What is TAP? Tapping is a method of monitoring the data traffic transmitted and received on a connection in the network system. This can be done through a switch that copies packets to the monitoring port (also known as “mirroring”). Or a dedicated device can be used to copy all the information that passes through it to the monitoring device. In both ways, the monitoring device will filter the data and send the results to various analysis tools and software to provide information to the network administrator. Watching: What is Tap A frequently asked question: “The word ‘tap&; What does it mean here?”. Actually, the ‘tap&; does not mean anything. This word is often understood with the connotation of monitoring (“tap” – branching on a telephone line), which connects and monitors the information being transmitted. NETSCOUT’s TAPs have significant improvement and outstanding quality. Our Tap solutions are suitable for a wide range of IT teams including network operations, network engineering, information security, quality assurance, web analytics, and application analytics. TAP Classification TAPs are available in multiple configurations to support all network access strategies and goals. These configurations include: • Inline taps: Copper and fiber • Inline aggregation taps: Non-filter and filtering • Span taps: Non-filter, filtering and switching • Combination inline and span taps: Single and dual link Inline TAP Inline TAP installed between two network devices. Network equipment includes switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and hosts. The network analyzer, application, or security device is then connected to the TAP. TAP will provide a copy of network traffic for real-time monitoring and analysis. Benefits: + Passive TAP, Capable of forwarding physical layer failures + Preserve delay between packets, support for packet analysis + Easily connect to the system just plug- and-play + Removing the monitoring port can degrade performance. Switch Tap passively referred to as a “bridge”, the data on the connection is not duplicated by the switch. Instead, the signal will be divided and transmitted simultaneously to the receiving device (destination) and monitoring device. Compared with active tap, passive tap has 4 important advantages as follows: 1. Passive Tap provides monitoring port with maximum capacity (including data transmission and reception). On active tap, the monitoring port must double the data, then transmit part to the receiving device and partly to the monitoring device, so the capacity of the monitoring port on the active tap must be doubled. With connections with a density of more than 50%, overload will occur, causing packet loss. 2.Passive tap is almost invisible in the network, allowing all data to pass without does not change frame/packet timing, does not affect or degrade network performance – this is an advantage that active tap cannot provide. 3. Active tap requires reconfiguration switch to identify the mirror port. This configuration can cause errors, degrade performance, or worse, crash the network. With passive tap, users don’t need to worry about this problem, deployment is as simple as specifying the installation location, and plug-and-play (plug and play). 4.Passive tap transmits all packets on the connection to the monitoring port; while port mirror may not receive erroneous or erroneous packets, so will not give the full picture of network network Inline Aggregating Taps Aggregating inline taps providing access to relevant links weights and meshes network traffic by combining full-duplex and multi-link traffic into a single data stream. All Aggregating inline taps regenerate the signal so that multiple analyzers and monitors can share the exploited connection simultaneously. Once tap is installed, network analysis and monitoring solutions gain a clear, unobstructed view of traffic. Benefits: + Full-duplex and multi-link visibility for single analytical solutions. + Signal reproduction to support multiple analyzers on the same tap. Plug-and-play simplicity for rapid analysis and deployment. + Switch devices to extend the ROI of existing analytics solutions. + Removing the monitoring port can degrade Switch Inline Aggregating Filter Taps performance: + Increases visibility and performance of network monitoring and analysis devices. + Share information between multiple departments. + Reduce the number of monitoring and analytics devices needed to effectively manage your network. + Gain access to duplex network traffic and split them among multiple analyzers. + Improve performance of network analytics solutions using in-tap hardware-based filtering. Span Aggregating Taps: + On switches, increase the value of a single monitoring port by scaling traffic to multiple monitoring and analytics devices. + Increased visibility across multiple network segments, max utility of analysis and monitoring equipment. See also: What is Gst – Value Added Tax + Reduces the time it takes to deploy analyzers to problem points on the network. + Reduce traffic for monitoring switch ports + Maximize ROI on monitoring and analysis devices. Span Aggregating Filter Taps: + On switches, increase the value of a single monitoring port by scaling traffic to multiple monitoring and analysis devices. Increase visibility across multiple network segments, maximizing the utility of analyzers and monitors. Reduce the time required to deploy analyzers to fault points on the network. + Reduce traffic for monitoring switch ports + Maximize ROI on monitoring and analysis devices. + Performance of network monitoring and analysis solutions is improved by using hardware-based filtering inside the tap. + Analyze only relevant traffic by filtering out the unimportant sections. + Avoid oversubscription to aggregator Span Switching Taps: + Greater network visibility and centralized management speed up problem resolution, reduce downtime, increase business productivity, and improve ROI. Use network monitoring and analysis devices on multiple switch ports. + Apply Daisy-chain up to four switches to access dozens of ports. + Remote management from a central console using control software (included) + Ideal for networks using distributed networks and application analytics solutions Combination Taps: + Full duplex and multi-link for single interface analysis solutions. + Increase the value of a single monitoring gateway by scaling traffic to multiple monitoring and analysis devices. + Signal reproduction to support multiple analyzers on the same tap. See also: What is the year 2018 – What is the year of 2018? + Plug-and-play simplicity for quick analysis and deployment. + Switch devices to expand the ROI of existing analytics solutions TAPS System Deployment Diagrams Deployment Diagram – inline TAP non-Agg Deployment Diagram – Span Switch Agg: Deployment Diagram – Span Switch Agg:
