Bigleaf Networks customers can now run network performance tests directly from their browser, giving them a faster, more accurate tool to troubleshoot network and application performance issues using trusted third-party Bigleaf data. The new troubleshooting feature - which shows up as a tab in the customer's dashboard - is another move made by Bigleaf to make complex technologies and tedious processes more accessible to a wider range of people, many of whom are operating in increasingly IT lean environments.

"There are a lot of x-factors that can make a network unreliable or cause performance issues," said Jonathan Petkevich, Vice President of Product Management at Bigleaf. "Identifying what causes those issues is often challenging because traffic may be handled by different players in the stream, making the test data unreliable. Because we own and operate our own gateway clusters, we're able to ensure the most accurate, objective results. While our customers have always been able to get this data through our support team, we've made it easier for them to now get this data directly from the familiar user interface of their Bigleaf dashboard, so they can focus on troubleshooting issues with their ISPs and application vendors."

Bigleaf's troubleshooting tests cover the gamut from simple to advanced.

At the simple end of the spectrum is a ping test where customers can identify where they want a set of packets to be transmitted to and Bigleaf will tell them how long the trip takes. It's a good way to determine if there's something in that path that's causing a problem.

In the middle is an advanced traceroute test, also known as MTR, which traces the route all of the network packets take along that path. Whereas the ping test is basically point to point, the MTR test identifies all the stops a packet takes along the way, giving customers the ability to pinpoint individual devices that might be causing a problem.

And at the advanced end of the spectrum is a packet capture function, TCPdump. With this testing function, Bigleaf captures the TCP/IP packets transmitted between the network and a Bigleaf router to identify whatever traffic abnormalities may exist.

"Chances are you've had this argument with an ISP before and gotten the same responses: ‘We'll send a tech' or ‘We need to look at it' or ‘There's not an issue.' With this new feature, you'll be able to be proactive in your own self defense," said Petkevich. "Whether you're trying to be proactive before you engage our support, or you're an MSP taking proactive steps before engaging a customer, you'll be able to get a better idea of where problems exist."

Bigleaf customers will see the new tab in their dashboard immediately.