Extending Network Monitoring Tool Performance

Many organizations have invested in network monitoring equipment such as protocol analyzers,intrusion detection and prevention systems, and stream-to-disk traffic loggers. The challenge is to extend the performance capabilities of these tools to handle the high-speed, multi-protocol, security threat-laden traffic of today’s and tomorrow’s networks, without a total reinvestment in new tools, and without sacrificing security.

This paper explores how monitoring tools can achieve higher levels of performance without forklift upgrades. It proposes a variety of ways to extend their efficiency, including the use of a stand-alone content filtering device to offload monitoring tools by pre-filtering traffic and assisting with common tasks.