The Pros & Cons of Flow & Packet Data - Part 1
February 22, 2022

Jay Botelho
LiveAction

Share this

Designing and maintaining a network that delivers uninterrupted performance is a crucial function of most NetOps teams. But with new technology challenges around cloud and software defined architectures, many struggle to optimize and troubleshoot the high-performance networks of today.

According to a recent survey from LiveAction, 20% of NetOps teams are focused on improving application performance across the network, 19% are focused on improving network monitoring, and 15% are focused on improving performance at remote sites. Doing this effectively requires visibility into flow and packet data. When aggregated and analyzed properly, NetOps teams can gain valuable insights and operate more predictable, high-performing networks.

NetOps teams traditionally rely on network performance monitoring solutions to collect this data, but what are the pros and cons of flow and packet data and how is it used to troubleshoot networks?

First, let's quickly define flow and packet data. The goal of network flow monitoring is to tally, log, and analyze all network traffic as it passes through routers and other network devices, essentially creating a summary model of network usage. Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) is a process commonly used to inspect the payload content of each packet to make determinations about whether to act on that packet by rejecting it or allowing it to pass through the network. DPI can also be used to passively collect the traffic traversing the network to add visibility and troubleshooting capabilities into network monitoring solutions.

Packet capture is also used to store a mirror copy of network packets for detailed network analysis, using forensic search and filtering. The stored mirror copy can later be examined for a particular time frame, when new performance, security, or forensic incidents arise. When network messages are packetized (broken into pieces), they are then routed over the internet to other connections to be reassembled at their destination. Each packet is generally organized into three segments regardless of size — the header, payload and footer. As packets flow through the network routers, their headers are read and "fingerprinted" based on five to seven packet header attributes.

Today, most routers have some brand of xFlow export feature that allows flow data to be sent from the router to a collector and analyzer. Netflow is the de facto industry flow protocol (originating from Cisco), but other popular protocols include IPFIX, J-Flow, and sFlow. Source and Destination addresses tell who the originator and receiver of the traffic are. Ports and Class of Service tell what applications are in use and their traffic priority. Device interfaces tell how devices are utilizing traffic. By tallying packets, the total traffic flow amount can be determined. Timestamps are useful for placing flows in time and determining their rates. And finally, Application and Network Latency provide measurements about how long each transaction takes.

What are the pros of flow and packet data?

First, flow data is simple to set up. Most routers and switches come standard with the xFlow protocol feature. This means you get vendor-agnostic visibility across just about every network segment. Capturing flow data also requires no extra cabling or equipment, and in most cases no extra licensing, providing excellent network visibility essentially "for free." It also has low network bandwidth overhead since flow data approximates only 0.5% of network traffic, and no clients are necessary on end systems.

For Packet data, it's valuable because it contains every bit of information for every transaction on the network. It allows NetOps to understand bandwidth usage by analyzing details of application and user behavior.

Excessive bandwidth utilization often occurs over very small time periods, typically referred to as "microbursts" since these event happen over microseconds to milliseconds. These events are hidden by the typical reporting rates of xFlow data, but are easily exposed by packet data.

Packet data is also ideal for detailed monitoring and troubleshooting on critical applications, servers and connections. This helps with answering critical questions, like whether the network or the application is the root cause of a problem. Packet data provide specific, interpacket timing, and can expose critical data in payloads that provide proof of application problems. Packet data also offer significant name discovery, such as application names, file names, website URLs, and hostnames, which can be used for both detailed troubleshooting and reporting on custom, web-based applications.

Go to: The Pros and Cons of Flow and Packet Data - Part 2

Jay Botelho is Senior Director of Product Management at LiveAction
Share this

The Latest

September 25, 2023

A long-running study of DevOps practices ... suggests that any historical gains in MTTR reduction have now plateaued. For years now, the time it takes to restore services has stayed about the same: less than a day for high performers but up to a week for middle-tier teams and up to a month for laggards. The fact that progress is flat despite big investments in people, tools and automation is a cause for concern ...

September 21, 2023

Companies implementing observability benefit from increased operational efficiency, faster innovation, and better business outcomes overall, according to 2023 IT Trends Report: Lessons From Observability Leaders, a report from SolarWinds ...

September 20, 2023

IT leaders are driving an increasing number of automation initiatives as a way to stay competitive, reduce costs and scale as they navigate an unpredictable social and economic environment, according to the 2023 State of Automation in IT survey conducted by Jitterbit ...

September 19, 2023

Customer loyalty is changing as retailers get increasingly competitive. More than 75% of consumers say they would end business with a company after a single bad customer experience. This means that just one price discrepancy, inventory mishap or checkout issue in a physical or digital store, could have customers running out to the next store that can provide them with better service. Retailers must be able to predict business outages in advance, and act proactively before an incident occurs, impacting customer experience ...

September 18, 2023
Digital transformation is key to ensuring companies keep up with the competitive market landscape. Putting digital at the core of a business can significantly reduce operating expenses and inefficiencies. However, this process often means changing the way internal teams work with one another. To help with the transition, this blog offers chief experience officers (CXOs) advice on how to lead a successful digital transformation project ...
September 14, 2023

Earlier this year, New Relic conducted a study on observability ... The 2023 Observability Forecast reveals observability's impact on the lives of technical professionals and businesses' bottom lines. Here are 10 key takeaways from the forecast ...

September 13, 2023
On September 10, MGM Resorts experienced what it called a "cybersecurity issue" that had a major impact on the company's systems, showing how cyberattacks can bring down applications, ultimately causing problems for a company in many ways ...
September 12, 2023

Only 33% of executives are "very confident" in their ability to operate in a public cloud environment, according to the 2023 State of CloudOps report from NetApp. This represents an increase from 2022 when only 21% reported feeling very confident ...

September 11, 2023

The majority of organizations across Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) breached over the last year had personally identifiable information (PII) compromised, but most have not yet modified their data management policies, according to the Cybersecurity and PII Report from ManageEngine ...

September 07, 2023

A large majority of organizations employ more than one cloud automation solution, and this practice creates significant challenges that are resulting in delays and added costs for businesses, according to Why companies lose efficiency and compliance with cloud automation solutions from Broadcom ...