Before You Begin

What does NTA expect?

Network Traffic Analysis expects flow export to be enabled on NetFlow exporters (also referred to as "source devices"):

• Flow Export (required and best practice). Traffic flow summaries such as NetFlow, NetFlow-Lite, sFlow, J-flow, and IPFIX. (By default NTA listens on port 9999.)
• SNMP (optional). SNMP polling can be used for traffic totals when NetFlow source export is not enabled or for cases where only sampled flow (sFlow, for example) is available. Also, for most Cisco switches, SNMP can be used to remotely auto-configure flow source devices.

  Tip: SNMP can also be used for returning packet inspection and classification (NBAR) as well as class-based quality of service (CBQoS) metrics. SNMP polling is useful when NBAR and CBQoS information is not embedded in traffic flow data.

How do I see data really quickly?

Check if NTA is already gathering data from flow sources (NTA detects flow sources it can reach and begins collecting traffic flow data —automatically.) Open the NTA Dashboards (ANALYZE > Network Traffic Analysis > Traffic Analysis Dashboard). In the sources drop-down list, select a row and click All NTA Sources.

Note: If you are a first-time WhatsUp Gold customer, please note that by default NTA listens on UDP port 9999 for NetFlow traffic. If you have not used WhatsUp Gold NTA in the past, your source devices likely will be pointing at port 2055, 9995, and 9996. You can change the port that NTA listens to in NTA Settings.

Best Option: Check for Active Flow Sources

View Current Flow Export Data Already Advertised on Your Network

SETTINGS menu > Network Traffic Analysis > NTA Sources [Source Traffic]

Easy Option: Check for Ready-to-configure Flow Sources

Check for ready-to-configure sources: Go to the NTA Device Configuration utility in WhatsUp Gold. (SETTINGS menu > NTA Device Configuration) Select a potential source (source not yet showing the status Receiving). Click Configure. The Configure NetFlow dialog displays. Choose an SNMP credential from the drop-down list (you can select/try any SNMP credentials in your Credential Library). Click Auto, wait for the device to auto-configure, select the network interfaces on the device you want to monitor and then click Save. The source you configured is immediately Enabled.

Devices that support remote configuration by way of SNMP MIB settings can be configured from the SETTINGS menu (SETTINGS menu > NTA Device Configuration)

Another Option: Configure Your Source Device(s)

If you have devices such as routers that are discovered by WhatsUp Gold but do not display in the NTA Sources Library, this typically means that SNMP support for flow metrics and remote configuration of the device are not available at the device. To work around these limitations, this section outlines how to manually configure a device to serve as a flow source.

Device Vendor	Flow Method	Notes
Cisco	Netflow, Flexible Netflow	Configure NetFlow. Configure Flexible NetFlow. (Flexible NetFlow is NetFlow 9 optimized for performance)
Meraki (Cisco)	NetFlow	Configure Meraki through the Meraki Admin Dashboard controls.
Hewlett-Packard	sFlow	Configure sFlow.
Aruba	IPFIX	Configure IPFIX using the Aruba WebUI or local CLI.

See Also Network Traffic Analysis Start Analyzing Your Network! NTA Features and Advantages Choosing NTA Sources Configuring and Enabling Collection on Sources Creating Aggregate Sources Aggregating Sources Grouping Traffic Classifying Traffic by Port Number (NTA Applications) Collector Database Maintenance Reduce and Analyze Traffic with Advanced Filtering Network Traffic Analysis Settings IP Reputation Library Listener Port, Collection, and Retention Settings