually adding more:

• Browser Set - Edge, Chrome, Chrome Mobile, Streaming
• Emulated Set - Emulated, Playback, Playback Mobile
• HTTP Set - API, Single Object, WebSocket
• Network Set - Ping, Traceroute, TCP, DNS, SMTP, NTP, IMAP
• FTP/SSH - FTP, SFTP, SSH, Custom Monitor

Note
Companies purchasing Enterprise Nodes may choose any combination of monitor sets needed to meet their needs. Furthermore, companies can use different monitor sets on different nodes to serve different purposes. For example, a company can choose one combination of monitor sets for Nodes monitoring within their data centers, and another combination for Nodes monitoring point-of-sale locations.

Who may run tests from an Enterprise Node?

Only end-users of the company purchasing an Enterprise Node, with authorized access to their Catchpoint Portal account, can run tests from that Node.

Catchpoint Technical staff may access an Enterprise Node to run tests and diagnostics when a company escalates a technical support issue.

How do I run a test from an Enterprise Node?

Enterprise node users can schedule tests on their Nodes by selecting the network type "Enterprise" from the product, folder, or test properties, and targeting specific Enterprise nodes. Catchpoint tests generally operate the same with Enterprise Nodes as they do with other node types, except they are run from customer-only locations.

Can Enterprise Nodes be scheduled along with other network types like Backbone, Last Mile, or Wireless for the same test?

Any individual test can only target nodes of a single network type (e.g. only Backbone or Enterprise nodes, but not both). Catchpoint keeps network types separated to ensure a proper "apples-to-apples" data analysis. For example, tests from Wireless network nodes take a completely different path than Backbone nodes, so their data cannot be equivalently aggregated.

However, customers can run and compare different tests from different network types. For example, a customer can run one test from Enterprise Nodes within their data center, and another equivalent test from Catchpoint backbone network nodes. This would allow them to compare the performance difference between the two.

What's the difference between an Enterprise instance and a Catchpoint Node?

In the Catchpoint portal, Nodes are monitoring sites defined by geographic location and ISP. Catchpoint users target specific Nodes from which to run tests. A customer's Enterprise Instance will appear as an individual node in the Catchpoint portal as well, like Backbone, Wireless, and Last Mile Nodes, but only accessible to them.

Customers can also group multiple Enterprise instances together to form larger Nodes. This can be done for increased capacity or redundancy purposes. For example, four A8 Enterprise instances can be aggregated into a single logical Enterprise Node, even if the instances are running on separate physical or virtual appliances. When creating tests in the Catchpoint portal, the aggregated instance will appear as a single Node.

Do Enterprise Nodes use Catchpoint points? How does the pricing work?

Enterprise Nodes may or may not use points depending on your use case and the type of node you are opting for. Catchpoint offers two types of nodes, a flat license-based and a point-based.

Enterprise (Pt) node consumes points from your account, allowing you to pay as you go.

Pricing for Enterprise Flat rate nodes is a flat monthly fee (billed per contract) depending on several factors, including:

• Monitor set combination
• Physical or virtual appliance, with setup
• Size (number of simultaneous tests supported)
• Features (e.g. data retention period)

Within the Catchpoint portal, the point estimator will recognize that Enterprise Flat rate node pricing is a flat fee and will always show zero estimated points because of this.

More about Enterprise Pt. node here

What kind of API support do Enterprise Nodes have?

Enterprise Nodes do not have an explicit API. However, the Catchpoint portal provides several types of APIs for various purposes. These APIs apply to Enterprise Nodes just as they do to other node types.

Does Catchpoint support multiple versions of Enterprise Nodes, or of certain Browsers?

Currently, Catchpoint only supports one version of the Node, which only runs the latest supported versions of Chrome. Browser providers cease support for OS versions as they see fit, and tend to have complications with different OS versions. It is therefore not practical to develop and maintain multiple matching Node versions.

Node Capacity and Sizing

Do Enterprise nodes run on physical hardware or virtual appliances?

Both. Enterprise Nodes can be deployed as either physical or virtual appliances. The physical appliance can be a mini-computer or rack-mount server. Delivery times for physical appliances typically require 2 to 4 weeks and will vary based on the shipping destination. A variety of virtual appliances are supported, including VMware ESXi, KVM, Hyper-V, and XEN. Customers can download these from a Catchpoint secure link (as directed for installation).

Linux Enterprise Node instances are available as an RPM package giving you the flexibility to install it on a physical or a virtual appliance. A Catchpoint-provided physical appliance running Linux Enterprise Node is planned for the near future.

What capacity options are available for Enterprise Nodes?

Enterprise Nodes are offered in different sized models with degrees of capacity based on the number of simultaneous (operating at the same time) tests they support. These models are A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, and A6.

