Riverbed AppResponse Metrics Reference

riverbed appresponse reference


Metric Categories

CategoryWhat It MeasuresWhere to ViewReal-World Usage
Application PerformanceApp response time (total transaction time), server delay (time from server SYN/ACK to first data), client delay (time between receiving response and sending next request), RTT per TCP sessionPortal: App dashboards / AppResponse UI: Transaction Analysis > Response TimeProve whether slow performance is from network or app layer, compare baseline vs after-change performance, identify if client endpoints are causing slowness
Transaction StatsHTTP/S response codes, DNS query/response times and failure counts, SQL/DB query duration and error rates, request/response volume per appPortal: App KPIs / AppResponse UI: Web/DB/DNS Analysis tabsValidate if slowness is due to server errors or load, correlate spikes in 500 errors with user complaints, see if a new release broke DNS or DB queries
Network HealthTCP retransmissions, packet loss/out-of-order, throughput (bytes/sec), jitterPortal: Health overview widgets / AppResponse UI: Packets > TCP AnalysisConfirm if poor app performance is caused by network issues, differentiate WAN congestion vs server latency, document evidence for network vs app blame
Conversation SummariesTop talkers (by bytes/sessions), top servers by load, top applications by bandwidth/transactionsPortal: “Top N” widgets / AppResponse UI: Conversations tabQuickly find which app or host is consuming bandwidth, scope potential DDoS or runaway processes, see if traffic shifted after network changes
Alerts / ThresholdsSLA breach alarms (e.g., >2s response), performance anomaly detection, user-defined metric thresholdsPortal: Alert widgets / AppResponse UI: Administration > ThresholdsEarly warning of degradations, automated tickets or NOC dashboards, continuous SLA compliance reporting

Data Flow Architecture

Flow-Based Pipeline (NetProfiler)

Routers / Switches / Firewalls
        |
  export NetFlow/IPFIX
        v
     Flow Gateway
  (dedup, normalize, buffer)
        v
     NetProfiler
 (stores, analyzes, visualizes)

Packet-Based Pipeline (AppResponse)

SPAN / TAP from switch ports
        |
        v
  AppResponse appliances
 (capture, DPI, metrics, PCAPs)
        v
      Portal
 (central UI showing dashboards)

Key Differences

AspectNetProfilerAppResponse
Data SourceFlow records (NetFlow/IPFIX)Full packet captures (SPAN/TAP)
Granularity5-tuple conversation levelTransaction and packet level
Best ForVolume analysis, path tracingDeep application troubleshooting
StorageLonger retention, smaller footprintShorter retention, larger footprint