METHOD AND SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY A NETWORK DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH POOR QoS

1. A method comprising: transmitting a sample data stream at a known first quality in a network between a source endpoint and a destination endpoint across a test data path that includes at least two network devices, at least one of the two network devices being a WAN edge router that lies between the source endpoint and the destination endpoint in the test data path; comparing a measured second quality of the received sample data stream with the known first quality of the transmitted sample data stream; determining that the measured second quality is less than the known first quality; and in response to the determination that the measured second quality fails to meet the known first quality, performing operations including: identifying at least one network device in the test data path; obtaining device performance data of the at least one network device, wherein the device performance data of the WAN edge router is obtained from an interface of the WAN edge router; using the device performance data of the WAN edge router to determine if the WAN edge router is contributing to the failure of the measured second quality to meet the known first quality; and generating a network report based on the device performance data, the network report relating the at least one device in the test data path to a failure of the measured second quality to meet the known first quality.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device performance data includes at least one of processor utilization, memory utilization, bandwidth oversubscription, buffer overrun, or a number of non-error packets that are discarded due to buffer overrun.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: monitoring a plurality of network devices to obtain corresponding performance data prior to transmitting the sample data stream; identifying the at least one network device in the test data path from the monitored network devices; and obtaining the device performance data of the at least one network device in the test data path from the performance data obtained prior to transmitting the sample data stream.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operations performed in response to the determination that the measured second quality fails to meet the known first quality criteria include: interrogating a WAN edge router in the test data path to obtain device performance data for the WAN edge router.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample data stream includes a voice data stream.

6. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: transmitting a sample data stream at a known first quality in a network between a source endpoint and a destination endpoint across a test data path that includes at least two network devices, at least one of the two network devices being a WAN edge router that lies between the source endpoint and the destination endpoint in the test data path; comparing a measured second quality of the received sample data stream with the known first quality of the transmitted sample data stream; determining that the measured second quality fails to meet the known first quality; and in response to the determination that the measured second quality fails to meet the known first quality, performing operations including: identifying at least one network device in the test data path; obtaining device performance data of the at least one network device, wherein the device performance data of the WAN edge router is obtained from an interface of the WAN edge router; using the device performance data of the WAN edge router to determine if the WAN edge router is contributing to the failure of the measured second quality to meet the known first quality; and generating a network report based on the device performance data, the network report relating the at least one device in the test data path to a failure of the measured second quality to meet the known first quality.

7. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the device performance data includes at least one of processor utilization, memory utilization, bandwidth oversubscription, buffer overrun, or a number of non-error packets that are discarded due to buffer overrun.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein instructions further cause the machine to perform operations comprising: monitoring a plurality of network devices to obtain corresponding performance data prior to transmitting the sample data stream; identifying the at least one network device in the test data path from the monitored network devices; and obtaining the device performance data of the at least one network device in the test data path from the performance data obtained prior to transmitting the sample data stream.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the operations performed in response to the determination that the measured second quality fails to meet the known first quality include: interrogating a WAN edge router in the test data path to obtain device performance data for the WAN edge router.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the sample data stream includes a voice data stream.

11. An apparatus comprising: a network interface unit configured to enable communications over a network; and a processor configured to: transmit a sample data stream at a known first quality in the network between a source endpoint and a destination endpoint across a test data path that includes at least two network devices, at least one of the two network devices being a WAN edge router that lies between the source endpoint and the destination endpoint in the test data path; compare a measured second quality of the received sample data stream with the known first quality of the transmitted sample data stream and to determine that the measured second quality fails to meet the known first quality; identify at least one network device in the test data path; obtain device performance data of the at least one network device, wherein the device performance data of the WAN edge router is obtained from an interface of the WAN edge router; use the device performance data of the WAN edge router to determine if the WAN edge router is contributing to the failure of the measured second quality to meet the known first quality; and generate a network report based on the device performance data, the network report relating the at least one device in the test data path to a failure of the measured second quality to meet the know first quality.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the device performance data includes at least one of processor utilization, memory utilization, bandwidth oversubscription, buffer overrun, or a number of non-error packets that are discarded due to buffer overrun.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to: monitor a plurality of network devices to obtain corresponding performance data prior to transmitting the sample data stream, identify the at least one network device in the test data path from the monitored network devices, and obtain the device performance data of the at least one network device in the test data path from the performance data obtained prior to transmitting the sample data stream.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to interrogate a WAN edge router in the test data path to obtain device performance data for the WAN edge router.