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How a Tap or SPAN Choice Impacts APM

Keith Bromley

For application performance monitoring (APM), many in IT tend to focus a significant amount of their time on the tool that performs the analysis. Unfortunately for them, the battle is won or lost at the data access level. If you don’t have the right data, you can’t fix the problem correctly.

This viewpoint is backed up by an APMdigest post back in August where Jim Frey cited some critical survey research. The research showed that "26% reported that their biggest challenge with incident response is that data exists, but they can’t access or analyze it easily." Key point – you need access to the right data at the right time to solve your problems.

This begs the question — how do I get the right data access?

The best source of data is from a network tap. A tap makes a complete copy of ALL the data passing through it. It is a passive device, so it does not alter any of the data and has a negligible effect on transmission time.

Taps are great because they are "set and forget." You simply plug the device into the network with a one-time disruption and you are done. No programming is required. Best of all, you can place taps anywhere in the network that you need data from — ingress, egress, remote offices, etc.

The one drawback to using taps is that if you install lots of them (which you will want to do), the amount of data feeds can overload the input ports to your APM tools. However, this issue is easily resolved by installing a network packet broker (NPB) to aggregate the data from the taps, filter the data as necessary, and then send that data on to the APM tool. This eliminates the overcrowding of the data ports on your APM tool.

An alternative to a tap is to use a mirroring port (also referred to as a SPAN port) off of your network switches. However, this is not recommended. One reason is that these ports are active devices, i.e. they can materially change data packet characteristics as the packets flow through the device. This is especially important when using data from these ports to diagnose problems.

In addition, bad packets (i.e. malformed packets) are dropped by the SPAN port. This ends up giving you a "digital view" of the situation, i.e. everything is fine and then there is a problem. Missing packets that could show degradation prior to data loss (which could have been useful to create a quicker diagnosis) is missing, along with any context as to what was happening before the problem began.

In the end, optimum data capture can be achieved using a tap and NPB. This results in a faster mean time to repair (MTTR).

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How a Tap or SPAN Choice Impacts APM

Keith Bromley

For application performance monitoring (APM), many in IT tend to focus a significant amount of their time on the tool that performs the analysis. Unfortunately for them, the battle is won or lost at the data access level. If you don’t have the right data, you can’t fix the problem correctly.

This viewpoint is backed up by an APMdigest post back in August where Jim Frey cited some critical survey research. The research showed that "26% reported that their biggest challenge with incident response is that data exists, but they can’t access or analyze it easily." Key point – you need access to the right data at the right time to solve your problems.

This begs the question — how do I get the right data access?

The best source of data is from a network tap. A tap makes a complete copy of ALL the data passing through it. It is a passive device, so it does not alter any of the data and has a negligible effect on transmission time.

Taps are great because they are "set and forget." You simply plug the device into the network with a one-time disruption and you are done. No programming is required. Best of all, you can place taps anywhere in the network that you need data from — ingress, egress, remote offices, etc.

The one drawback to using taps is that if you install lots of them (which you will want to do), the amount of data feeds can overload the input ports to your APM tools. However, this issue is easily resolved by installing a network packet broker (NPB) to aggregate the data from the taps, filter the data as necessary, and then send that data on to the APM tool. This eliminates the overcrowding of the data ports on your APM tool.

An alternative to a tap is to use a mirroring port (also referred to as a SPAN port) off of your network switches. However, this is not recommended. One reason is that these ports are active devices, i.e. they can materially change data packet characteristics as the packets flow through the device. This is especially important when using data from these ports to diagnose problems.

In addition, bad packets (i.e. malformed packets) are dropped by the SPAN port. This ends up giving you a "digital view" of the situation, i.e. everything is fine and then there is a problem. Missing packets that could show degradation prior to data loss (which could have been useful to create a quicker diagnosis) is missing, along with any context as to what was happening before the problem began.

In the end, optimum data capture can be achieved using a tap and NPB. This results in a faster mean time to repair (MTTR).

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In the final part of APMdigest's 2025 Predictions Series, industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025 ...

E-commerce is set to skyrocket with a 9% rise over the next few years ... To thrive in this competitive environment, retailers must identify digital resilience as their top priority. In a world where savvy shoppers expect 24/7 access to online deals and experiences, any unexpected downtime to digital services can lead to significant financial losses, damage to brand reputation, abandoned carts with designer shoes, and additional issues ...

Efficiency is a highly-desirable objective in business ... We're seeing this scenario play out in enterprises around the world as they continue to struggle with infrastructures and remote work models with an eye toward operational efficiencies. In contrast to that goal, a recent Broadcom survey of global IT and network professionals found widespread adoption of these strategies is making the network more complex and hampering observability, leading to uptime, performance and security issues. Let's look more closely at these challenges ...

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Broadcom

The 2025 Catchpoint SRE Report dives into the forces transforming the SRE landscape, exploring both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Let's break down the key findings and what they mean for SRE professionals and the businesses relying on them ...

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AWS is a cloud-based computing platform known for its reliability, scalability, and flexibility. However, as helpful as its comprehensive infrastructure is, disparate elements and numerous siloed components make it difficult for admins to visualize the cloud performance in detail. It requires meticulous monitoring techniques and deep visibility to understand cloud performance and analyze operational efficiency in detail to ensure seamless cloud operations ...

Imagine a future where software, once a complex obstacle, becomes a natural extension of daily workflow — an intuitive, seamless experience that maximizes productivity and efficiency. This future is no longer a distant vision but a reality being crafted by the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence ...