​The last decade experienced an overwhelming increase in network size, bandwidth, and traffic. IT companies were, therefore, forced to adapt by developing the next-generation of security and network monitoring tools. This new wave of tools exposed a greater need for advanced network visibility, one that traditional data center monitoring devices couldn't handle anymore.

NPBs are often required in more complex networks, with increasing speeds that need in-depth and improved network monitoring for a superior network security.

This powerful device filters specific network traffic in order to optimize the security and traffic flow. More accurately, it receives the network traffic from multiple SPAN ports and/or network TAPs, then filters the data by interest and sends it to the related network analysis and security tools. Efficient and precise. 

​When do you need a Network Packet Broker?

​Most of the time, network engineers complain that their in-line security tools don't receive all the required data, causing blind spots to appear in the network. This can finally lead to wasted resources, redundant costs and a higher possibility of being hacked.

​A NPB helps you to optimize your network security, performance management, and other monitoring tools. That also means an increased network efficiency while decreasing your costs.

What should you expect from an NPB? 

​Intelligent Filtering

Its filtering abilities can not only improve efficiency when it comes to traffic flow but can also help in speeding up incident analysis and in reducing response times. This is because it provide network engineers the flexibility to direct that traffic exactly how they need.

Load Balancing 

The ability to take the incoming traffic and effectively distributing it to different multiple appliances is another feature that an advance packet broker has to perform. This feature enhances network security, increases the productivity of your security and monitoring tools, and makes life much easier for network admins.

Intuitive and easy to use GUI

Your preferred NPB should include a configuration interface - graphical user interface (GUI) or command line interface (CLI) for real - tie management, like adjustments of packet flow, port mapping and paths. If the NPB is not easy to configure, manage and use, you can't take advantage of its full capabilities.

Intelligent Packet Aggregation

By aggregating multiple packet streams into a large one, your device should create a single unified stream that can be routed to a monitoring tool. This increases your monitoring tools' efficiency.

Packet Broker Costs

One thing to keep in mind when on the market for this advanced monitoring device is the cost. Both long term and short term costs can change significantly, based on whether there are different port licenses available and if the Packet Broker accepts any SFP module or only proprietary SFP's.

To sum up, an efficient NPB should provide all these feature, as well as true link layer visibility and microburst buffering, all while maintaining high availability and resiliency.

Thank you to ProfiTap for the article.