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Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) is another way of saying “port mirror”. What’s helpful about the term “SPAN” – if you know the acronyms’ description – is that you are then aware that it is related to providing visibility of switch data traffic to other tools.

For some reason, whenever I hear the term Load Balancing, I think of a circus high-wire act. Similar to the person walking on a relatively thin cable wire – about 50 or more scary feet above the ground – holding a long vertical bar for equilibrium. The analogy more or less stops with that bar (which helps the acrobat keep his or her balance). That acrobat uses the balancing bar – on a wire – and carries out a precision act in order not to fall. <...

What Network IDS/IPS Can Do For You IDS and IPS function together as network intrusion detection and prevention systems – generally called IPS or IDPS. The IDS (intrusion detection system) is limited in functionality, because its sole role is to detect. When it detects a potential intrusion, all it is designed to do is to alert an IT administrator or IT security personnel of the potential threat or breach, and they will then take it from there and trigger a protocol...

Were you ever curious to see what lay behind the face of an old mechanical Grandfather clock or even a pocket watch? – How the mechanism worked and how all the complex set of gears, springs, and wheels meshed and worked in tandem? If the mechanism was designed and built right, then everything would work to precision: “Like a Swiss clock” people used to say.

Every company has become a technology company. No matter what products you sell or what services you provide, networking systems are the backbone for it all. For business leaders, innovative technology means a more productive workforce and better customer experiences. But for the networking and security pros that support that technology, it means more pressure than ever to maintain availability....

If you haven’t seen our white paper discussing the main differences between network taps and SPAN ports, now is a good time. In any case, it’s worthwhile to point out a few key benefits of network taps. For example, once the taps are installed, they’ll offer you a relatively easy way to interchange (attach and detach) monitoring and analysis tools.

Networks keep increasing in size and demand on their resources, and although technology is advancing and doing its best to keep up (or even to try to catch up), managing the actual network security has become more complex, and not necessarily less costly. Enterprise networks and service providers mandate their IT and network experts to keep ahead of the game, and the solution usually adopted is to endlessly introduce new inspection and monitoring tools. This, however, weighs down an al...

Ready to dive in? Today’s blog will present a detailed look at several sample scenarios of how to support and enhance your network monitoring tools. Of course, network monitoring is quite a broad field that includes network and application monitoring, network traffic monitoring, and network performance monitoring.

The great English philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon known for his influence in promoting scientific method, held that the aim of scientific investigation is practical application of the understanding of nature to improve man's condition. He rightly expressed, that “Knowledge is Power”. In a similar manner, visibility and control via NPMD – is a necessary ‘knowledge’ power in the world of networking.