Network monitoring device and system
First Claim
1. A network monitoring device for monitoring the activity on a network carrying message packets of a predetermined type, the monitoring device comprising:
- a receive means for detecting substantially all message packets carried on the network,a sampling means operatively interfaced with the receive means for selecting only some of the message packets received by the receive means, selection being based on the number of message packets detected by the receive means; and
a processing means interfaced with the receive means and the sampling means for collecting data related to only the message packets so selected by the sampling means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The network monitoring device is provided for monitoring the activity on a network carrying message packets each of which contains source and destination addresses. The monitoring device includes a network interface for sending and receiving message packets carried on the network, and a processor for collecting and processing data from the packets received by the network interface. In order to minimize processor memory requirements for the monitoring device, only randomly selected packets detected by the network interface are processed by the processor of the device. Preferably, the monitoring device is further simplified by providing a central measurement station to analyze data collected from the randomly sampled packets. As a result, the only processing required to be done by the monitoring device is the construction of collected-data packets for transmission to the central measurement station. A network monitoring system can advantageously be provided by using a number of such monitoring devices each associated with a respective logical segment of the network and each forwarding collected-data packets to a central measurement station.
241 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A network monitoring device for monitoring the activity on a network carrying message packets of a predetermined type, the monitoring device comprising:
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a receive means for detecting substantially all message packets carried on the network, a sampling means operatively interfaced with the receive means for selecting only some of the message packets received by the receive means, selection being based on the number of message packets detected by the receive means; and a processing means interfaced with the receive means and the sampling means for collecting data related to only the message packets so selected by the sampling means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A network monitoring device for monitoring the activity on a network carrying message packets of a predetermined type, each message packet having at least one data item providing information related to the message packet, the monitoring device comprising:
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a receive means for detecting message packets carried on the network; a sampling means operatively interfaced with the receive means for selecting only some of the message packets detected by the receive means; a data-collection means for extracting at least one data item from at least one message packet so selected the data-collection means forming the data items so extracted into collected-data packets; and a transmit means for transmitting each collected-data packet over the network. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification