Network analyzer having distributed packet replay and triggering

A method comprising:

• capturing network packets from a computing network using respective agents;
• selecting portions of the captured network packets for use as replay data;
• storing the replay data that includes network packets and that defines a conditional flow for introduction of portions of the replay data by the respective agents coupled to the computing network at different locations;
• communicating portions of the replay data to the respective agents;
• issuing commands to the agents to control introduction of the network packets included in the replay data on the computing network by the agents to recreate network activity at the different locations.

A system comprising:

• a plurality of distributed agents coupled to a computing network at different locations for capturing replay data from a network;
• an aggregation module coupled to the network to receive replay data captured from the network by the agents;
• a replay module coupled to the network having a storage medium to store replay data that includes network packets and defines a conditional flow for introduction of the replay data by the agents;
• wherein the replay module communicates portions of the replay data to the agents, and issues commands to the agents according to the conditional flow to control introduction of the network packets included in the replay data on the computing network by the agents to recreate network activity at the different locations.

A computer-readable medium comprising instructions to cause a processor to:

• direct a plurality of agents coupled to a computing network at different locations to capture network packets from the computing network;
• communicate the captured network packets to an aggregator coupled to the computing network;
• aggregate the captured network packets into sets of network packets based on source information and destination information for the network packets;
• present the aggregated network packets to a user;
• select portions of the aggregated network packets to use as replay data based on input from the user;
• communicate the replay data to the agents coupled to the computing network, wherein the replay data includes one or more network packets;
• and
• issue commands to the agents to control introduction of the network packets included in the replay data on the computing network by the agents to recreate network activity at the different locations.

A method comprising:

• capturing network packets from a computing network using a plurality of agents positioned at different locations within the computing network;
• communicating the captured network packets to an aggregator coupled to the computing network;
• aggregating the captured network packets into sets of network packets based on source information and destination information for the network packets;
• presenting the aggregated network packets to a user;
• communicating the aggregated network packets to a replay module coupled to the computing network;
• selecting portions of the aggregated network packets for use as replay data based on input from the user;
• communicating the replay data from the replay module back to the agents, wherein the replay data includes one or more of the network packets selected by the user;
• and
• issuing commands from the replay module to the agents to control introduction of the network packets included in the replay data on the computing network by the agents to recreate network activity at the different locations within the computing network.