Case Study: Deutsche Telekom achieves Smart Tracing and scalable network visibility with Elastic

Smart Tracing at Deutsche Telekom Revealing the secrets behind modern networks with the Elastic Stack

Deutsche Telekom’s Smart Tracing initiative tackles the problem of unlocking valuable network data for operational use. Although most use cases could be satisfied by captured network traffic, progress is blocked by data silos, probe-vendor lock-in, vendor- and product-specific formats, the need to normalize data, and new challenges from virtualization.

The solution standardizes capture and analysis: collect pcaps from TAPs or network elements, convert them to human-readable JSON with tshark, store them in Elasticsearch, and analyze with Kibana/Grafana and probe visualizations for automation and ML. Deployments cover use cases like EPC test automation, VoLTE pcap analysis, live capture and DNS analysis; a pilot was planned, demos prepared, and DTAG has driven industry engagement (NGMN white paper and liaisons to 3GPP/ETSI/TMF) to prove the concept and expand the community.

Deutsche Telekom

Alexander Sobania

Senior Expert Functional Strategy