The above graphic shows the number of simultaneous tests for each monitor set for each Enterprise Node model. For example, an A2 Node can run 2 tests from the Browser monitor set, plus 2 tests from Emulated monitor set, plus 8 tests from the HTTP monitor set, and so on, simultaneously. These maximums only limit how many simultaneous tests can run at a given time on a node of a given size, but do not limit the number of tests a user can schedule in the Catchpoint portal.

How can customers with Enterprise Nodes check their run status?

Enterprise users can view their Node in the Catchpoint portal, on the Nodes \> Nodes page. This page displays a listing of all Enterprise Nodes used by that company, with a Run Rate for each Node. Node run rate is the rate at which a node has been able to complete tests and properly report data, compared to the total number of tests scheduled for that node. This rate is displayed as a percentage value under the Nodes menu and is available for authorized Enterprise and Private Node (legacy) users.

If a Node is unable to run all scheduled tests in a given time, either due to over-scheduling, troubles with a test, network problems, or other issues, Catchpoint will simply queue them up until the Node is available. When this occurs, an Node's Run Rate may drop below 100%, until the node catches up.

Users can view a Node's Run Rate on the Nodes page, or from the node Run Rate email report, which they can subscribe to in Email Subscriptions. More information on Run Rate can be found in the Catchpoint Knowledge Base repository.

How can more capacity be added to an Enterprise solution?

Enterprise capacity can be expanded in the following ways:

1. Upgrade the Node model: Customers can always upgrade an Enterprise Node model to a larger size. If the existing appliance does not support the new size, replacement hardware or an upgraded virtual appliance will be required.
2. Add more Nodes: Additional Enterprise Nodes can also be purchased. Multiple Instances can even be grouped together so they appear as a single larger node from which users can run tests.

Can I combine multiple Enterprise Nodes?

Yes, multiple Enterprise Nodes can be combined in a single Enterprise Node if they are the same size model with the same monitor sets. For example, you can combine four (4) A2 Nodes in a single A2 sized Enterprise Node to have the equivalent capacity of an A8. This allows for flexible node deployment and growth. Thus, if you have an Enterprise node made up of a single A2 instance, you can continuously grow by adding more A2 instances as needed. You could not, however, add an A1 or A4 since a node can only be comprised of the same instance size.

Are the timeout and file size download limits that exist for Backbone nodes still applicable for Enterprise Node?

The 30MB download limit for Backbone web tests does not apply to Enterprise web tests. There is no limit.

Timeout limits can be controlled through individual test properties, in Advanced Settings. By default, all tests are set to the same 30-second limit.

What are the minimum appliance requirements needed for Enterprise Nodes?

When purchased on a physical appliance, Catchpoint provides appropriately sized hardware. When running on a virtual appliance, the following minimum requirements are recommended for each corresponding instance size.

\ These capacities are subject to change. For more, consult the following Amazon reference links:*

• More details on Amazon EC2 Instance Types
• More details on Amazon EC2 Instance Configuration & Network Bandwidth

Note: If you are running primarily browser (Chrome and IE) tests; we recommend doubling up on memory for each category. For example, if using an A2 instance, ensure you are using AT LEAST 16GB of memory, as opposed to the above-listed 8GB.

Enterprise Node runs real browser tests and are therefore CPU-bound and RAM-bound. These requirements ensure virtual appliance allocation and physical appliance/OS do not starve actual CPUs. No other software should run on the server besides Catchpoint software.

Customers running Enterprise on virtual appliances should not overprovision or over-allocate resources to multiple Nodes or other virtual appliances. This will avoid having Enterprise Nodes contend for the same resources as other virtual appliances, potentially starving their capacity.

What is the required network bandwidth for an Enterprise Node?

Catchpoint recommends at least 3 Mbps, but this depends on load and usage.

Node Configuration and Security

How are Enterprise Nodes set up?

Enterprise Node installation is self-serve. You can download the Enterprise Node software on your own hardened physical or virtual appliance, install, activate & configure from the portal the moment the device is connected to the Internet.

Does the Enterprise Node support containerization deployment, like Docker?

Yes, we can deploy Enterprise nodes using docker and you can read more about it from here: https://docs.catchpoint.com/docs/ENTERPRISE-NODES-DEPLOYMENT-USING-DOCKER

Updating Enterprise Nodes

Nodes can be updated by the client by running the "catchpoint update" command. Clients are responsible for node updates. Catchpoint support can assist with updates as needed.

How does a client receive notifications regarding updates and new releases?

For the Enterprise version release, we will be sharing release notes when a new node version is available for Enterprise

Can customers install additional software on their Enterprise Node appliances?

