Traffic analysis data is critical for engineers to locate bandwidth hogs, capacity constraints, service degradation and other network faults. Traditionally, only costly devices that adhered to industry standard protocols such as IPFIX, NetFlow, sFlow® or J-Flow have been able to provide this type of information. With ptFlow, network engineers can receive detailed traffic analysis data for any network router or switch that supports port replication or mirroring. By leveraging packet sniffing technology, ptFlow recognizes and documents network traffic data and then presents it in intuitive monitoring dashboards that are part of PacketTrap’s network management platform, Perspective.
The Need for Traffic Analysis
Over 80% of network devices in production environments are generic and do not support standard protocols that enable IT administrators to perform traffic analysis. As a result, problems that affect network efficiency and end-user experience are difficult to locate.
ptFlow solves this problem by:
- converting standard network packets to the NetFlow protocol format
- displaying them in the ptFlow Perspective dashboard
- monitoring packets as they traverse the network
- allowing users to identify high-traffic websites
- minimizing impact of streaming media on the network
This allows the IT administrator to re-allocate bandwidth requirements and quantify network performance utilization with a minimum amount of effort. ptFlow ensures IT departments are maximizing their revenue contribution and quality of service at the lowest possible cost.
“We believe traffic analysis is directly tied to an IT department’s contribution to revenue generation and the control of operating costs,” said Steve Goodman, CEO of PacketTrap. “With ptFlow, network engineers can understand network traffic patterns and how they are impacting the overall IT infrastructure so organizations can operate more efficiently and effectively.”