Viewing Traffic Routing through the MegaIX Looking Glass

The MegaIX Looking Glass provides full-featured visibility into traffic routing and the IX route server environment on Megaport owned and operated internet peering exchanges (IXs). You can query both the primary and redundant route servers for live BGP data to investigate the current routing state, and diagnose and troubleshoot any configuration or networking issues. The MegaIX Looking Glass allows you to see each MegaIX and some details of Megaport clients peering on them.

What the Looking Glass tells you

The Looking Glass answers questions such as:

What route is currently being used to send traffic?
What are all possible routes on the IX that the network can use?
Does a route exist in the routing table for a specific destination?
Is a BGP session up or down?
What IP prefixes and routes have I received from my BGP peers?
Which routes have been advertised to my BGP peers?

Viewing the Looking Glass

The traffic routing information is available through the Looking Glass only after you have provisioned one or more IXs.

To view the Looking Glass

In the Megaport ONE Portal, choose Tools > MegaIX Looking Glass.
Select an IX from the drop-down list.
Only IXs with a Live status are shown in the drop-down list.
The following details are shown for the selected IX:
- Name – The name of the network peer.
- ASN – The autonomous system number (ASN) of the network peer.
  The ASN is a collection of connected IP routing prefixes under the control of one or more network operators on behalf of a single administrative entity or domain. It is a unique numerical ID allocated to each AS for use in BGP routing.
- RS1 – The primary route server (route server 1).
  The circle icon in this column indicates the availability of IPv4 and IPv6 on the route server.
  - Green - IPv4 and IPv6 are available on the route server.
  - Amber - IPv4 or IPv6 are not available on the route server.
  - Red - IPv4 and IPv6 are not available on the route server.
- RS2 – The secondary or redundant route server (route server 2).
  The circle icon in this column indicates the availability of IPv4 and IPv6 on the route server.
  - Green - IPv4 and IPv6 are available on the route server.
  - Amber - IPv4 or IPv6 are not available on the route server.
  - Red - IPv4 and IPv6 are not available on the route server.
- Actions – View IX traffic metrics and route server details.
  For more information, see IX traffic metrics.

To sort the table by column

Click the up or down triangle next to a column heading.
The table columns reload, if necessary.
Click the heading again to reverse the order.
A small up or down triangle reflects the current bidirectional sort order.

To search for a network peer

In the Search field at the top right of the table, enter the name of the peer for which to search.
The search results are refined immediately as you type.

IX traffic metrics

You can view IX traffic metrics in graphical format.

To view IX traffic metrics

In the Actions column of the table, click .
Alternatively, click the arrow to the left of the peer name.
The IX Traffic Metrics graph appears by default.

The graph shows IX traffic for the previous 24-hour period, if the information is public.
Mbps In shows the number of inbound megabits per second and Mbps Out shows the number of outbound megabits per second.

IX Traffic Metrics graph

You can show and hide data on the graph.

To show or hide data on the graph

Select or deselect the blue or red bandwidth direction options above the graph.

The following tools are also available to manipulate the graph:

Tool	Description
	Zoom in. Use the mouse to hover over a specific data point to see the values and exact time stamp.
	Zoom out.
	Zoom in on a specific section of the graph. Place the mouse pointer over the graph, then click and hold the left mouse button. Move the mouse left or right and release the left mouse button to zoom in.
	Pan the graph left and right. While the graph is zoomed in, click and hold the left mouse button, then move the mouse left and right to pan the display.
	Return the graph to the default view.
	Download the graphical data in SVG, PNG, or CSV format.

Route server details

A route is a destination consisting of an IP address prefix and other details describing the path to the destination. The Route Server Details tab displays all routes (not only the best routes), including several routes to the same network with different attributes.

To view route server details

In the Actions column of the table, click .
Select the Route Server Details tab.
The following details are displayed:
- Prefix – The destination network of the route. An IP network is a group of IP addresses. The network address is the prefix.
  For example:
  IPv4 address: 192.0.2.1
  IPv4 network prefix: 192.0.2.0/24 (includes 192.0.2.0 - 192.0.2.255)
- Best – For each prefix in the routing table, when there are two or more next-hop routers advertising a path to that destination network, the preferred route is selected. The metrics and distance values from the received route advertisements are used to determine the best route to a destination.
  A value of true in this column indicates this route is the best when choosing between two routes to the same destination.
  A value of false indicates that this route is not preferred when choosing between two routes to the same destination.
- Next Hop – The IP address of an adjacent router, or hop, in the remote network to which the packet will be sent.
- Local Pref – The preference used within an autonomous system. The highest local preference is preferred. The default value is 100.
- Origin ASN – The autonomous system number (ASN) from which the route originates.
- ASN Path – The list of all autonomous system numbers (ASNs) through which the route has passed.
  For example:
  133934-> 133934-> 45577
  Each ASN identifies an individual BGP network.
  Shorter ASN paths are preferred because a shorter path can indicate a closer destination.
- Since – The date and time since the route was last used.

Tip

In the drop-down menus above the list of routes, you can select the number of routes to display, and change the route display between route server 1 and route server 2.

To search for a route

In the Search field at the top right of the list of routes, type an IP address or network prefix on which to search.
The search results are refined immediately as you type.

Last update: 2023-01-27