Our NetFlow and sFlow Analyzer receives  data collected over a 1 minute time interval  per flow, and can store up to 100 000 conversations (flows) per device. One limitation in NetFlow monitoring today is the amount of disk space needed to store the collected network traffic information. Especially, if one’s intent is to hold on to that information  for a certain period of time. In this blog I will try to help you understand how Scrutinizer archives data. In addition I will talk about the NetFlow Calculator, which can be a helpful tool for estimating the disk space needed on your NetFlow analyzer server. Read more »

Today I will discuss the command “ip flow ingress infer-fields”, mostly used in the NetFlow configuration of NetFlow switches. Being the newest member of the Plixer International Tech Support team I am discovering how amazingly large certain networks can get. This is when an outstanding network monitoring and diagnosis capability come in handy. Read more »

For most of the last year I have been working as a member of the  Technical Support Team here at Plixer International. But as of July 1st, I have moved from Technical Support to a Pre-Sales Support role on the Sales Team. In my new role I will be responsible for providing technical support for all pre-sales/evaluating customers.

I just want to say that it has been a pleasure working with the many customers that I’ve talked to over the last year. I wish you all much success in your Network Admin/IT endeavors.

If you are new to the NetFlow technology, I would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of using NetFlow and our network analysis tool to open windows into what is going on over your network. The following information is made available via the flow packets: source IP address, destination IP address, source port number, destination port number, protocol type, type of services, and the router input interface.

Exporting flows to a NetFlow collector provides a deeper level of detail that was up to this point unavailable in network management. This type of information has proven invaluable in detecting worms, port scans, DDoS attacks, and other security threats and network misuse.

Read more »

Okay, back to the basics. We’ve been working with Cisco NetFlow technology for many years now, but what is NetFlow?

NetFlow is a traffic profile monitoring technology developed by Darren Kerr and Barry Bruins at Cisco Systems, back in 1996. At that time, network monitoring mostly consisted of seeing how much traffic was traversing your network, but did not include what that traffic was.
Read more »

Come see Plixer International (Booth #960) at Cisco Live at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas June 27 – July 1, 2010.

What a great opportunity to meet several of the Plixer Team members, including:

• MMM (Mix Master Mitch), our renowned NetFlow Rapper
• Michael Patterson, Product Manager
• Jon Mills, Marketing Manager
• Nathan Halverson, blogger extraordinaire!

3 NEW features will be highlighted with live demos of our NetFlow Analyzer.  Maybe we’ll show off our IPFIX and NetFlow Probe abilities?

Come see why our sFlow and NetFlow Collector are different from the rest for network traffic monitoring.

- Joanne

Lawrence Technological University is among Michigan’s largest independent colleges and also Michigan’s first completely wireless laptop campuses, as well as one of the largest wireless networks in the Midwest.

This recently published case study demonstrates how successful network traffic analysis can be performed using NetFlow reporting with Scrutinizer NetFlow Analyzer. Monitoring NetFlow exported from devices such as Cisco ASA’s, routers, switches, and numerous other NetFlow compatible devices simplifies the task of managing your network, whether wired or, in LTU’s case, fully wireless.

Read more »

The question is, how do you integrate the network management application that you have been using forever and the NetFlow traffic monitoring application data that you have recently installed?  NetFlow collection, as we have all learned these last few years, provides more and more insight into not just how much network traffic you have, but what that traffic is.

So we need to be able to seamlessly move from one application to the other.  If your NetFlow traffic analyzer is Scrutinizer version 7, then the following information should be of great interest to you.
Read more »

Over the past couple months, I’ve posted a series of blogs that help highlight some of Scrutinizer’s best features, its strengths and weaknesses and why it might be worth your time in evaluating.

I’d like to devote this blog to the effort of making an easy to read article that might assist you in making an informed decision about the many networking monitoring tools available. Let us know if you have any questions.

Read more »

What does Cisco’s Flexible NetFlow (FNF) have to do with LEGO blocks?

Well, if you’ve been struggling with configuring Flexible NetFlow on your Cisco routers, using LEGO blocks as an analogy for creating the data export record can simplify the process of the FNF configuration, bringing you closer to the end goal of managing your network traffic flow.

In Brad Reese’s article “How to setup Cisco’s Flexible NetFlow (FNF) with LEGO Blocks“, LEGO blocks are used to visually display the assembly of an FNF record.

Read more »

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 »