Method of tracing a transaction in a network

In a network comprising a plurality of nodes, each node controlled by one or more processors,

• a method of tracking a transaction communicated through at least two of the plurality of nodes connected using sockets, wherein socket data associated with the sockets is stored in one or more memory devices, wherein the transaction is processed by processes executed by the one or more processors on transaction nodes,
• the method comprising the steps of:
• (1) initiating tracking, comprising:
• identifying a tracking start node within the plurality of nodes, wherein the tracking start node is associated with the transaction, and
• identifying a trace-out socket on the tracking start node, wherein the trace-out socket is associated with the transaction;
• (2) identifying one or more of the transaction nodes within the plurality of nodes, each connected to the tracking start node identified in step (1) or to another of the transaction nodes identified in step (2), comprising:
• for each i from 1 to N, wherein N is equal or greater than 1:
• (a) by using a portion of the socket data stored in the one or more memory devices and associated with the trace-out socket on an ith base node, wherein the ith base node is the tracking start node if i=1 or the (i−1)th traced node if i>1, identifying an ith traced node and a trace-in socket on the ith traced node, wherein the trace-in socket on the ith traced node and the trace-out socket on the ith base node form a socket pair;
• wherein, if the trace-out socket on the ith base node is an IP socket, an IP address from the portion of the socket data associated with the trace-out socket is used to identify the ith traced node whereby identifying one of the transaction nodes;
• (b) by using a portion of the socket data stored in the one or more memory devices and associated with the trace-in socket on the ith traced node, identifying a trace-out socket on the ith traced node.