System and method for correlating traffic and routing information

In one aspect, it is realized that changes in routing configuration (and therefore network topology) may have an effect on how data is forwarded in a communication network. More particularly, it is realized the changes in the control plane have a statistical effect on information tracked in the data plane, and this relation may be used by a network manager in monitoring the network and determining a control plane cause of a data plane forwarding effect. For instance, a change in BGP routing information (control plane information) may affect the data forwarded by a router based on the changed BGP routing information (e.g., next hop data may be forwarded to a different BGP router attached to another physical port). A system and method are provided that correlate control plane and data plane information to support root cause analysis functions.