Enterprise Node customers cannot install any other software on Enterprise Node appliances, as it may invalidate technical support and interfere with the workload of the Node.

Can Enterprise Node appliances be added to a domain to follow organization policy?

Enterprise Node customers cannot add the appliance to their domain to follow organization policy as it will impact the ability to run tests.

Can I change the DNS configuration on Enterprise Nodes?

Yes. When logged into the Enterprise node, the "catchpoint dns" command can be used to set the DNS configuration for that instance.

Can I change the Proxy configuration on Enterprise Nodes?

Yes, Click here for more details

Can Enterprise customers run commands from the console (either command prompt or PowerShell)?

Currently, there is no such capability. In addition, software like antivirus or packet capture can have a big impact on the measurements and even conflict with the Node. Additionally, patching the OS with fixes not tested with the Node can impair or cause the failure of the Node.

Can I move an Enterprise node from one location to another?

Enterprise customers must contact Catchpoint Support before moving a node to a different location. This includes shipping a node to a new branch office or a different data center.

How does Enterprise communicate with internal and external services?

Enterprise nodes communicate with Catchpoint's globally distributed Command and Control systems for scheduling tests, logging metrics captured during test runs, and capturing screenshots and HTTP headers/body. Communication is done over the HTTP protocol using a custom binary data format. Outbound ports are 80 and 443.

Enterprise nodes perform tests against internal (on-premise) applications as instructed by the end-users. These could be Intranet, SharePoint, Gmail, and other tests the end-user decides to monitor which reside within their network. Outbound ports are dependent on the application or service tested. A list of common ports is provided for a separate question below.

Enterprise nodes can also perform tests against external cloud-based applications as instructed by end-users. Common examples include Salesforce, Office 365, Gmail, CSNs, and other tests the end-user decides to monitor. As with internal tests, outbound ports are dependent on the application or service being tested.

Which IPs need to be opened and why?

If your location has outbound restrictions, please contact Catchpoint support for a specific list of outbound IP addresses to allow, although filtering by IP is not recommended as the list of these IPs may change as Catchpoint adds or moves resources. Enterprise clients need to open ports 80 and 443 outbound only to communicate with Catchpoint's Command and Control system.

Do Enterprise Nodes need a static IP address on the local adapter, or can they use DHCP?

Enterprise Nodes do not need a static IP address. They operate with DHCP or a non-static public IP address that is translated to its private IP address. The outbound NAT IP does not need to be static to successfully provision and operate the Node.

What outbound ports should be opened in our firewall?

The Enterprise Node communicates with Catchpoint's Command and Control system over port 443 and port 80 (outbound only). However, other ports might be required to be open based on the monitoring your company plans to put into action. Therefore, the outbound ports are dependent on the applications or services being tested.

Most protocols use default ports, however, there could be cases where what is being tested uses a different port. Below is a list of commonly tested applications and services, and their commonly used ports:

• Websites and Web Applications: Port 80 and 443.
• APIs: Port 80 and 443.
• Websockets: Port 80 and 443.
• DNS Infrastructure: Port 53 (if users wish to query a specific server)
• SMTP: Port 25, 2525, 465, 587.
• IMAP: Port 143 and 993
• FTP: Ports 20 and 21 in active mode. In passive mode, only port 21 is used.
• SFTP: Port 22
• SSH: Port 22
• TCP: Depends on the services tested.
• NTP: Port 123
• UDP Traceroute: Port 33434 by default, unless overridden by a test.
• TCP Traceroute: Port 80
• MQTT: Port 1883, 8883

What security settings do Enterprise Nodes require?

Linux Enterprise Node requires the main mono (mono-sgen ) runtime executable. This service requires additional capabilities like sniff packets, open raw sockets, set system time, bind ports below 1024. These capabilities extend to all system users.

The firewall is configured with:

1. REST API: Port 8080 on Loopback (for NGINX).
2. SNS: Port 443 inbound, ANY outbound.

SELinux is currently set to a permissive state. This will be optimized in a future release.

Where is the data obtained from Enterprise tests stored?

All data is stored in Catchpoint data centers for analysis in the Catchpoint portal.

Are all sensitive data such as usernames and passwords, or personally identifiable information transmitted over a secure connection? What are the encryption methods?

Catchpoint does not store any personally identifiable information. If the username and password authentication is used over HTTP in the context of the test, then that information is stored securely through inverse encryption. Catchpoint uses a certificate-based model over TLS.

Are there any results of penetration testing completed on Enterprise nodes?

Catchpoint does not perform penetration testing.

How many accounts do we create for the Enterprise node?

We only create three accounts by default i.e. CPSERVICE, SERVERUSER, and CPUSER when it comes to the Enterprise node.