NetFlow is a protocol used to collect data about network IP traffic and is used to monitor and record network usage, give indications of traffic routes and provide data in support of traffic accounting, usage-based billing and other network related activities. This data is classified using the concept of a network flow.
A network flow is a unidirectional sequence of packets that has the following characteristics in common:
To capture, transmit and analyze NetFlow data the following NetFlow enabled components must be in place:
Note: The exporter can be either an included function of the network device, such as the NetFlow export functionality on Cisco routers, or it can be an external probe configured to monitor one or more interfaces on the device, such as the Ipswitch NetFlow Probe.
Flow Monitor acts as a flow collector and analyzer, providing a central location for the collection, summarization, storage and analysis of network traffic data. This network traffic data is captured as flow data, and is delivered by network monitoring protocols implemented on network devices throughout the network. When a router or other device sends flow data to Flow Monitor, it follows the process shown below.
Note: sFlow data is sent every x number of packets (configurable on the sFlow device), whereas all NetFlow data is collected and monitored. This means that sFlow data provides a sampling of network traffic data, whereas NetFlow data provides all network traffic data.
Tip: Flow Monitor can collect and generate reports for Flow data from multiple devices.
WhatsUp Gold Flow Monitor has the same base system requirements as WhatsUp Gold. In addition, WhatsUp Gold Flow Monitor requires:
Note: WhatsUp Gold Flow Monitor is more demanding on the database than WhatsUp Gold. While WhatsUp Gold Flow Monitor can successfully use SQL Server 2005 Express, we recommend either 32-bit MS SQL Server 2005 Standard or Enterprise Edition or 32-bit or 64-bit Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise Edition for best performance.
Note: If using Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2, the database size is limited by available hard disk space.