Baselines

CV-CUE dynamically computes and updates a baseline for normal performance and connectivity of the network. The baseline adjusts as the network behavior changes, eliminating the false positive and false negative alerts associated with thresholds.

This chapter contains the following topics:

Baselines versus Thresholds

A baseline is used as a basis against which things are measured. Baselines have been traditionally used when you want to determine the effect of a change. For example, if you want to optimize your wireless network, you need to take a baseline of metrics such as retry rates or average data rates so that you can measure if the changes had a positive or negative impact.

A threshold is a level that must be exceeded to trigger an action. Thresholds are commonly used in network monitoring systems for alerts. For example, if a retry rate threshold were set at 50%, the system would trigger a warning when the retry rate exceeded 50%.

CV-CUE studies the behavior from the historical data of clients, APs and applications, automatically calculates a baseline. The baseline is calculated at an interval of 15 minutes. Any behaviour that deviates significantly from the baseline is considered to be an anomaly and highlighted in the graph. In controller based network monitoring systems, thresholds are static and the same value gets applied globally. This creates problems for network admins because wireless network characteristics can be different in different environments.

Thresholds are good for monitoring information where there is a clear, non-arbitrary delineation between acceptable and not acceptable. Thresholds are static. They do not adjust to changing conditions. Wireless networks are dynamic and change over time. The normal level of retry rates may be very different today and a month from now. Clients change, environments change, applications change, and usage changes rapidly. A static threshold is a challenge because it does not adapt to what is normal for the network. Then, if some metric regularly crosses its static threshold, the network admin is bombarded with irrelevant warnings. The network admin must then go in and reset the threshold. The problem lies in determining what the correct threshold is. If the threshold is set low, there will be too many alarms as to cause alarm fatigue. This is dangerous because valid alarms are lost in the sea of unimportant, false positive alarms. To counter alarm fatigue, many network admins set the threshold too high. This is dangerous because valid problems (false negatives) do not trigger action.

How to Read a Baseline Graph?

CV-CUE takes the idea of the baseline and makes it dynamic. Dynamic baselines determine what is normal for a network and adjust as network conditions change. For example, retry rates may be low when the Wi-Fi is first set up with only a few clients. Later, when many more clients are added to the Wi-Fi network, the retry rate may be very different. Dynamic baselines adjust as networks change. This avoids the problem of thresholds while allowing comparisons to the baseline to identify real problems.

Each baseline graphs is made up of these four elements:
  • Baseline - Blue line
  • Deviation Range - the light blue shaded area around the baseline
  • Observation points - Purple dots are an average of the data at 15 minute intervals
  • Anomalies - Red dots are observation points that are well outside the norm


The Baseline Graph has a provision to filter data. You can zoom in and zoom out the graph to view the granularity in detail. The zoom feature is at the bottom of the graph.

CV-CUE Baselines

CV-CUE includes baselines for both connectivity and performance events. The table below lists the available baselines and where they can be found on the CV-CUE interface.

Note: Wherever applicable, CV-CUE shows separate baselines for IPv4 and IPv6.
Type Baseline Chart Per Location on CV-CUE UI
Connectivity Clients Affected by Failures Location DASHBOARD > Connectivity
AP MONITOR > Access Points > AP Drill Down
Baseline - AAA Latency Location Dashboard > Performance > Avg. Latencies Chart > AAA Drill Down
Baseline - DHCP Latency Location Dashboard > Performance > Avg. Latencies Chart > DHCP Drill Down
Baseline - DNS Latency Location Dashboard > Performance > Avg. Latencies Chart > DNS Drill Down
Performance Data Rate Client MONITOR > Clients > Clients Drill Down
RSSI Client MONITOR > Clients >Clients Drill Down
Retry Rate % AP MONITOR > Access Points > AP Drill Down
Client Affected by Poor Performance Location Dashboard > Performance
AP MONITOR > Access Points > AP Drill Down
Clients Affected by Poor App Experience AP MONITOR > Access Points > AP Drill Down
Clients Affected Location Dashboard > Applications
% Poor Application Experience Location Dashboard > Applications
Baseline - Application Latency Location Dashboard > Performance > Avg. Latencies Chart > Application Drill Down
Note: You can filter the data on each of these widgets. To know more about filters refer Filters on Widgets.

