Statistics

The FireBrick records a number of statistics as part of its normal operation. The basic statistics recorded are :-
 
Current The current data rate, i.e. the amount transferred in the last second - displayed in KB/s to one decimal place
Last 5 mins The data rate per second used in the last whole 5 minutes
Today The data transferred so far today, recorded in MB
Yesterday The data transferred yesterday, recorded in MB
This month The data transferred this month so far, recorded in MB
Last month The data recorded last month, recorded in MB

The statistics for today actually include the number of bytes as well, and this is carried forward at the end of the day. As such a transfer of 512KB per day will log as 1MB one day then 0MB the next and so on. If any bytes are held in today, it is displayed as 0MB rather than blank. Erasing a filter or speed lane will clear this residual byte count.

Statistics are only shown when the clock is set, and are rolled to the next day/month if the day/month has changed. i.e. if the FireBrick is off for 2 days, the previous day will show as yesterday. If the clock was not set for some time, when it is set all of the recorded stats will appear as the last month and day even though they may span many days or months.

Statistics are recorded for :-

  1. Filters. The filter applicable to a session means all traffic on that session is recorded against that filter. Total traffic both ways is recorded.
  2. Speed lanes. Traffic is recorded in each direction (to WAN and to LAN) separately.
  3. Interface - speed information is provided for WAN/LAN send and receive separately on the status page, and more details on the counters.

Reporting

A log message (e.g. syslog) can be generated automatically every 5 minutes. The general log/filter setup includes this option. The log is generated for each interface, speed lane and filter. On the 5 minute boundary the stats are collected and then reported at a rate of 1 report per second for all items where the stats are non zero.

In all cases the number reported is the total number of bytes recorded in the previous period, from which average rates per second can be calculated.
 
Interface Stats eth i: tx rx (name) Reported for i=0 name=WAN and i=1 name=LAN
Lane Stats lane l: to-wan to-lan (name) Reported for all lanes
Filter Stats filter f: n (name) Reported for all filters

Note that the first report after power on may cover less than 5 minutes.

Ethernet counters

A number of counters are provided for the ethernet interface as follows :-
 
Metric Description Example
Tx packets Packets sent
Tx collide Packets which collided Network is busy
Tx late collide Packets which hit late collisions Fault on network
Tx drop Packets dropped due to 16 collisions Network is too busy
Tx underrun Packets where the FireBrick could not keep up sending Should not happen, packet automatically resent
Tx lost carrier Packets which failed due to a loss of carrier during sending Network cable unplugged during sending
Tx jabber Ethernet controller is sending for too long Should not happen, hardware fault
Tx now The number of bytes sent in last second
Tx 5min The bytes per second average for the last whole 5 minutes
Tx today MB sent so far today
Tx yesterday MB sent yesterday
Tx this month MB sent so far this month
Tx last month MB sent last month
Rx packets Packets received
Rx miss Missed packets E.g. data too fast for ethernet controller to keep up
Rx crc Packets with errors Noise on network, unplugging cables, fault
Rx runt Packets that were too short Noise on network, unplugging cables, fault
Rx extra Packets that were too long Should not happen, network fault
Rx dribble Packets with non whole byte content Should not happen, may be network fault
Rx drop Packets dropped due to lack of buffers Too much data arriving too fast
Rx ignore Packets on local network Normal network traffic for other devices
Rx 802.3 ethernet Ethernet packets sent in 802.3 format Some devices send in this format
Rx 802.3 unknown Other 802.3 packets Some devices and protocols use such packets
Rx now The number of bytes received in last second
Rx 5min The bytes per second average for the last whole 5 minutes
Rx today MB received so far today
Rx yesterday MB received yesterday
Rx this month MB received so far this month
Rx last month MB received last month