Observer Probes

Network Instruments offers a complete line of software and hardware probes for monitoring network activity across multiple topologies. Choose from a variety of probes to meet your specific needs. Use probes for troubleshooting, collecting NetFlow data, proactive monitoring, long-term data collection, or network forensics.

Probe Advantages

• Gain insight and visibility into the entire network
• Manage remote networks as easily as local
• Aggregate information across sites for global health

Topologies Supported

• LAN
• WAN & OC
• Gigabit & 10 Gb
• Fibre Channel
• Wireless (802.11 a/b/g/n)

Save money on probes by purchasing TAP's and Physical Layer Switches.

 

Software Probe Technology

For companies that cannot invest in dedicated hardware probes, our software probes provide a low-cost monitoring option and are easy to install and configure. Software probes support Ethernet, Gigabit and wireless and are appropriate for analyzing speeds of up to 1000 Mbps or for low-utilization gigabit networks via a SPAN port on a switch.

Three levels of software probes are available:

Advanced Single Probe
Provides decodes, real-time statistics, and long-term trending. Network data is encrypted before transfer to the console, and probe access is password protected.

Advanced Multi-Probe
Provides all the functionality of the Single Probe, plus the ability to set up and monitor multiple interfaces concurrently. Also allows multiple administrators access for real-time collaboration from any remote location, and supports the industry’s largest capture buffer.

Advanced Expert Probe
Includes all the functionality of the Multi-Probe, plus displays remote Expert Analysis in real time for faster troubleshooting. The Expert Probe conserves network bandwidth by analyzing all data locally and sending only results to the Observer console. This eliminates the need to transfer data packets over the wire.

Video on Probe Instances and Deployment

Monitor Fast Ethernet and 10/100/1000 network links by deploying Ethernet probe appliances throughout the enterprise. Our Ethernet probe appliances provide real-time Expert processing, in-depth analytics, and extensive decodes. They also connect to the (ORS) Observer Reporting Server for aggregate performance monitoring.

10/100/1000 Probe Appliance is available in 5 hardware configurations:

1. Single-Port Advanced Single Probe—a single session to view traffic on a single 10/100/1000 segment
2. Single-Port Advanced Multi-Probe—multiple sessions by multiple users on a single 10/100/1000 segment
   
3. Dual-Port Advanced Multi-Probe—multiple sessions by multiple users on two 10/100/1000 segments
   
4. Single-Port Advanced Expert Probe—multiple sessions by multiple users, and real-time expert processing at the probe level on a single 10/100/1000 segment
   
5. Dual-Port Advanced Expert Probe—multiple sessions by multiple users, and real-time expert processing at the probe level on two 10/100/1000 segments

Multi-Port 10/100 Probe Appliance is available in 2 different 4U rack mount hardware configurations:

1. Advanced Multi-Probe Appliance—Monitor multiple networks simultaneously, speed problem solving with multi-session support, and define individual access rights
2. Advanced Expert Probe Appliance—Advantages of advanced Multi-Probe plus real-time expert analysis and packet decodes at individual probe level

 

Full-Duplex, Line-Rate Gigabit and 10 Gb Monitoring

Without a doubt, Network Instruments excels in Gigabit and 10 Gb monitoring. First, superior hardware technology—the internally designed Gen2 capture card—guarantees full-duplex, wire-speed monitoring and analysis. Next, comprehensive software monitoring and analysis tools—real-time Expert, VoIP metrics, in-depth analytics, and aggregate performance monitoring—complete the picture. Choose from a wide selection of hardware appliances, portable options, and dedicated RNA devices.

Gen2 Technology

Gen2 technology provides the ability to capture and process data on gigabit or 10 Gb networks. We design and manufacture our Gen2 capture card to be the fastest available, supporting full-duplex gigabit and 10 Gb.

All Network Instruments full-duplex Gigabit products include the Gen2 Gigabit Capture Card. Gen2 technology offers many advantages for maximizing gigabit analysis performance. For example, the card takes full advantage of 674-bit Observer to guarantee the fastest time expert processing and the largest capture buffers (up to 124 GB) available in the industry.

The Gen2 card delivers analysis port flexibility with the ability to monitor up to 8 ports for any simultaneous combination of SPAN sessions, full-duplex connections, and trunked links.

The card also uses SFP technology so you can easily switch between monitoring copper or optical links.

Product Details Below - Click to expand

 

Observer WAN Solution

Get details on WAN and OC Apliances

Features:

• MultiHop Analysis
• Track conversations through up to 10 segments
• Pinpoint network delay or system processes as cause
• Measure one-way, round-trip, and individual hop delay

WAN Vital Signs

• Get comprehensive summary of WAN errors, stats, utilization, congestion
• View DCE/DTE traffic individually or in aggregate
• Stats shown in packets, bytes, FECNs, BECNs, number of discard eligibility, errors, and utilization Plus WAN alarms, filtering, trending, reporting, real-time experts and more.

Full OC3 and OC12 Support

For large organizations and carriers monitoring OC topologies, Observer now monitors and analyzes OC3 and OC12 traffic and decodes OC-related protocols.

While the OC transfer scheme introduces an element of uniformity, it also creates a certain amount of network overhead.

ATM is a dedicated-connection switching technology that organizes digital data into 53-byte cell units and transmits them over a physical medium using digital signal technology.

Observer supports Packet over SONET (POS) and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) over OC. It offers the ability to present analysis at the cell-level (53 bytes) and reconstruct ATM streams and ATM over SONET. These protocols are used for sending long-distance data transmissions.