Example 1: Baseline - Clients Affected by Failures (AP Based)

The chart provides a baseline for the clients affected by connection failures for the selected AP.

The data points are determined by the total number of connected clients and the last connectivity state of clients in a 15-minute interval. When you hover on the data point it provides a tooltip. The tooltip contains the consolidated information in the percentage that indicates the good and bad experience of the clients along with the calculated baseline for the given point of time. Click the data point on the graph to retrieve the detailed information.

Example 2: Baseline - Data Rate

The following image displays the baseline graph for Data Rate:

The graph displays the calculated baseline of the average data rate consumed by an individual client. The anomalies are calculated by comparing the data rate against the globally configurable threshold. Data Rate is a metric where what is acceptable is not unique per network or environment so the use of a threshold to detect anomalies is appropriate. The baseline and deviation band are still calculated, but anomalies are determined by the data rate threshold.

Data Reporting and Retention

Client connection success and failure with root cause analysis are reported by the AP to Arista Cloud almost immediately after it occurs. Performance and other data are aggregated and reported every 15 minutes.

Except for Client Application Data, the last week's worth of information is retained in the cloud and available in CV-CUE.
Data Type AP Reporting Interval Cloud Storage Duration
Client Connection Attempts Immediately 1 week
AAA, DHCP, DNS. & TCP Latencies Soon after detection 1 week
Client Application Data 15 minutes 12 hours
Client Performance Metrics 15 minutes 1 week
BSSID Performance Metrics 15 minutes 1 week
SSID Application Data 15 minutes 1 week
Baseline Data 15 minutes 1 week

Data Point Drill Down

The below table contains the attributes specifying the detailed info about the connected clients. The info is available in the tabular format on data point drill down from any baseline chart. The attributes with no specific name of a baseline chart are common for all the charts.

Option Description
Name Name of the client.
User Name User name of the client.
MAC Address A unique 48-bit IEEE format address of the client assigned to the network adapter by the manufacturer.
Last Failure Time(Available for Baseline - Clients affected by failure) The latest date and time when the client failed to connect to the network.
Associated SSID SSID of the WLAN to which the client is connected.
Associated Access Point The AP with which a client is associated. This is the AP through which the client communicates with other clients and devices on the network.
Location Location of the client.
IP Address IP address of the client.
Protocol Indicates the 802.11 protocol used.
Channel Operating channel of the AP to which the client attempted to connect
OS Name of operating system running on the client.
Average RSSI(dBm) The observed RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value for the client.
Up/Down Since The latest date and time since when the client is up or down.
Connected/Disconnected Since (Available for Baseline - Clients Affected by Poor Performance graphs)  
First Detected At The date and time when the client was first detected.
Role The role assigned to the client on associating with an SSID.
Google Authorized A boolean value indicating whether the client is in the authorized list of clients imported through Google Integration.
Vendor Name Indicates the vendor name.
Uplink Data (Available for Baseline - Clients Affected by Poor Performance graphs) The amount of data transferred by the client.
Downlink Data (Available for Baseline - Clients Affected by Poor Performance graphs) The amount of data received by the client.
Retry Rate (Not available for Baseline - Clients affected by failure) The retry rate in percentage.
Sticky (Not available for Baseline - Clients affected by failure) A boolean value indicating if the client is a "sticky client", i.e., if it is connected to an AP even though it sees better signal strength from a neighboring AP.
Application Name (Available for Baseline - Poor Application Experience) Name of an application.
Application Usage Time (Available for Baseline - Poor Application Experience) The time duration for which a client has accessed an application.
Poor Application Experience (Available for Baseline - Poor Application Experience) The poor application usage experience for a client connection.
Uplink Bitrate (Available for Baseline - Poor Application Experience) The rate at which the client transmits data (in bits).
Downlink Bitrate (Available for Baseline - Poor Application Experience) The rate at which the client receives data (in bits).
Downlink Jitter (Available for Baseline - Poor Application Experience) Variation in the delay of packets received by a client. It is used to measure the quality of VoIP applications.
Uplink Jitter (Available for Baseline - Poor Application Experience) Variation in the delay of packets transferred by a client. It is used to measure the quality of VoIP applications.

