System, method, and computer-readable medium for determining a layer 2 path trace in a heterogeneous network system

An apparatus comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a processing system, the computer-executable instructions for performing diagnostics in a network system, wherein the instructions comprise:

• instructions that obtain a respective identification of a first target device and a second target device deployed in a heterogeneous network;
• instructions that identify a aver 2 device and a neighbor device that is communicably coupled to the aver 2 device, wherein the neighbor device and the aver 2 device are deployed in the heterogeneous network;
• instructions that obtain from a port forwarding database (PFDB) maintained by the layer 2 device a MAC address that identifies the neighbor device;
• instructions that obtain from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device a port of the layer 2 device, wherein the port is associated with the MAC address;
• instructions that determine that the layer 2 device is included in a network path between the first and second target devices using the neighbor device, the MAC address, and the port;
• instructions that define an order of the layer 2 device within the network path using the neighbor device, the MAC address, and the port;
• instructions that generate a first layer 2 path trace of the network path using the order of the layer 2 device within the network path;
• instructions that generate a second layer 2 path trace using the first layer 2 path trace and user-provided connectivity information related to at least one of the aver 2 device and the neighbor device;
• and
• instructions that display a graphical representation of the second layer 2 path trace.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a processing system, the computer-executable instructions for performing diagnostics in a network system, the instructions comprising:

• instructions that obtain a respective identification of a first target device and a second target device deployed in a heterogeneous network;
• instructions that identify a layer 2 device and a neighbor device that is communicably coupled to the layer 2 device, wherein the neighbor device and the layer 2 device are deployed in the heterogeneous network;
• instructions that obtain from a port forwarding database (PFDB) maintained by the layer 2 device a MAC address that identifies the neighbor device;
• instructions that obtain from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device a port of the layer 2 device, wherein the port is associated with the MAC address;
• instructions that determine if the layer 2 device is included in a network path between the first and second target devices by using the neighbor device, the MAC address, and the port;
• instructions that define an order of the layer 2 device within the network path using the neighbor device, the MAC address, and the port;
• instructions that generate a first layer 2 path trace of the network path using the order of the layer 2 device within the network path;
• instructions that generate a second layer 2 path trace using the first layer 2 path trace and user-provided connectivity information related to at least one of the layer 2 device and the neighbor device;
• and
• instructions that display a graphical representation of the second layer 2 path trace.

A method of performing network system diagnostics, comprising:

• obtaining a respective identification of a first target device, a second target device, and a layer 3 device that is communicably coupled to the first target device, wherein the first and second target devices and the layer 3 device are deployed in a heterogeneous network;
• identifying a layer 2 device and a neighbor device that is communicably coupled to the layer 2 device, wherein the neighbor device and the layer 2 device are deployed in the heterogeneous network;
• obtaining from a port forwarding database (PFDB) maintained by the layer 2 device:
• a first MAC address that identifies the neighbor device,
• a second MAC address that identifies the first target device,
• a third MAC address that identifies the second target device, and
• a fourth MAC address that identifies the layer 3 device;
• obtaining from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device a first port of the layer 2 device, wherein the first port is associated with the first MAC address;
• determining if the layer 2 device is included in a network path between the first and second target devices upon the occurrence of at least one of the following:
• obtaining from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device a second port of the layer 2 device and a third port of the layer 2 device, wherein the second port is associated with the second MAC address, and the third port is associated with the third MAC address;
• obtaining from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device the second port of the layer 2 device and a fourth port of the layer 2 device, wherein the fourth port is associated with the fourth MAC address;
• defining an order of the layer 2 device within the network path using the neighbor device, the first MAC address, the second MAC address, the third MAC address, the fourth MAC address, the first port, the second port, the third port, and the fourth port;
• generating a layer 2 path trace of the network path using the order of the layer 2 device within the network path;
• and
• displaying a graphical representation of the layer 2 path trace.

An apparatus comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a processing system, the computer-executable instructions for performing diagnostics in a network system, wherein the instructions comprise:

• instructions that obtain a respective identification of a first target device, a second target device, and a layer 3 device that is communicably coupled to the first target device, wherein the first and second target devices and the layer 3 device are deployed in a heterogeneous network;
• instructions that identify a layer 2 device and a neighbor device that is communicably coupled to the layer 2 device, wherein the neighbor device and the layer 2 device are deployed in the heterogeneous network;
• instructions that obtain from a port forwarding database (PFDB) maintained by the layer 2 device:
• a first MAC address that identifies the neighbor device,
• a second MAC address that identifies the first target device,
• a third MAC address that identifies the second target device, and
• a fourth MAC address that identifies the layer 3 device;
• instructions that obtain from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device a first port of the layer 2 device, wherein the first port is associated with the first MAC address;
• instructions that determine if the layer 2 device is included in a network path between the first and second target devices, wherein the instructions that determine that the layer 2 device is included in a network path include at least one of the following:
• instructions that obtain from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device a second port of the layer 2 device and a third port of the layer 2 device, wherein the second port is associated with the second MAC address, and the third port is associated with the third MAC address;
• instructions that obtain from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device the second port of the layer 2 device and a fourth port of the layer 2 device, wherein the fourth port is associated with the fourth MAC address;
• instructions that define an order of the layer 2 device within the network path using the neighbor device, the first MAC address, the second MAC address, the third MAC address, the fourth MAC address, the first port, the second port, the third port, and the fourth port;
• instructions that generate a layer 2 path trace of the network path using order of the layer 2 device within the network path;
• and
• instructions that display a graphical representation of the layer 2 path trace.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a processing system, the computer-executable instructions for performing diagnostics in a network system, the instructions comprising:

• instructions that obtain a respective identification of a first target device, a second target device, and a layer 3 device that is communicably coupled to the first target device, wherein the first and second target devices and the layer 3 device are deployed in a heterogeneous network;
• instructions that identify a layer 2 device and a neighbor device that is communicably coupled to the layer 2 device, wherein the neighbor device and the layer 2 device are deployed in the heterogeneous network;
• instructions that obtain from a port forwarding database (PFDB) maintained by the layer 2 device:
• a first MAC address that identifies the neighbor device,
• a second MAC address that identifies the first target device,
• a third MAC address that identifies the second target device, and
• a fourth MAC address that identifies the layer 3 device;
• instructions that obtain from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device a first port of the layer 2 device, wherein the first port is associated with the first MAC address;
• instructions that determine if the layer 2 device is included in a network path between the first and second target devices that includes at least one of the following:
• instructions that obtain from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device a second port of the layer 2 device and a third port of the layer 2 device, wherein the second port is associated with the second MAC address, and the third port is associated with the third MAC address;
• instructions that obtain from the PFDB maintained by the layer 2 device the second port of the layer 2 device and a fourth port of the layer 2 device, wherein the fourth port is associated with the fourth MAC address;
• instructions that define an order of the layer 2 device within the network path using the neighbor device, the first MAC address, the second MAC address, the third MAC address, the fourth MAC address, the first port, the second port, the third port, and the fourth port;
• instructions that generate a layer 2 path trace of the network path using the order of the layer 2 device within the network path;
• and
• instructions that display a graphical representation of the layer 2 path trace.