Hierarchically organizing network data collected from full time recording machines and efficiently filtering the same
First Claim
1. A full time network traffic recording system, comprisinga network capture device, said network capture device being configurable to sample network packets on a network segment without regard to packet destinations;
- a packet annotator, said packet annotator in accessible communication with said network capture device wherein sampled network packets may be referenced or read, said packet annotator annotating the sampled network packets with at least a time of receipt to form annotated packets,a network data caching system, said network data caching system having a network data cache, said packet annotator providing access to said caching system of the annotated packets wherein the annotated packets may be referenced or read, said caching system forming a series of hierarchically organized finite logical storage units containing the annotated packets, said caching system further recording at least a start and an end time of the contained annotated packets to the finite logical storage units, said caching system further being configurable to initiate write commands to a storage interface;
and the storage interface operable to receive write commands from said caching system, said interface being configurable to forward write commands to a storage device wherein finite logical storage units may be mapped to media of a configured storage device;
wherein said system performs the functions of;
(i) indexing received packets using an indexable item database,(ii) receiving a filter request having a filter expression composed of matching expressions linked by logical operators, the filter expression having at least one matching expression referencing an indexable item,(iii) reading the indexable item database,(iv) computing efficiency ratings for each matching expression and successively each logical operator,and (v) filtering stored network traffic data, said filtering applying matching expressions in preferential order of efficiency.
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Abstract
Included in the invention are systems and methods of full time recording network traffic to a hierarchical data storage. Also included in the invention are systems and methods of retrieval of recorded network traffic from a hierarchically organized network data repository. Additionally included in the invention are systems and methods of efficiently filtering data in a hierarchically organized network data repository. Systems and methods of displaying recorded network data utilizing the retrieval systems are also included in the invention. Further included in the invention are systems and methods of providing sliding time window selection user interfaces. Detailed information on various example embodiments of the inventions are provided in the Detailed Description below, and the inventions are defined by the appended claims.
115 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A full time network traffic recording system, comprising
a network capture device, said network capture device being configurable to sample network packets on a network segment without regard to packet destinations; -
a packet annotator, said packet annotator in accessible communication with said network capture device wherein sampled network packets may be referenced or read, said packet annotator annotating the sampled network packets with at least a time of receipt to form annotated packets, a network data caching system, said network data caching system having a network data cache, said packet annotator providing access to said caching system of the annotated packets wherein the annotated packets may be referenced or read, said caching system forming a series of hierarchically organized finite logical storage units containing the annotated packets, said caching system further recording at least a start and an end time of the contained annotated packets to the finite logical storage units, said caching system further being configurable to initiate write commands to a storage interface; and the storage interface operable to receive write commands from said caching system, said interface being configurable to forward write commands to a storage device wherein finite logical storage units may be mapped to media of a configured storage device; wherein said system performs the functions of; (i) indexing received packets using an indexable item database, (ii) receiving a filter request having a filter expression composed of matching expressions linked by logical operators, the filter expression having at least one matching expression referencing an indexable item, (iii) reading the indexable item database, (iv) computing efficiency ratings for each matching expression and successively each logical operator, and (v) filtering stored network traffic data, said filtering applying matching expressions in preferential order of efficiency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A full time network traffic recording computer system, comprising:
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a network canture device, said network capture device being configurable to sample network packets on a network segment; at least one processor, said processor in operable communication with said network capture device to receive sampled network packets; storage device operating to accent write commands from said processor; computer readable instructions contained in memory, said memory readable by said processor, computer readable instructions enabling said processor to perform the functions of; (i) receiving sampled network packets from said network capture device, (ii) annotating the received packets with at least the time of receipt, said annotating forming annotated packets, (iii) organizing the annotated packets in a hierarchical organization of finite logical storage units, and (iv) storing the finite logical storage units to said storage device; wherein said computer readable instructions enabling said processor to perform the functions of; (i) indexing the received packets using an indexable item database, (ii) receiving a filter request having a filter expression composed of matching expressions linked by logical operators, the filter expression having at least one matching expression referencing an indexable item, (iii) reading the indexable item database, (iv) computing efficiency ratings for each matching expression and successively each logical operator, and (v) filtering stored network traffic data, said filtering applying matching expressions in preferential order of efficiency. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A full time network traffic recording computer system, comprising:
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a network capture device, said network capture device being configurable to sample network packets on a network segment; at least one processor, said processor in operable communication with said network capture device to receive sampled network packets; storage device operating to accept write commands from said processor; a recording system interconnect; computer readable instructions contained in memory, said memory readable by said processor, computer readable instructions enabling said processor to perform the functions of; (i) receiving sampled network packets from said network capture device, (ii) annotating the received packets with at least the time of receipt, said annotating forming annotated packets, (iii) organizing the annotated packets in a hierarchical organization of finite logical storage units, and (iv) storing the finite logical storage units to said storage device; wherein said computer readable instructions enabling said processor to perform the functions of; periodically creating a packet profile; exchanging packet profile information with configured distributed network recording machines using said recording system interconnect; comparing packet profile information to detect and report inconsistencies and errors among the distributed network recording machines; and synchronizing packet stream information with configured distributed network recording machines using said recording system interconnect for validating the integrity of the recorded packets.
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18. A full time network traffic recording system, comprising:
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a network capture means, said network capture means being configurable to sample network packets on a network segment; means of annotating sampled packets with at least a time of receipt to form annotated packets, said annotating means in accessible communication with said network capture means wherein sampled network packets may be referenced or read; means of forming finite logical storage units containing the annotated packets, said annotating means providing referential or read access of the annotated packets to said forming means, said forming means further recording at least a start and an end time of the contained annotated packets to the formed units; means of storing a succession of formed units to storage; wherein said system performs the functions of; (i) indexing received packets using an indexable item database, (ii) receiving a filter request having a filter expression composed of matching expressions linked by logical operators, the filter expression having at least one matching expression referencing an indexable item, (iii) reading the indexable item database, (iv) computing efficiency ratings for each matching expression and successively each logical operator, and (v) filtering stored network traffic data, said filtering applying matching expressions in preferential order of efficiency.
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19. A method of capturing a large quantity of network data, comprising:
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non-intrusively sampling network packets from a network segment; annotating sampled network packets with at least a time of receipt, organizing the annotated packets into a hierarchical data organization composed of finite logical storage units; storing the finite logical storage units to storage; periodically creating a packet profile; exchanging packet profile information with configured distributed network recording machines using a recording system interconnect; comparing packet profile information to detect and report inconsistencies and errors among a plurality of distributed network recording machines; and synchronizing packet stream information with configured distributed network recording machines using said recording system interconnect for validating the integrity of the recorded packets.
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Specification