Managing Navigator

Navigator enables you to define a hierarchical structure to organize how your WLAN network is deployed. This hierarchical structure can be based on any criteria, such as the location where the APs are deployed, the organizational departments using a set of APs, Test vs Production network, and so on.

Navigator comprises of folders and floors. Folders can represent any logical grouping such as departments of an organization, business units, physical locations such as country, city, and building, and so on. Floors can represent a more granular level of deployment such as a group using a common set of access points, or a physical location such as a floor in a building where the access points are deployed. For example, Hawaii Conference Room, Bldg 15-Cubicle G2, or Executive Area.

Click System to view, edit and manage the hierarchy of folders and floors. Only a Superuser, Administrator, and Operator user can edit Navigator. Users with the Viewer role can only view the Navigator.

The following figure shows the Navigator. Right-click on a folder or a floor to perform various tasks and edit the Navigator.

This chapter contains the following topics:

Add a Folder or Floor

You can add one or more folders under the root folder or under other folders. You cannot add a folder or a floor to the Unknown folder. Only Superuser, Administrator, and Operator can add a folder or a floor. A Viewer can only view the Arista Navigator.

To add a folder or floor, perform the following steps:
  1. Click System.
  2. Select a folder under which you want to add a new folder or floor. Right-click and select Add a Folder/Floor.
  3. Select Folder to add a folder or select Floor to add a floor.
  4. Type the name of the folder or floor and click Add.
    Important: You cannot add a folder or floor under a floor.

Add Multiple Folders or Floors

You can add multiple folders and floors at the same time. You can add multiple folders under the root folder or other folders. You can add multiple floors under a folder. You cannot add folders or floors under the Unknown folder.

To add multiple folders or floors, perform the following tasks:
  1. Click System.
  2. Right-click a folder under which you want to add multiple folders and floors and select Add Multiple Folders/Floors.
  3. Type the folder and floor names in the given text area that you want to add. You can have only one name per line.
  4. To create a hierarchy of folders and floors, use the Tab key. A sample hierarchy of folders and floors would look like this:

    Important: Prefix * to make a floor. You cannot add a folder or floor under a floor.
  5. Click Add.

Delete Folders and Floors

Use this feature to get rid of unwanted and redundant folders and floors that are not applicable.

To delete the folders or floors, perform the following tasks:
  1. Click System.
  2. Select the folders and floors that you want to delete.
  3. Right-click any of the selected folder or floor and select Delete.
  4. Click Delete to confirm the deletion.
Important: Alternatively, you can also the delete the folders and floors in a similar manner using the delete icon located above the hierarchy of folders and floors.

Rename Folder or Floor

Use this feature to change the name of a single or multiple folders or floors.

To rename a file, perform the following tasks:
  1. Click System.
  2. Select the folders and floors that you want to rename.
  3. Right-click any of the selected folder or floor and select Rename.
  4. Do the required changes and click Rename to save the changes.
Important: You can also the rename the folders and floors in a similar manner rename icon located above the hierarchy of folders and floors.

Search Folder or Floor

You can type a string of letters or the name of a folder or floor to locate it on the Navigator.

To search a folder, perform the following tasks:
  1. Click System.
  2. Enter the text substring matching the name of the folder or floor in Search Folders/Floors text box. The folders or floors matching the pattern of the text string or substring is displayed along with the parent folder.
Note: Pattern-based search with the use of special characters, such as * and ? is not supported.

Set Timezone for Folders

Set the appropriate time zone for the selected folder using the System > Navigator page. Only a Superuser, Administrator, and Operator user can configure the location time zone for a location.

The time zone settings help in accurate analytics. Ensure that you select the correct time zone for the selected folder.
Important: You cannot set a time zone for a floor. The time zone set for the immediate parent folder of a floor applies to the floor.
To set the timezone for a folder, perform the following tasks:
  1. Go to System > Navigator.
  2. On the Navigator page, right-click the folder name and select Set Timezone.
  3. Select the appropriate timezone from the drop-down list and click Set.
Important: You can also set the timezone in a similar manner using the Set timezone icon.

