Five steps to effectively monitor network traffic

How to monitor network traffic ？

Monitoring network traffic is not surprising , But monitoring network traffic in large enterprise organizations is very different from home or home office . Most large companies have a variety of domains , for example WAN,SD-WAN, Data Center ,AWS,Azure etc. . With the expansion of large enterprise network environment , Monitoring network traffic is becoming increasingly difficult . Knowing how to monitor network traffic is critical to ensuring that the network is running at its best . Here are five basic steps for monitoring network traffic .

First step - Identify network data sources

The first step to effectively monitor network traffic is to obtain the visibility of the entire network . This usually requires unifying data from multiple sources , Especially in large networks , It is troublesome and time-consuming to often use a large number of special tools to complete this task .

The data sources used for network monitoring are ：

Stream data

Such as LiveNX Such platforms can obtain stream data （ namely Netflow,IPFIX,SFlow,JFlow,LiveFlow etc. ）, To have a comprehensive understanding of multiple suppliers , Network performance in multi domain and multi cloud network environments . Using stream data alone can quickly solve about 80％ The most common network traffic problems .

Data packets

Packet data is necessary for forensic level analysis , This is important to solve the thorny network application problems （ In especial VoIP And video ） It's necessary . Besides , Using packet capture devices is useful , Because these devices extend the monitoring of network traffic and applications to remote sites and branches ,WAN Edge and data center .

Wireless data

WiFi It is becoming a standard networking method for remote sites and branches . Ability to perform wireless 802.11ac Packet capture for performance analysis is monitoring WiFi The key data source of network traffic .

Device data

Enterprise networks are becoming more and more complex , Usually rely on things like Cisco, Huawei or other suppliers to provide network infrastructure and equipment . Many of these devices are intended for use SNMP or API Data for network traffic monitoring . This data is useful for quickly troubleshooting and solving network problems on specific devices .

The second step – Discover devices and running applications on the network

equipment , Interface , Applications ,VPN And user discovery is critical to monitoring network traffic . Network topology mapper is a network monitoring tool , Key applications for automatically discovering users on the network and leveraging network bandwidth . The basic components of the network topology mapper include the automatic discovery of applications and users on the network , Analyze to create an intuitive , Easy to understand network description , When strategy is not SLA When the parameters are within the range, the network traffic monitoring can be simplified through the alarm function , Of course , It also has the ability to generate and export topology maps for sharing with others .

The third step – Apply the right network traffic monitoring tools

In addition to the network topology mapper , Monitoring network traffic usually requires four other basic network monitoring tools ：

NetFlow Analyzer

from Cisco establish , The term “ Netflow Analyzer ” Now it is a general term , Used to describe from any supplier （ for example Juniper,aka,JFlow） Streaming data .IPFIX Is a streaming standard used by many vendors . In short , Traffic analysis of network traffic is very important to understand the whole situation , For example, network traffic from site to site or device to device . Most network traffic problems can be solved by traffic analysis .

Packet analyzer

The packet analyzer is used to decode the actual packets of network traffic （ Such as ：Omnipeek）. Even though NetFlow Analyzers are useful for most network traffic problems , But packet analyzer allows you to analyze each packet for deep packet checking （DPI） And solve more difficult application problems , Especially with IP voice （VoIP） Issues related to video conferencing , for example Cisco WebEx meeting .

Network performance dashboard

Most network traffic monitoring toolsets come with performance dashboards . These dashboards provide a high-level overview of what is happening to network traffic . Enterprise tools （ for example LiveNX） Allow consolidation of all data sources , So you can really have a comprehensive understanding of the entire network in all domains .

Network monitoring report

Network traffic monitoring usually requires real-time and historical reports . Real time reporting is a kind of visual analysis , You can monitor the current situation of network traffic . Historical reports are useful for troubleshooting network events . Complex network environment requires large-scale report processing , Because the amount of network data may be very large , And make many monitoring tools unable to complete this task .

Active alarm

alert , Especially active alarm , For adjusting network traffic problems that need immediate attention , It is important to separate related issues from noise . These alerts are increasingly made up of AI And machine learning , Thus, the changes of network traffic are interrelated and isolated , To generate meaningful alarms （ Anomaly detection ）.

Step four – Monitor traffic from specific network manufacturers

Effective monitoring of network traffic usually depends on the specific network monitoring equipment used . for example , Use Cisco Companies with network devices and software often need tools to monitor them . These include Cisco iWAN,Cisco SD-WAN,Cisco SD-Access and Cisco DNA Center. Although manufacturers often position their products as not requiring specialized network monitoring tools , But these statements are often limited . Because most enterprise companies often use equipment from different suppliers , So the situation becomes more complicated . In order to really monitor the traffic of specific manufacturers throughout the enterprise , You usually need a network monitoring tool set , The toolset can absorb data from multiple vendors to view the entire network .

Step five – Optimize network traffic

The last to monitor network traffic “ how ” The step is to optimize yourself . The optimization of network traffic is divided into four basic categories ：

Overall network performance optimization

In order to optimize the complex network environment , Your network performance optimization requires correlation from multiple domains and / Or network data for multi tier applications , For multi-stage performance analysis , Optimization and troubleshooting . Visual analysis , instrument panel , Reports and alerts let you isolate the most common traffic problems , For example, bandwidth consuming applications .

Forensics analysis to optimize

To isolate and solve difficult network application problems , Need to use both stream and packet level data . such , You can isolate problems that may cause slow network speeds , Then drill down from the stream level to the packet level , For forensic level troubleshooting of specific application problems .

voice , Optimization of video and unified communication

The most common and obvious network traffic performance problems are related to collaborative applications . In a low-speed network , End users are using voice , Jitter is often encountered in video or other communication applications , Packet loss . These usually show poor video quality or voice quality . Using flow and packet analysis is essential to isolate and quickly resolve these network traffic problems .

Optimize the service quality level

Service quality （QoS） Related to monitoring and managing data traffic , To reduce network latency for each established service level . establish QoS Policies and managing these policies ensures that network resources get the necessary network bandwidth , To meet the required service levels . Monitor established QoS Policy traffic , It is the basis for correct monitoring and optimization of network traffic .

According to the definition , Network traffic monitoring is used to identify , The process of diagnosing and resolving network problems that affect the performance of applications running on the network . In order to effectively monitor network traffic and quickly solve network problems , There are five basic steps . These steps and the correct monitoring tools ensure that QoS Policy and keep the network running optimally .