Net Optics announced the general availability of two significant advances.

Phantom Virtualization Tap Version 3.0 for ESXi 5.x:

- Extends kernel level monitoring to ESXi 5.0 and 5.1

- Enables intelligent, continuous monitoring through deep VMware vCenter integration

- Offers intuitive, click-through deployment and administration with a newly designed GUI and management console

Phantom HD Version 3.0:

- Enables high-density, high-throughput network monitoring in environments using advanced tunneling protocols

- Performs traffic deduplication to ensure that tools inspect only a single copy of each relevant session

- Decapsulates and strips protocols to allow optimal tool utilization—both physical and virtual

Phantom Virtualization Tap Version 3.0 offers kernel-level monitoring for vSphere 5.x. This capability offers efficient, non-disruptive, VMware-certified software for monitoring traffic in virtual environments.

This solution is a major resource for customers running VMware ESXi 5.x who require visibility into East-West traffic between virtual servers.

Phantom 3.0 addresses the growing “black hole,” which keeps inter-VM and cross-blade traffic invisible to network monitoring tools, leaving the network vulnerable to threats, non-compliance, loss of availability and impaired performance.

The Phantom Virtualization Tap aggregates traffic from multiple VMs and delivers raw network data to monitoring tools.

“Our latest version strengthens control of the virtual environment substantially, helping customers stay secure and audit reliably for compliance,” says Ran Nahmias, Net Optics Senior Director, Virtualization & Cloud Solutions. “This open community Tap is v-switch and tool agnostic. It reinforces and extends the value of our customers’ physical tool investments while requiring no changes and creating no single point of failure.”

Phantom HD 3.0 incorporates advanced new functionality, performing packet management, tunnel decapsulation and network traffic management, all on a single device that addresses not only virtualized/converged environments but physical environments as well.

Phantom HD 3.0 aggregates inter-VM traffic that has been tunneled out of ESX hosts encapsulated in sophisticated new protocols. The drawback to those protocols is that they often make traffic invisible to monitoring tools—laying the network open to threats and intrusion. The purpose-built Phantom HD appliance swiftly decapsulates that traffic and sends it on in raw form to the tools, which can now perform their vital security functions unimpeded.

Phantom HD 3.0 also resolves a persistent concern of customers whose networks are virtualizing or whose architecture employs complex tunneling technologies—namely removal of duplicate traffic captured in various areas of the network. Phantom HD 3.0 deduplicates and reduces the costly “packet payload overhead” placed on these tools, optimizing their performance and value.

“This solution eliminates feeding customer tools duplicate captures by “de-duping” the traffic,” says Nahmias. “Now the tools are able to process only a single copy of that traffic of interest—optimizing and preserving a customer’s network and tooling resources.”

Both Phantom Virtualization Tap 3.0 and Phantom HD 3.0 are available now. Phantom HD ships as a physical or virtual appliance, deployable in all areas of the hybrid data center.