NETWORK DEVICE SNAPSHOTS

Network device snapshots may capture the overall device state of a network device. Individual snapshots or groups of related snapshots (e.g., from different network devices obtained at a common time period) may be used to diagnose, troubleshoot, or correct anomalies or errors within a computer network. The “device state” of a network device may change over time and therefore obfuscate information desired for trouble shooting (e.g., diagnoses) of network errors (or degraded performance periods). Device state may include logical and physical device characteristics at a given instant in time. Network device snapshots may be stored locally on a network device or may be transmitted to external storage on-demand or periodically to accommodate possible limitations of resources on the network device. Network device snapshots may be “re-loaded” onto devices, for example in a lab or clean-room type environment, for comprehensive analysis. Different types of interfaces into network device snapshots are disclosed.