Edit Flow Source Properties

You can edit configuration properties of a NTA Flow source from either:

• NTA Sources Library (SETTINGS menu > Network Traffic Analysis > NTA Sources). Select a source listed in the grid and click 'edit' ().
• Row options () for most NTA Dashboard reports, for example those that include interface metrics (ANALYZE menu > Traffic Analysis > Top Interfaces by Traffic Report).

Name and Licensing

• Display Name. Friendly label for the flow source.
• Enable data collection from this source. Data collection is switched 'On' by default when a flow source is found on your network. When this checkbox is checked it denotes use of an NTA license instance.

SNMP Polling Options

• Credential drop down list. SNMP credentials are needed for querying and making configuration changes to the flow exporter.
  • Select a credential. Click the Query button to ensure the credential is valid.
  • To add new credentials, click the ellipsis button (. . .) to open the Credentials Library dialog.
• Poll source for interface traffic. Some Netflow implementations sample and do not return the full complement of flow packets. Use this to poll for traffic totals using SNMP.
• Poll source for NBAR information. Some Netflow implementations do not return NBAR (application classification) information. Use this to gather this information using SNMP.
• Advanced Options. Click on this button to configure SNMP client behavior such as timeout and number of retries.
• Access Rights. Click on this button to scope user access to traffic data.

  Note: Network Traffic Analysis uses SNMP to gather information about the network interfaces on the source device.

Hide Interfaces, Show Interfaces, and Define Interface Bandwidth (Needed for Capacity Utilization Calculation)

Hiding interfaces can be useful when you have specific interfaces that need no performance monitoring or monitoring is happening by way of a different flow source.

• To hide or show interfaces from the Flow Properties dialog, select an interface, then click Hide or Show to hide.
• To hide, show, and define interface bandwidth, select an interface and then click on Edit.

  If nominal network interface speed used to calculate bandwidth capacity utilization is incorrect or not unpopulated at the device's management object, you can define a custom speed using the Edit Interface Properties dialog.

  Hide and Show Interfaces and Define Total Network Bandwidth (for Calculation Purposes)

  1. Select an interface from the Interfaces list window.

     The Flow Interface dialog displays.

     • Hide this interface from the NTA Home page and related configuration properties. Hides the selected interface from the Network Traffic Analysis reports and dashboards. This enables you to display only the interfaces relevant to your bandwidth monitoring requirements.

     Note: Null(0) interface names are hidden by default because they are not a true source interface. Null(0) interfaces show traffic that a router has dropped or traffic that a router has generated. In both cases the ifIndex = 0 and as a default convention we name an interface = Null because the interface is none existent. If you want Null(0) interface information to display as a source interface, uncheck the Hide this interface from the NTA Home page and related configuration properties option.

     • Specify a custom speed for this interface. Click this check box to enable the In and Out text boxes.
     • In and Out. Define the speed of each interface, which is used to calculate bandwidth capacity as a percentage of the total interface speed. Enter the upper limit of the interface in bps (bits per second). Common interface speeds expressed in bps are:
       • 1 Gbps = 1,000,000,000 bps
       • 100 Mbps = 100,000,000 bps
       • 10 Mbps = 10,000,000 bps
  2. Click Save to save your settings.