Routing Dimensions
Dimensions related to traffic routing are listed in the following topics:
Notes:
- The categorization of dimensions in the topics below corresponds to the categories by which the dimensions are shown in the Dimension Selector Dialog (part of the ad hoc filter controls in the Filtering Options dialog).
- Except where noted, the dimensions listed in the tables below are available for both filtering and group-by.
- The value type refers to the data type (text, integer, etc.) of the dimension value.
- The column type refers to whether the dimension is literally stored in KDE (native) or derived at query-time from other KDE-stored information (virtual); see KDE Query Efficiency.
- The KDE name(s) given below, which represent the KDE column(s) corresponding to each dimension, may be used in API queries made with the Query SQL Method.
- As indicated by column type, some columns are native (actually stored in the backend) while others are virtual (derived from other information). In general, filtering with dimensions based on native columns will return results faster than filtering with dimensions based on virtual columns.
IP and BGP Routing
The dimensions in this category are used to filter or group-by on IP addresses (Ipv4 or Ipv6), protocol (e.g. TCP or UDP), TCP flags, and ToS, as well as routing information including source and destination AS, AS path, AS names, community, prefixes, and hops. These dimensions are covered in the following topics:
IP Info Dimensions
Dimensions related to IP properties:
| Dimension name (portal) |
Description | Type: value column |
Direction KDE name(s) |
| IP/CIDR | The source/destination IP address, either IPv4 or IPv6, of the flow. | string Native |
Src/Dst: inet_src_addr inet_dst_addr |
| Protocol | The number of the protocol. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IP_protocol_numbers | integer Native |
Non-directional: protocol |
| Hostname | The host name returned from a DNS lookup of an IP address in a flow record from a kproxy agent. | string Native |
Src/Dst: kt_src_dns_hostname kt_dst_dns_hostname |
| Protocol Name | The name of the protocol followed by the corresponding protocol number in parentheses, e.g. TCP (6). In SQL, supports case-insensitive equality and IN matching. | string Virtual |
Non-directional: i_protocol_name |
| Port Number | Layer 4 source/destination port (e.g. 80, 443). Note: If Protocol is ICMP, this value equals the result of this formula: (ICMP Type * 256) + ICMP code. |
integer Virtual |
Src/Dst: l4_src_port l4_dst_port |
| INET Family | The address family of the flow, either 4 (IPv4) or 6 (IPv6). | integer Native |
Non-directional: inet_family |
| DSCP | A DSCP (differentiated services code point) value from the DS field in a packet's IP header, which classifies the packet's contents to enable differentiated QoS. | integer Native |
Non-directional: dscp |
| TOS/Diffserv | An 8-bit value, typically made up of a six-bit Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) field and a two-bit Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) field. | integer Native |
Non-directional: tos |
BGP Dimensions
Dimensions related to BGP properties (see About Kentik BGP):
| Dimension name (portal) |
Description | Type: value column |
Direction KDE name(s) |
| Route Prefix | The BGP table prefix, either IPv4 or IPv6, that contains the source/destination IP of the flow. | string Native |
Src/Dst: inet_src_route_prefix inet_dst_route_prefix |
| Route LEN | The BGP prefix length for the source/destination IP of the flow. | integer Native |
Src/Dst: src_route_length dst_route_length |
| AS Number | The origin ASN associated with the source/destination IP of the flow. | bigint Native |
Src/Dst: src_as dst_as |
| AS Name | The name associated with AS Number. | string Virtual |
Src/Dst: i_src_as_name i_dst_as_name |
| AS Group | A label assigned to a collection of ASes (see About AS Groups). | string Virtual |
Src/Dst: kt_src_as_group kt_dst_as_group |
| Next Hop IP/CIDR | The BGP next-hop IP address, either IPv4 or IPv6, for the source/destination IP of the flow (see About BGP). | string Native |
Src/Dst: inet_src_next_hop inet_dst_next_hop |
| Next Hop AS Number | The ASN in the first position of the AS_PATH for the source IP of the flow (see About BGP). | integer Native |
Src/Dst: src_nexthop_as dst_nexthop_as |
| Next Hop AS Name | Name of Next Hop AS Number | string Virtual |
Src/Dst: i_src_nexthop_as_name i_dst_nexthop_as_name |
| 2nd Hop AS Number | The ASN in the second position of the AS_PATH for the source/destination IP of the flow (see About BGP). | integer Native |
Src/Dst: src_second_asn dst_second_asn |
| 2nd Hop AS Name | Name of 2nd Hop AS Number. | string Virtual |