Set Location Tag

To assign a location tag to a folder or floor, perform the following steps:
  1. Go to System > Navigator > Folders/Floors.
  2. Right-click the folder or floor to which you want to assign the tag.
  3. On the right-click menu, select Location Properties > Location Tag.
  4. In the Location Tag window, enter the location tag and click Set.
  5. Select Apply recursively to subfolders if you want the same location tag to be used by child locations. When selecting this option, keep in mind that mDNS gateways return devices based on the location tag.
    Note: mDNS Packet Tagging uses the location tag to help Wi-Fi clients locate network services such as printers. When assigning the location tag, note the following:
    • Arista mDNS gateways truncate the location tag to the first 128 characters.
    • We recommend that you use only numbers, letters, and hyphens in the location tag because Arista switches do not support special characters in mDNS tags.

Introduction to Groups

Until now CV-CUE allowed users to configure only the Wi-Fi configuration for a selected location. You could not do custom configuration on a device or a set of devices. To overcome this restriction, Groups have been introduced in CV-CUE.

Groups will facilitate faster customization of Arista APs by allowing you to apply custom configuration (for example, SSIDs, Radio Settings, and Device Settings) to APs located across different branches of a hierarchical location tree. A group will always have a unique name. You can access a group only if you can access the folder where the group was created. A user who does not have access to a group can view devices in that group, but cannot perform actions such as rename or delete.

After the group is created, you can configure it. You can configure a group either by turning an SSID ON at the folder where the group was created, or by modifying the Device Settings or Radio Settings.

AP's in a configured group use the same configuration as the group. Moreover, each group has a single Wi-Fi configuration. APs which are not part of any group will continue to use the Wi-Fi configuration of the location on which they are created. When you delete a location, groups at the deleted location are deleted and devices assigned to the group will be moved to their parent location.
Note: An Arista device can be part of one and only one group at a time.

Add a Group

To add a group, perform the following steps:
  1. Go to System > Navigator > Groups .
  2. Click the Plus Icon to add a group.

  3. Type a unique name for the group and click Add.
    Note: The group name should be unique across all the available groups and folders.CV-CUE searches for a common root folder (Root) for all the locations that a user can access and accordingly creates a group at that folder. If a user does not have permissions on the root folder, then the group will be created at the next topmost folder to which a user has access.

Groups Actions

There are certain actions that can be performed on an individual group. The list of actions is:

Show Assigned Devices

This action results in showing the list of APs assigned to the particular group. Access Point listing would show columns: Name, MAC Address, Model, Group, and Location with the applicable filters. To know more in detail about the specified columns and applicable filters refer the topic Access Points.
Note: This action is not allowed for multiple groups.
To perform this action follow the below steps:
  1. Go to System ->Navigator ->Groups.
  2. Click on the three vertical dots next to the group for whom you choose to see the device list.
  3. Select Show Assigned Devices option.

Rename a Group

You can change the name of a group, if required.

To rename a group, perform the following steps:
  1. Go to System > Navigator > Groups.
  2. Right-click on the name of the group you want to rename or click on the menu icon (three vertical dots) and click Rename.
  3. Change the name of the group and click Rename to save the changes.

Delete a Group

Deleting a group would impact few of the functionalities:
  • If a group is deleted, devices assigned to that group will start using the default Wi-Fi configuration of their respective folders
  • Similarly, if you delete a folder, then the groups created under it will also get deleted. And the devices will start using the default Wi-Fi configuration of their respective folders.
To delete a group, perform the following steps:
  1. Go to System > Navigator > Groups.
  2. Right-click on the name of the group you want to delete or click on the menu icon (three vertical dots) and click Delete.
  3. Click Yes.

API Sandbox

API Sandbox allows you to try and test out APIs in the API sandbox without altering the data in your production environment. API Sandbox allows you to test the features programmatically by invoking APIs in a test environment for the selected location.

You can create an API sandbox for any location. The API sandbox provides an environment that is a clone of the selected folder location.

Creating an API Sandbox

  1. Navigate to SYSTEM > Navigator > Folders/Floors > right-click a folder location > Add API Sandbox.
  2. Provide a name and description for the API Sandbox and click Create.

Executing APIs in the Sandbox

To try out the APIs in the sandbox:
  1. Navigate to your location and click Show Available API Sandboxes.
  2. Click your API sandbox. The API Sandbox portal opens.
  3. Select your module and the API version number.

  4. Click the Try it Out button next to the API you want to try.

  5. Provide the required request parameters and click Execute.