PlanetLab Visualizer

PlanetLab Visualizer is a software package that creates maps for visualizing the PlanetLab network. The software can either request data from Sophia if the user provides a Prolog query, or from raw data entered by the user or generated by an external script. The user specifies how to draw nodes (PlanetLab machines) and edges (arbitrary relationships between PlanetLab machines) via a view file. The view file also contains a reference to the image file on which to draw the nodes and edges, as well as the latitudes and longitudes that the map spans. There are several Java programs that perform different actions:

• PlanetlabDesktop is a stand-alone GUI application that displays maps on the screen and gives the user the ability to quickly modify existing view files (which specify queries, data, and how to draw nodes and edges from the data).
• PlanetlabDisplayWall is a stand-alone GUI application like PlanetlabDesktop that displays the generated maps on the display wall in Princeton University's computer science building.
• PlanetlabImage is a command-line program that, given a view file, creates a JPEG map and writes it to disk.
• PlanetlabDescription is a command-line program that, given a view file, creates instructions that a graphical program (such as a PHP script) can use to generate the map. This is what the web version of the visualizer uses.
• PlanetlabNode is a command-line program that, given a node view file and a node number, outputs information about the node. The web version executes this program when the user clicks on a node.
• PlanetlabWeb is a package of PlanetlabDescription, PlanetlabNode, and a couple PHP scripts that can be used to setup a webpage that displays PlanetLab maps.

Below are some screenshots of PlanetlabDesktop in action. Click on them for a larger version.

Please email Ryan Peterson (rpeterso at cs.princeton.edu) or Lev Reyzin (lreyzin at cs.princeton.edu) with any comments or questions.