How to Gain Visibility Into Network Traffic with NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Understanding NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) is an analysis tool that provides users with detailed statistics about their network traffic. It captures data from continuous streams of network traffic and converts it into easy-to-understand charts and tables. This helps users better understand who is using their network, for what purpose, and how much bandwidth they are consuming. NTA also provides users with the ability to identify potential security threats by monitoring suspicious activities or unusual patterns in network traffic. With the help of NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, IT teams can easily detect unauthorized access to their networks, which in turn helps protect their businesses from malicious attacks.

The Benefits of Using NetFlow Analyzer

NetFlow Analyzer is an advanced network traffic analysis and monitoring solution that provides real-time visibility into the performance and usage of enterprise networks. It leverages NetFlow, sFlow, jFlow, IPFIX, and other flow data to provide deep insights into traffic trends, bandwidth utilization, top talkers, application performance, and more. By leveraging this data, NetFlow Analyzer helps organizations better understand their network infrastructure by providing comprehensive views of their network’s health and performance. With this information available in real-time and historically, IT teams can quickly identify changes in network behavior or usage before they become costly problems. Additionally, IT professionals can use the analytics provided by NetFlow Analyzer to troubleshoot issues faster and optimize their networks for maximum performance.

Cost of NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

NetFlow traffic analyzer is available on a subscription basis, beginning at $1036.00 per year. This includes access to the software and all its features, as well as ongoing updates and support from the provider. Depending on your specific needs, there may be additional fees for additional features or capabilities. There is also a free trial available to explore the program before committing to a subscription.

The Benefits of Using NetFlow

NetFlow is a powerful network analysis tool that provides valuable insights into network traffic. It enables organizations to monitor, analyze, and take action on their network traffic in real-time. The main benefit of NetFlow is the ability to gain a detailed understanding of the traffic patterns within an organization’s network. By collecting data from all devices within a network, NetFlow provides a comprehensive view of usage trends and can help identify unwanted or malicious applications and activities. Additionally, NetFlow allows organizations to monitor how much bandwidth is being used by different applications and users, allowing them to optimize utilization and allocate resources more efficiently. Finally, NetFlow can provide an audit trail for compliance purposes or forensic investigations into suspicious activities.

Source: manageengine.com

NetFlow Usage on Devices

NetFlow is a network protocol that is used to collect data about the flow of packets across a network. This data can be used to monitor, detect, and troubleshoot network issues. NetFlow is supported by many different devices, including Cisco IOS routers, Cisco 6500 switches with sup 2T, Cisco 4500 with sup 7E, Cisco wireless LAN controller (WLC), ISR-G2, ASR 1000 series routers, Meraki devices, Adtran NetVanta 28 and more. The device list is constantly expanding as new technologies become available and more vendors adopt this protocol. To ensure your specific device supports NetFlow, check with your vendor or consult the device’s documentation.

Understanding NetFlow and How It Works

NetFlow is a network protocol developed by Cisco that provides administrators with information about the traffic that flows through their network. It works by monitoring IP traffic as it enters and exits a router, switch, or another network device, and then recording the source and destination of the traffic in flow records. These records can then be analyzed to gain insights into what kind of traffic is traveling through the network, where it’s coming from, and where it’s going. NetFlow helps to identify potential issues with bandwidth usage, malicious activity from external sources, and more. By using NetFlow monitoring solutions such as SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM), administrators can monitor the performance of the entire network in real-time. They can use this data to pinpoint areas of congestion or potential security risks, identify applications and users causing high bandwidth usage, detect abnormal behavior or usage patterns, plan for future capacity needs, and more.

Analysis of NetFlow for Security Attacks

NetFlow is a network protocol used by many enterprise-level routers and switches to provide visibility into network traffic. By analyzing the data provided by NetFlow records, a Network Traffic Analysis solution can detect numerous types of malicious activity, including:

-DoS/DDoS attacks – Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are designed to overwhelm a network with malicious traffic in order to disrupt service. Through careful analysis of NetFlow records, it is possible to identify malicious traffic sources, as well as abnormal spikes in traffic volume that are indicative of a DDoS attack.

