System and method for displaying a graph representative of network performance over a time period

A method for monitoring performance of a packet network, said method comprising:

• collecting network performance information from a plurality of network nodes of a packet network including determining a number of real-time sessions being communicated over each of the plurality of network nodes;
• storing the network performance information collected from the plurality of network nodes of a packet network, the network performance information being indicative of or otherwise suitable for use in determining a health of the network packet network, the network performance information distinguishing between network performance information associated with communications of data packets including real-time content and network performance information associated with communications of data packets including non-real-time content;
• and
• generating a graphic user interface including a graphical representation of the network performance information distinguishing between the network performance information associated with communications of data packets including real-time content and network performance information including non-real-time content with a node segment over a time duration, wherein generating a graphical user interface including a graphical representation includes generating a graph including a first indicia representative of a first network performance information parameter associated with data packets including real-time content communicated with the node segment over the time durations, a second indicia representative of a second network performance information parameter associated with data packets including non-real-time content communicated with the node segment over the time duration, and a third indicia representative of a sum of the first and second network performance information parameters, and wherein collecting the network performance information includes performing a measurement to characterize a burst nature of data flows associated with communications of data packets.