Suitable Locations For Placing Taps; Placing Taps On Individual Servers - Network Critical SmartNA-X User Manual

I TAP
NTRODUCTION TO NETWORK
Once traffic has entered the SmartNA-X system it can be directed, or mapped, to monitoring ports within the
system. Tools can be attached to the monitoring ports and the traffic analyzed as required, as shown in
Monitoring Tool
Figure 2-2 Connecting to network tools

Suitable locations for placing TAPs

Where you place a TAP on your network is of critical importance. Place a TAP in the wrong place and you may
take down the whole network, miss vital packets, or cause packets to be dropped on the network and/or
monitoring ports. This section explores the various locations you can place TAPs and the various advantages and
disadvantages associated with each.

Placing TAPs on individual servers

Figure 2-3
populated SmartNA-X chassis with four modules inserted will allow up to four servers to be monitored (more if
the C&D ports are used as failsafe TAPs on some types of module). This method allows for greater control when
scheduling network outages, since there is no need to take down all servers when placing TAPs. This configuration
is suitable for environments where servers are in a single location.
Figure 2-3 TAPs placed at server connection
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S UITABLE LOCATIONS FOR PLACING
D
A B C
To Network To Network
Monitoring Tool
shows a configuration where TAPs are placed on the individual servers that are to be monitored. A fully
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TAP
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DRAFT
A (S NA-X)
ETWORK CCESS MART
Figure 2-2
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