Just about all NetFlow Analyzers get the interfaces names of the routers and switches using SNMP. Another reason why SNMP vs. NetFlow is really a no contest. Anyway, we can get the names of interfaces using NetFlow via something called NetFlow option templates.
Michael PattersonMany NetFlow Reporting applications claim to tell you who the top 10 bandwidth hogs are by displaying the top 10 or so hosts for a time period based on total amount of traffic sent or received. Yes, this is helpful but it can paint a distorted picture when it comes to network traffic analysis. What about Flow Volume? Read more »
Michael Patterson
Just the other day, Brad Reese from Network World wrote a nice blog reflecting on the recent announcement of H.P. acquiring 3Com.
With a huge announcement like this, naturally there are a lot of reactions and opinions. This kind of move may impact a lot of people and their current network strategies.
But coming from a NetFlow, sFlow and Netstream vendor perspective, I think this could be good news.
A user of a NetFlow reporting tool shouldn’t concern him or herself with whether or not the router or switch is exporting ingress, egress or both on a specific interface. Proper design of the NetFlow Analysis program should take this into account for the end user. Many NetFlow Analyzers exaggerate traffic if both ingress and egress is enabled. This can cause duplication of data and ultimately lead to trends that exaggerate the truth! Read more »
Michael Patterson