Labeling network traffic with application names provides a way to contextualize network insights with application and security and security metadata which is a huge value for Ops teams. Kentik now supports Custom Application labels as well as an “Application” Dimension to standardize support for application names and labeling.

Custom Applications

Custom Applications provide the ability for customers to define their own custom application names based on combinations of Protocol, Port, IP Address, and ASN. The “Custom Applications” configuration options are found in the Admin >> Enrich Your Data menu.

The example below shows how you can define Google Hangouts as an application using Protocol/Port Number/ASN matching criteria.

The “Application” Dimension

We’ve also added an “Application” dimension in the “Application Context & Security” Group:

In the example below, you can see application names associated with various traffic sources. Built-in application names include:

• Well-known service names
• OTT applications
• Cisco NBAR and other vendor-specific applications (e.g., Palo Alto FW APP ID, Silver Peak, Gigamon, and more coming soon)
• Custom Applications you’ve defined (as described above)

For more on Custom Applications and the Application Dimension, refer to the Custom Application topic in our Knowledge Base.