LINK AGGREGATION

Ixia iLink Agg is a 1G tap aggregator that combines traffic from multiple network links or Span ports into one single interface and sends it to monitoring tools across the network. After aggregation, the traffic is regenerated to up to 24 monitoring ports. With up to 24 ports in a 1U form-factor, iLink Agg enables a pool of up to 8 monitoring appliances to be connected to as many as 8 network links using integrated in-line Taps, plus as many as 8 Span ports. This helps eliminating resource contention by enabling up to eight devices to monitor identical traffic at the same time and Improves monitoring flexibility with fully configurable port mappings.

An additional big advantage of the iLink Agg is that the connected monitoring system needs only one network interface controller (NIC) to monitor all 12 connections at the same time. The iLink Agg is perfectly designed for the analysis of asymmetric network traffic and redundant routes with dynamic network protocols.

Two variants of the iLink Agg are available:

• LA-2400 which has SFP ports on both the network and the monitor side and is designed to be fed from SPAN or separate taps (eg. Flex taps). They can be used to aggregate traffic from copper and fiber networks.
• LA-2407/2408 which are designed be used "in-line" and have their own inbuilt copper taps on the network side and have SFP ports on the monitor side.

The key benefits of the iLink tap aggregators are:
COST EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO NETWORK PACKET BROKERS
iLink Tap aggregators are cost effective alternatives to network packet brokers in many monitoring applications

AGGREGATION, REGENERATION AND PORT MAPPING
The iLink Agg supports fully configurable port mapping, enabling aggregation, regeneration, and matrix switching in a single device. Any-to-any and many-to-many port mappings are supported, and any port can be used as an input, an output, or both at the same time.

EASE OF USE
The iLink Agg can be managed locally or remotely through a command line interface (CLI), Web UI and SNMP v3. TACACS+ and RADIUS perform authentication and authorization. RMON traffic statistics are available through the management interface as well as remote software updates.

ZERO DROPPED PACKETS
The iLink Agg scans incoming traffic from the network ports on a first-in-first-out basis. The scan rate is optimized to ensure that no packets are dropped, as long as the sum of data rates on the network ports does not exceed the monitoring port capacity of 1 Gbps.

FLEXIBILITY
Ixia iLink Agg provides connectivity to network links, Span ports, and monitoring tools with different fiber and copper media types. You can populate only those ports you need or provision extra ports to ensure uptime and port availability.

SECURE MONITORING
The iLink Agg has no IP address on the network, so it is immune to viruses or other attacks. The addressable management port is totally isolated from the network data path, and can be connected to a dedicated management subnet for increased security.

COMPATIBILITY
The iLinkAgg is compatible with all Ixia Taps and bypass switches, as well as with all major manufacturers' monitoring devices, including protocol analyzers, probes, firewalls, and intrusion detection/prevention systems.

RESOURCES