After reflecting on the last month here in tech support, I’ve noticed that some of our customers are not utilizing the NetFlow threats overview gadget in our product. Conveniently located under the MyView tab, this table comes ready to alarm on 37 different thresholds right outta’ the box. To me this is exciting stuff, but you’ve probably noticed at first glance it can seem like an overwhelming list. I will assure you that once properly configured it can be one of the best tools in your arsenal.

Overview of Threats

The MyView tab is NetFlow dashboard and is an integral part of Scrutinizer that I get positive feedback about every single day.  In this series of blogs we will cover all aspects of the threat overview, including settings, customization, detailed explanations of each threat and even how they can be avoided in the future.

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For a free 30 day trial of Scrutinizer, Download Now!

Sign up for Advanced NetFlow Training™ coming to a city near you!

You are an IT professional.  You know about NetFlow.  But do you need to know more?  Do you need to get a NetFlow solution in place?  Could you better serve your company with advanced knowledge of NetFlow from the industry leader in NetFlow collecting and reporting?  Do you want to get your hands on some fresh Maine lobster?

Then check out our upcoming FlowFest™ 2011: Advanced NetFlow Training™, a 3-day conference to learn what is possible with NetFlow technology.  Read more »

Plixer International is heading to London for next week’s Cisco Live 2011 tradeshow.  While I am personally not attending (and am only slightly bitter about it), I’m excited that Plixer will be able to showcase Scrutinizer 8.5, the most recent version of our NetFlow and sFlow analysis software suite.

Sponsored by Cisco Systems, Cisco Live is an annual communications conference for networkers, IT managers, developers, and service providers.  Our Product Manager and our International Sales Manager will occupy Booth E9 of the Cisco Live World of Solutions exhibition from February 1st through February 3rd. Read more »

For a free 30 day trial of Scrutinizer, Download Now!

Sign up for Advanced NetFlow Training™ coming to a city near you!

If you are seeking a good understanding of NetFlow, or a better understanding of how it can be enabled, configured, and analyzed, the “Commercial NetFlow Applications” chapter from the book Digital Forensics for Network, Internet, and Cloud Computing can be a great resource.  Written by Mike Patterson of Plixer International, Inc., the chapter details NetFlow and explains how you can capitalize on its utilization. Read more »

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 »

For a free 30 day trial of Scrutinizer, Download Now!

Sign up for Advanced NetFlow Training™ coming to a city near you!

You’re in the market for a NetFlow Traffic Analyzer.  What are the key features that you’re looking for?  What makes one NetFlow analyzer stand out from the rest?  Do you have a list of “must haves”?

Such as support for Flexible NetFlow, IPFIX reporting, portable network maps?  How about automated NetFlow configuration on your routers and switches?  Is customization of the web interface important to you?  Multiple language support critical?
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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

The following article, “Scrutinizer Brings Flow Analytics to SMBs“, written by David Diaz, was recently featured on TechCrunchIT.

David points out that with the low initial cost for Scrutinizer NetFlow & sFlow Analyzer, it is a very affordable Flow Analytics solution for small and medium-sized businesses.

This flow analysis tool can also be deployed centrally and accessed globally via the web interface.  What this means is that one install of Scrutinizer can provide network management information for your entire network and accessible by everyone on the network management team, regardless of geographical location.

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Hello everybody! My name is Paul Dube and I have recently graduated from the University of Maine in Orono with a degree in Computer Science and joined the support team here at Plixer International. Over the course of the past few weeks I’ve been trying to learn everything there is to know about Scrutinizer, NetFlow, sFlow and network traffic analysis. During this process I’ve come across a lot of great resources that I would like to consolidate into one place to help you get started.
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Since the release of the latest version of our NetFlow and sFlow analysis tool, I have been blogging about some of the new features that are available.

One of the new report features available gives you the ability to filter on conversations and show user defined applications that were involved in those conversations.

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