Forward Networks Feature Overview

Complicated networks are a reality of today’s IT environment. The key to being able to troubleshoot and predict behavior is having an accurate picture of your network. Forward Networks has built a solution that is capable of modeling your network and providing information that you need to succeed. Their platform, Forward Enterprise, is a network assurance platform that uses a mathematical and behaviorally accurate model of the network to help operators verify intent and troubleshoot network problems quickly and efficiently across various network devices. Since its founding in 2013 and product launch in 2016, Forward Networks has been deployed across tens of thousands of network devices worldwide, supporting a wide range of verticals including financial institutions, service providers, and enterprises. This Tech Field Day session features Chiara Regale, Andreas Voellmy, and Elyor Khakimov of Forward Networks, and was recorded on January 30, 2019.

Forward Networks’ platform addresses the challenges of manual network operations by providing a higher level of abstraction that aligns with the needs of agile businesses. Traditional tools like ping and traceroute are limited in their scope and often vendor-specific, making them inadequate for modern, multi-vendor environments. Forward Enterprise, on the other hand, offers a vendor-neutral abstraction that allows for comprehensive end-to-end connectivity and security posture verification. The platform collects configuration and state data from network devices, models it in a vendor-agnostic language, and uses algorithms like header space analysis to map all possible traffic paths. This approach ensures that operators can see not just one potential path but all possible paths a given traffic flow can take, providing a more accurate and complete picture of the network.

The platform’s applications, such as forward search, forward verify, behavioral diff, and predict, can be accessed via a user-friendly GUI or through APIs. These tools enable use cases like application team self-service, where application teams can independently verify network connectivity and security without involving network engineers, and change window assistance, which helps network engineers verify that changes have not inadvertently affected network behavior. The platform also supports custom verification checks through its Network Query Engine (NQE), which uses a GraphQL-based API to provide structured, normalized data about the network. This allows users to write their own verification checks and integrate them into their workflows, significantly reducing the time and effort required for network troubleshooting and verification.