Aside from recently being blasted with swirling vortexes of terror in the form of tornoados (in New England?!), things here are going well.  We recently mentioned that we have entered the NetFlow probe arena by offering nProbes and nBoxes for your business needs.

But it did occur to me that we should at least offer a brief overview of what NetFlow is.

To put it in perspective, IT administrators could see how much traffic was on a network prior to NetFlow creation, but they couldn’t see what kind of traffic it was.  Cisco Systems created NetFlow and changed the world of technology.  NetFlow allows extremely detailed collection and measurements of network traffic.  This depth of data collection provides near limitless opportunities for business and network management, including the ability to monitor source and destination IP addresses, troubleshoot performance errors, and detect security threats.

In order to access NetFlow, you must have NetFlow capable routers or switches, or you can simply obtain Ravica’s nProbe or nBox to export the data you need.  You can add them to your existing network without the requirement of migrating data or traffic to new devices.  They are very easy to install directly to your existing setup, and they easily capture the network information and put it into a usable format.  You’ll be managing your network traffic in no time.

Some NetFlow collectors and reporting tools have even turned into virtual technological art forms, like Plixer International’s Scrutinizer tool which offers incredibly in-depth traffic reporting and presents it in clear, concise graphical formats.

If you have more questions about NetFlow, there are some network monitoring blogs available on Systrax.com.  You are also welcome to contact us with any questions about NetFlow, nProbes, or our environmental monitor probes.  Just like NetFlow, and unlike swirling vortexes of terror, we are here to help your business.

~Angela
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To support this business need, we recently expanded the Ravica product line to include new hardware and software.

The foundation of this new line is the software called nProbe.  Once installed, nProbe is ready to use without additional configuration required.  It is placed on a PC from which one can capture the desired traffic and send it to the specified collector.  nProbe is a high-performance probe designed for running on environments with limited resources.  The nProbe can support both flow and packet sampling.

For some users, however, running a network probe on a PC is not always the best choice.  A PC may require more physical space than is available.  PCs also require operating systems and maintenance, and multiple PCs would be required if a user needs multiple probes.  As a result, Ravica also offers nBox, a hardware device preloaded with nProbe.  nBox can be effectively used as a probe and collector at the same time.  It is easy to set up, immediately available with little configuration effort, and easy to administer using intuitive embedded web interface.  It is generally placed on a mirrored port or next to the border gateway.  Due to its low cost, web interface, and remote maintenance, nBox is the ideal choice for adding NetFlow support to your existing network without the need to purchase or replace your existing router/switch.

To further assist businesses by providing detailed views of network traffic, Plixer International developed Scrutinizer, an alternative flow capture tool with extensive reporting capabilities.  Scrutinizer is able to retrieve traffic details and present them in a dynamic, intuitive, and detailed graphical view.

With expansive varieties in network analyzing requirements, Ravica is pleased to offer you a variety of IT solutions.  If you have any questions about how we can help with your specific network, please contact us.

~Angela

NetFlow is a network protocol that was developed by Cisco Systems to collect IP traffic information and it has become the standard in network traffic monitoring by IT professionals.  For more information on NetFlow, check out this blog on NetFlow basics at Systrax.com.  For those without NetFlow capable routers or switches, fully utilizing NetFlow requires a probe which is generally attached to a PC and a software tool to capture the network information and put it into a usable form.

Many software NetFlow solutions (such as nProbe) users, realized that running a probe on a PC (or any other common hardware) is not always the best choice for several reasons:

1. PCs have moving parts that can break making the probe unavailable.
2. PCs are large, need monitors and keyboards, whereas probes often need to be deployed on places where there is not much space available.
3. Administering PCs is not cheap and they require the purchase of an OS, its installation and maintenance.
4. In large networks divided in several trunks it is necessary to have several probes each analyzing a trunk. This requires that multiple hosts running nProbe are deployed across the network.
5. The cost (for both hardware and maintenance) is not neglectable in particular if several probes need to be deployed.

The nBox provides users with a non-PC, scalable, hardware-based solution.  There are 5 models to choose from, so there is an option for any size network.  Check them out at Ravica.com or give us a call at 207.324.8173, to find out more about how we can help you with your NetFlow Monitoring needs.

Check back for more information on our our NetFlow solutions, the nTap and nProbe.

In the palm of my hand
We obviously use our temperature monitoring probes, which also take care of humidity monitoring. Look how small these things are:

Since the one probe can do both temperature and humidity sensing, the second port can be used to detect water, smoke, or any of our other environmental monitoring sensors.

No temperature monitoring program needed
This little device has a web server built in, so you can hit it with an IE or FireFox web browser. The unit is self contained, and prices start at $250. It also supports SNMP. Check out the live environmental monitoring demos:

BitSight2 Demo – Password=”ravica”
SecurityProbe Demo – No password required

This is really cool stuff at a great value. Call ravica.com about these at (207) 324-8173.

- Mike