-Web application compromise – By examining the data within NetFlow records, it is possible to detect malicious traffic associated with web application compromise. This includes attempts to exploit known vulnerabilities, as well as suspicious requests for sensitive information such as passwords and credit card numbers.

-SSH compromise – SSH (Secure Shell) is a popular remote access protocol used by administrators to manage servers remotely. By analyzing NetFlow data, it is possible to detect unauthorized access attempts or unusual communication patterns that could indicate an attempted compromise.

-Botnet activity – Botnets are networks of compromised systems controlled by attackers for malicious purposes such as sending spam or launching distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Through examination of NetFlow records, it is possible to detect botnet C&C (command and control) communications that could be indicative of an active botnet on the network.

-Malware propagation – Malware such as viruses and Trojans can spread quickly through networks using file-sharing protocols or email attachments. By analyzing the data within NetFlow records, it is possible to identify sources of malware propagation that might otherwise remain undetected due to their low volumes or suspicious nature.

Comparing NetFlow and Traffic Mirroring

NetFlow and traffic mirroring are two distinct technologies that are often used together to capture and analyze network traffic. NetFlow is a network protocol developed by Cisco Systems for collecting IP traffic information, including source and destination IP addresses, port numbers, packet counts, and byte counts. It does not collect the actual data payload or clone the data packets of the network traffic. Instead, it collects metadata about the traffic which can be used to generate reports about bandwidth usage, application usage, and other performance metrics.

Traffic mirroring is a technology that captures a full copy of the data packets flowing through a network switch or router port and sends them to another device for analysis. This type of analysis can be more comprehensive than what can be done with NetFlow alone since it allows for deeper inspection of the actual data being transferred over the network. However, it comes with a cost: since each packet needs to be cloned and sent to another device, this process can consume a large number of system resources which impacts switch performance.

Choosing the Best NetFlow Analyzer

The best NetFlow Analyzer depends on your specific needs and budget. SolarWinds Real-Time NetFlow Analyzer is a popular choice for Windows users and offers a free download. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer also provides a free trial for Windows, and Paessler PRTG has a free starter edition for small shops as well as a for-cost tool. All of these tools are powerful and can help you get great insights into your network traffic. You may want to evaluate each one to determine which one is the best fit for you.

NetFlow Data Collection

NetFlow collects a variety of metadata about IP traffic flows, including source and destination IP addresses, source and destination ports, type of service, and the number of bytes and packets transferred. It also gathers information on the input interface, output interface, and class of service used for each packet. Additionally, NetFlow collects timestamps for each packet to calculate the total time taken for each flow to traverse a device. Finally, NetFlow can collect layer-4 header information such as TCP flags and application port numbers in order to further classify different types of applications. This data can then be used to generate reports or create alerts in order to detect malicious behavior or network anomalies.

Enabling NetFlow on a Router

To enable NetFlow on your router, you’ll need to configure the router to send data to an Auvik collector. To do this, you’ll need to run the following command:

ip flow-export destination AuvikCollectorIP AuvikPort

Once this is done, you’ll need to enable NetFlow collection on the interface(s) from which you want to capture data. To do this, use the following command:

interface ip flow ingress

You can also use other commands such as “ip route-cache flow” or “ip flow-top-talkers” as needed. After you’ve configured all of these settings, save them and restart your router for the changes to take effect.

Conclusion

NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is an essential tool for monitoring, analyzing, diagnosing, and optimizing network performance. It provides a comprehensive view of network traffic, enabling businesses to gain insights into how their networks are used, by whom, and for what purpose. NetFlow Traffic Analyzer offers flexible pricing options with a free trial available and customizable dashboards that allow users to group widgets by devices, interfaces, and IP groups. Its advanced features help detect network anomalies quickly and accurately, helping businesses ensure the reliability and security of their networks.