Application visibility in layer 3 networks

Abstract

A device may receive configuration information for generating an application probe. The application probe may be used to request network information, associated with an application, from network devices. The device may determine, based on the configuration information, traffic parameters associated with the application. The device may determine a requested type of network information to be requested from the network devices. The device may generate the application probe by including, in the application probe, the traffic parameters and information identifying the requested type of network information. The device may transmit the application probe to a network device of the network devices. The device may receive, from the network device and based on transmitting the application probe, a value associated with the requested type of network information.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a network device, an application probe;   determining, by the network device, that the application probe has expired;   determining, by the network device and based on determining that the application probe has expired, information requested via the application probe; and   providing, by the network device, the information requested via the application probe.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , where the application probe comprises expiration information; and
 where determining that the application probe has expired comprises:
 determining that the application probe has expired based on reading the expiration information. 
   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , where the expiration information comprises a time-to-live (TTL) indicator, and
 where determining that the application probe has expired comprises:
 determining that the application probe has expired based on the TTL indicator. 
   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , where providing the information requested via the application probe comprises:
 reading a payload of the application probe to identify the information requested via the application probe.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , where the application probe comprises expiration information comprising an expiration condition,
 the expiration condition indicating at least one of:
 an amount of time after which the application probe expires, or 
 a quantity of hops after which the application probe expires. 
   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , where providing the information requested via the application probe comprises:
 inserting the information, requested via the application probe, in a return packet,
 the return packet comprising a time-to-live (TTL) indicator. 
   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , where the return packet comprises a payload; and
 where inserting the information, requested via the application probe, in the return packet comprises:
 encapsulating the payload using an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) header,
 the ICMP header including at least one of:
 an application identifier, 
 a device identifier for the network device, or 
 a device identifier for a probing device. 
 
 
   
     
     
         28 . A computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
 one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network device, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive an application probe; 
 determine that the application probe has expired; 
 determine, based on determining that the application probe has expired, information requested via the application probe; and 
 provide the information requested via the application probe. 
   
     
     
         29 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 28 , where the application probe comprises expiration information; and
 where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to determine that the application probe has expired, are to:
 determine that the application probe has expired based on reading the expiration information. 
   
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , where the expiration information comprises a time-to-live (TTL) indicator; and
 where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to determine that the application probe has expired, are to:
 determine that the application probe has expired based on the TTL indicator. 
   
     
     
         31 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 28 , where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to provide the information requested via the application probe, are to:
 read a payload of the application probe to identify the information requested via the application probe.   
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 28 , where the application probe comprises expiration information comprising an expiration condition,
 the expiration condition indicating at least one of:
 an amount of time after which the application probe expires, or 
 a quantity of hops after which the application probe expires. 
   
     
     
         33 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 28 , where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to provide the information requested via the application probe, are to:
 insert the information, requested via the application probe, in a return packet,
 the return packet comprising a time-to-live (TTL) indicator. 
   
     
     
         34 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 33 , where the return packet comprises a payload; and
 where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to insert the information, requested via the application probe, in the return packet, are to:
 encapsulate the payload using an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) header,
 the ICMP header including at least one of:
 an application identifier, 
 a device identifier for the network device, or 
 a device identifier for a probing device. 
 
 
   
     
     
         35 . A device, comprising:
 one or more memories; and   one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, to:
 receive an application probe; 
 determine that the application probe has expired; 
 determine, based on determining that the application probe has expired, information requested via the application probe; and 
 provide the information requested via the application probe. 
   
     
     
         36 . The device of  claim 35 , where the application probe comprises expiration information; and
 where the one or more processors, when determining that the application probe has expired, are to:
 determine that the application probe has expired based on reading the expiration information. 
   
     
     
         37 . The device of  claim 36 , where the expiration information comprises a time-to-live (TTL) indicator; and
 where the one or more processors, when determining that the application probe has expired, are to:
 determine that the application probe has expired based on the TTL indicator. 
   
     
     
         38 . The device of  claim 35 , where the one or more processors, when providing the information requested via the application probe, are to:
 read a payload of the application probe to identify the information requested via the application probe.   
     
     
         39 . The device of  claim 35 , where the application probe comprises expiration information comprising an expiration condition,
 the expiration condition indicating at least one of:
 an amount of time after which the application probe expires, or 
 a quantity of hops after which the application probe expires. 
   
     
     
         40 . The device of  claim 35 ,
 where the one or more processors, when providing the information requested via the application probe, are to:
 insert the information, requested via the application probe, in a return packet,
 the return packet comprising a time-to-live (TTL) indicator; 
 
   where the return packet comprises a payload; and   where the one or more processors, when inserting the information, requested via the application probe, in the return packet, are to:
 encapsulate the payload using an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) header,
 the ICMP header including at least one of:
 an application identifier, 
 a device identifier for the device, or 
 a device identifier for a probing device.