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Writer's pictureThe Oldcommguy

You Bought A Packet Broker⁠—Now What?


You Bought A Packet Broker⁠—Now What?

Summary of webinar - View here - https://youtu.be/yhAdQ-RLn7I

Network visibility is an often overlooked but critically important activity for IT. However, just because you buy a packet broker doesn’t ensure that everything is “fixed.” The real question people often ask is, What do I do now? The short answer is that a packet broker can enable you to quickly isolate security threats and resolve performance issues. The long answer is that there are over 50 different monitoring and visibility use cases that are either enabled and/or improved by implementing a Visibility Architecture with a packet broker.

So, what do you do first?

Key Points of the Discussion:

  • A Visibility Architecture is an end-to-end infrastructure which enables physical and virtual network, application, and security visibility

  • There are 7 basic areas where a Visibility Architecture with a packet broker can help IT to:

  • Improve network reliability (maximize network uptime)

  • Strengthen network security (prevent breaches, capture security alerts, increase alert resolutions, etc.)

  • Deliver on cost containment and control

  • Speed up troubleshooting efforts (meet/exceed MTTR SLA goal)

  • Optimize network performance (maximize QoS & QoE, reduce network “slowness” complaints)

  • Strengthen regulatory compliance initiatives (SOX, HIPAA, CALEA, GLBA, FEDRAMP)

  • Reduce/fix unexpected issues (i.e. remove network blind spots)

  • Pick a use case that you understand and implement it as soon as you can. You want a quick win that gives you familiarity with the packet broker and setting it up.

Here are just a couple examples of the over 50 use cases: View Here !

  1. Packet filtering and deduplication reduce the load on monitoring tools

  2. Reduce/eliminate the need for Change Board approvals and crash carts

  3. Load balancing can extend the life and value of existing security & monitoring tools

  4. Inline and Out-of-Band data filtering improves security tool efficiency

  5. Use NPM and APM solutions to improve QoS/QoE and optimize SLA performance

  6. High Availability makes inline security tool deployments more reliable

  7. Application intelligence can provide indicators of compromise

  8. Application intelligence can identify slow or underperforming applications

  9. Proactive monitoring provides better and faster network rollouts

  10. Conduct proactive troubleshooting with application intelligence

  11. Floating filters dramatically cut data collection times

  12. Use application intelligence to enhance regulatory compliance

  13. Packet trimming (payload stripping) eliminates propagation of sensitive data

  14. Visibility architectures expose missing/hidden data

  15. Virtual taps expose hidden east-west traffic in virtual data centers

  • Download the ebook the ABCs of Network Visibility from the Resources page on www.ixiacom.com

  • Download the ebook the ABCs of Network Visibility – Vol. 2 from the Resources page on www.ixiacom.com

  • Download the whitepaper Best Practices for Network Monitoring from the Resources page on www.ixiacom.com

  • Download the ebook The Definitive Guide to Visibility Use Cases from the Resources page on www.ixiacom.com

  • Download the whitepaper on deduplication best practices from the Resources page on www.ixiacom.com

  • Visit Out-of-Band Visibility solutions page at https://www.ixiacom.com/solutions/out-band-monitoring or contact Ixia for a demonstration of well it works and how easy it is to use.

Keith Bromley is a senior product management and marketing professional at Ixia, a Keysight business, with over 25 years of high tech software and hardware experience. In his role, he is responsible for thought leadership, product management and marketing activities for network monitoring, network security, VoIP and unified communications (UC) for enterprise and carrier solutions. Keith is a E.E. and a dedicated technologist. Keith has many articles on www.NetworkDataPedia.com

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