Looking for a reliable bandwidth utilization NetFlow billing system?  If you are already using Cisco NetFlow technology for network monitoring and management, then it’s just one more simple step to extending that to bandwidth billing.

Using the Service Provider Module for Scrutinizer NetFlow & sFlow Analyzer and a customized Billing Module, you can monitor the bandwidth usage of your customers and also provide  a data export to your current billing application.

The Service Provider Module allows you to restrict your customers to view specific devices and/or interfaces in Scrutinizer. The “Scrutinizer v7 NetFlow and sFlow Analyzer: Using the Service Provider Module” blog has more information on this module’s features.

The Billing Module is a customized solution using the enhanced features of the Service Provider Module ad importing that data into your billing application.

A custom data file (i.e. saved report filter) is created and exported every hour, giving the most granular data (1 minute intervals) available. The data file can include but is not limited to:

• Time Stamp
• Rate: bytes / second
• Peak: same as above when reporting at 1 minute intervals
• Totals: total bytes per minute

Any NetFlow or sFlow exported field can be included (bits, packets, percent, IP/MAC addresses, VLAN ID, applications, ToS, Autonomous System, etc.) if required.  The billing application or script can then read in the files exported by Scrutinizer at a definable interval.

You should also know that Flexible NetFlow using a Permanent Cache can also be used for importing data into your billing application.

If your billing application is based on 95th percentile measurements, this information is also available in the Traffic Volume report displayed below.

95th percentile billing allows for the top 5% of spikes in a given period to be dropped from the utilization reported.  In the example above, 95th percentile for Inbound is 99.78% and Outbound is 24.81%.  This report is based on a one hour timeframe, providing both Inbound and Outbound traffic for the T1 interface.

Interested in using Scrutinizer to get the data for your bandwidth billing?  Contact Plixer Sales at 207-324-8805 x3 for more information on this custom solution.

- Joanne

Are you thinking about deploying a NetFlow Analyzer for network traffic analysis? Here are some of the top reasons to collect NetFlow.  If you are in the market for a NetFlow or sFlow reporting tool, this list of 10 reasons should help you with your decision. Read more »

Michael Patterson
Scrutinizer Product Manager
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Scrutinizer v7.6 has been released.  One of my favorite features is the ability to rename NetFlow v9 templates, IPFIX templates and Flexible NetFlow Templates. We had to provide this feature since Cisco NetFlow does not export the template name.  Do you know why this is such a cool feature? Read more »

Michael Patterson
Scrutinizer Product Manager
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SUNY Geneseo Network Manager Rick Coloccia found that analyzing Cisco NetFlow packets was the key to network traffic management and monitoring internet use and abuse.

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Michael Patterson
Scrutinizer Product Manager
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Michael Patterson
Scrutinizer Product Manager
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Michael Patterson
Scrutinizer Product Manager
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Today I am going to do brief overview of what each of the templates is telling us.

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Michael Patterson
Scrutinizer Product Manager
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If you put a price tag on network monitoring for your organization, what would it be? $10,000? $100,000? $1,000,000?

And what needs to be included in that price? Staff to support the network? Network Monitoring hardware and software? Office space to house the staff and equipment?
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