Src/Dst: i_src_second_asn_name i_dst_second_asn_name |
| 3rd Hop AS Number | The ASN in the third position of the AS_PATH for the source/destination IP of the flow (see About BGP). | integer Native |
Src/Dst: src_third_asn dst_third_asn |
| 3rd Hop AS Name | Name of 3rd Hop AS Number. | string Virtual |
Src/Dst: i_src_third_asn_name i_dst_third_asn_name |
| AS Path | The BGP ASPATH for the flow’s source/destination IP (see About BGP). | string Native |
Src/Dst: src_bgp_aspath dst_bgp_aspath |
| BGP Community | The set of BGP communities associated with the flow’s source/destination IP (see About BGP). | string Native |
Src/Dst: src_bgp_community dst_bgp_community |
| RPKI Validation Status | The RPKI (Resource Public Key Infrastructure; see https://rpki.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) status of a prefix in a BGP-advertised route, which indicates whether the route would be used or dropped if the router were configured to enforce strict route validation. | string Virtual |
Dst: i_dst_rpki_name |
| RPKI Quick Status | Provides a simplified view of RPKI status, enabling easier determination of the action to take on the prefix. | string Virtual |
Dst: i_dst_rpki_min_name |
VRF Dimensions
Dimensions related to VRF properties:
| Dimension name (portal) |
Description | Type: value column |
Direction KDE name(s) |
| VRF Name | The locally significant name of the VRF via which this flow was routed (input or output). Note: VRF names may vary in different contexts. |
string Virtual |
Src/Dst: i_input_vrf i_output_vrf |
| VRF Route Distinguisher | Uniquely identifies the VRF via which this flow was routed (input or output). | string Virtual |
Src/Dst: i_input_vrf_rd i_output_vrf_rd |
| VRF Route Target | Uniquely identifies a shared route (used by multiple VRFs) via which this flow was routed (input or output). | string Virtual |
Src/Dst: i_input_vrf_rt i_output_vrf_rt |
| VRF Extended Route Distinguisher | An encoding of the VRF route distinguisher (for Kentik internal use only). | integer Native |
Src/Dst: input_vrf output_vrf |
Per-flow Metrics
These metrics are available as dimensions that can be used to filter or group-by based on stats related to the bytes and packets of the flow.
| Dimension name (portal) |
Description | Type: value column |
Direction KDE name(s) |
| Packet Size | Packet size of flow (bytes/packet). | integer Native |
Non-directional: sampledpktsize |
| Packet Size (nearest 100) | Packet size of flow (bytes/packets) rounded down to the nearest multiple of 100. | integer Native |
Non-directional: sampledpktsize_100 |
| Sampling Rate * 100 | The rate at which traffic was sampled when flow was collected (see Flow Sampling). | integer Native |
Non-directional: sample_rate |
MPLS Dimensions
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a routing scheme for network data that enables network operators to define label-switched paths that let routers move packets within the network without consulting a routing table at each hop (see Using MPLS). The following table shows the MPLS-related dimensions that may be used for filtering or group-by in queries:
| Dimension name (portal) |
Description | Type: value column |
Direction |
| MPLS Forwarding Type | This field denotes the label distribution scheme used by the router to forward the MPLS traffic. Currently only Cisco ASR devices export this field. | integer UDR |
Non-directional |
| MPLS Forwarding Address | The IP address of the destination PE (provider edge) router where the flow will exit the MPLS domain before re-entering standard IP forwarding domains. | integer UDR |
Non-directional |
| MPLS Forwarding Address Prefix Length | The prefix length for the destination Forwarding Address of the flow. | integer UDR |
Non-directional |
| MPLS Label 1 | The value of the top label assigned to the flow. | integer UDR |
Non-directional |
| MPLS Label 1 EXP | The value of the experimental bits assigned to the flow. Typically this is used to map IP-based Quality of Service (QoS) markings into MPLS domains so that routers can apply appropriate forwarding policies to MPLS flows. | integer UDR |
Non-directional |
| MPLS Label 2 | The value of the second label assigned to the flow. | integer UDR |
Non-directional |
| MPLS Label 2 EXP | The value of the experimental bits assigned to the flow. Typically this is used to map IP-based Quality of Service (QoS) markings into MPLS domains so that routers can apply appropriate forwarding policies to MPLS flows. | integer UDR |
Non-directional |
| Forwarding Status | The two-bit forwarding status of the flow and associated six-bit reason code or flag. This dimension represents IPFIX entity 89 (IANA). | integer Native |
Non-directional |