IXIa 10/100/1000 Dual Port Aggregator Tap Net Optics

Buffering Prevents Lost Data - The Dual Port Aggregator Tap is designed to handle the combined traffic of a single full-duplex link. Normally, the traffic should be below the receiving capacity of the NIC, that is, less than 10, 100 or 1000 Mbps. When the traffic queue exceeds the capacity of the NIC, the Tap buffers the overflow of up to 512 megabytes per side of the full-duplex connection. For your convenience, the buffers clear automatically when the traffic volume falls below the receiving capacity of the NIC. For example, if there is a traffic burst and a tap connected to a 100 Mbps network port on a monitoring device is now receiving 140 Mbps of traffic, the Tap buffers data until the burst is over. The Tap then sends the buffered data to the monitoring device until the buffer is cleared.

Simple to Deploy - Net Optic Dual Port Aggregator Tap is a simple plug-and-play solution addressing the fact that many monitoring systems, including most software based solutions, only offer a single channel NIC, limiting full-duplex visibility. While adding a second NIC can help maintain data integrity and visibility, there is a tradeoff in flexibility and ease-of-use. An operating system and NICs that enable binding are often required to achieve the same functionality and the Dual Port Aggregator Tap. In contrast, the Dual Port Aggregator Tap requires no additional components or configuration on the monitoring devices.

Better than Span Ports - In the past, span ports were occasionally used to aggregate tapped traffic. However, in addition to other shortcomings of span port monitoring, span ports support very limited buffering and can simply drop data during bursts. The generous buffers of the Dual Port Aggregator Tap prevent data loss in these conditions.

Security and Visibility - Without an IP address, monitoring devices are isolated from the network, dramatically reducing their exposure to attacks. However, the monitoring device connected to the Tap still sees all full-duplex traffic as if it were in-line, including Layer 1 and Layer 2 errors.

Simply Plug It In - Full-duplex monitoring to a single NIC is a snap with the Aggregator Tap. All network and monitoring cables necessary for plug-and-play deployment are included with the Tap. Everything you need, right out of the box.

Reliability - For extra uptime protection, Net Optics Taps offer redundant power connections. Should the primary power source fail, the Tap automatically switches to the backup power source.