Network Visibility with Flow Data

Network traffic analysis with flow data has become a popular tool to gain detailed visibility into our networks. Determining traffic patterns, taking informed business decisions and protecting against anomalies all become possible with the additional insight. However flow data collection and analysis is not a one-size-fits-all problem. Different networks have different needs and objectives, and therefore flow data collection and analysis is often perceived as something complex.

This webinar will provide you with all the details you need to design and build a next-generation network flow data collection pipeline. We will share insights into every aspect of network flow data analysis:

  • Why you want it?
  • What you can do with it?
  • How to collect it?
  • What tools to use?
  • How you can store or view it?

Starting with a brief introduction in the first session, we will provide a detailed view of how you can benefit from flow data. We will introduce the protocols, their support and differences. In the second session we will explore various collection setups and data correlation. We will talk about use cases along with their hidden obstacles and complexity. In the last session, we will explore the topic of BigData and dive into how you can store and visualize your flow data.

Availability

This webinar is part of Internetworking Technologies roadmap and accessible with standard subscription

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Contents

The webinar is split into three major parts:

  • Protocols
  • Data collection tools
  • Big Data

Flow Data Collection Protocols

In the first part of this Network Flow Data webinar series we will lay the ground for why you would want to venture into Network Flow Data collection in the first place. What are the potential goals and newly introduced complexity when trying to analyze flow data. We will talk about different flow export mechanisms, such as NetFlow, sFlow and IPFIX, walk though the protocols in detail, explain their differences, drawbacks and benefits.

Collecting Flow Data

In the second part of the Network Flow Data webinar series we will dive into concrete use cases. We will talk about collectors, different deployment scenarios as well as scalability. We'll focus on common issues encountered in those setups, eg. duplication and data correctness, and how to spot them during the design phase. We will discuss data correlation with additional feeds, such as SNMP, BGP or IGP and what additional insights or issues those provide.

Analyzing Flow Data

In the third part of the Network Flow Data webinar series we will discuss the mind shift away from traditional databases and dive into big data storage. We will talk about how to use brokers and what for, as well as take a deeper look at which databases are suitable for flow data collection and what analysis or visualization capabilities they provide.

About the Authors

Elisa JasinskaElisa Jasinska is a seasoned professional with a remarkable career spanning over 17 years in automating large-scale networks. Her journey began at the prestigious Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), where she developed a passion for optimizing network operations through automation.

Elisa played a pivotal role in the establishment and management of several Internet Exchanges across the globe. Her expertise in network automation and traffic accounting led her to implement cutting-edge solutions for Internet Exchanges and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). She's held roles at Microsoft and Netflix, where by streamlining and automating critical processes, Elisa contributed significantly to the efficiency and reliability of these networks.

As one of the initial employees at PacketFabric, she made significant contributions to the company's growth and success. Elisa was instrumental in pioneering and developing the automation software that powered PacketFabric, enabling the seamless scalability of their services.

Paolo LucentePaolo Lucente is currently part of the IP Development team at NTT Communications working in the areas of telemetry data analysis and collection. He's also the author of the free, open-source software package pmacct. Along with years of experience in the network operators arena, he focuses on the economics of traffic exchange in the public internet and contributes to standards and community forums. Previously, he held senior engineering and development positions at large national and international service providers across Europe and the regional research network in his home land in south Italy - Apulia.

Target Audience

  • Network architects responsible for designing and building the next-generation network traffic analysis pipelines for their company's network or for their customers;
  • Network engineers looking at how to provide a more granular view into their network traffic using flow data
  • Network planners interested in the details of what can be collected with added flow data analysis into the data pipeline
  • Systems Engineer looking to gain deeper knowledge into network traffic analysis
  • Anyone working on traffic accounting services and interested to learn more the flow data collection technologies, tools, and real-life solutions.
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