Specifications

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Product Features 2-9
NAM / Traffic Analyzer v3.5 Tutorial
© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Features 2-9
NAM / Traffic Analyzer v3.5 Tutorial
NAM-1/2 Overview
Features
NAM-1/2 Overview
Features
• Multiple Data Sources for Analysis
• SPAN / RSPAN / ERSPAN / VACL / NetFlow
• Supervisor module (mini-RMON, VLAN stats)
• MIBs for storing statistics on data sources
• Full RMON 2 Capability
– Hosts statistics –Network Layer
– Conversation statistics –Network Layer
– Upper layer protocol distribution
• MIB Extensions
– ART (Application Response Time)
– DS-MON (Differentiated Services)
– Voice / Video
RMON2 stats available for
entire Data Source or per
VLAN/MPLS VRF, VCID, or
Label within the Data Source
RMON2 stats available for
entire Data Source or per
VLAN/MPLS VRF, VCID, or
Label within the Data Source
NAM-1/2 Features
The NAM-1 and NAM-2 occupy a single slot (except the Supervisor slot) in the chassis of Cisco® Catalyst®
6500 Series switches and Cisco 7600 Series routers. Once inserted into the host chassis, traffic from the
local switch can be copied (spanned) to the NAM for detailed analysis. The NAM effectively becomes a
SPAN port.
What is RSPAN?
A user often has a need to analyze traffic flows captured by SPAN on a box different from where they are
captured. Switches that support Remote SPAN (RSPAN) allow the user to capture the monitored traffic and
transmit it to a remote switch that has an embedded NAM, using RSPAN VLAN.
What is ERSPAN?
However, RSPAN suffers from a limitation that the traffic cannot be analyzed on a different L2 domain from
where it is sourced. Also, the L2 domain should be confined to Cisco switches due to special properties of
RSPAN VLAN that are supported by Cisco switches only. ERSPAN (encapsulated SPAN) provides a
solution to this problem. The ERSPAN feature allows the user to capture traffic and encapsulate it in a
GRE/IP packet. This encapsulated packet can then be sent through any L3 network as a GRE tunneled
packet.
Other Features
For increased flexibility, VACL can be used in place of a SPAN session as the data stream source. The
NAM-2 includes a second SPAN destination to allow for increased monitoring capabilities. NetFlow can also
be used as an independent data source (does not limit the use of SPAN or VACL).
Included with the NAMs is an embedded, Web-based Traffic Analyzer, which provides full-scale remote
monitoring and troubleshooting accessible through a Web browser. Analysis is done through the use of many
different MIBs including RMON, ART (Application Response Time), DS-MON (Differentiated Services), and
VoIP (Voice over IP).
Using the integrated NAM solution, Network Managers gain valuable insight into their networks with both
real-time and historical application usage for performance monitoring and trending, network planning, fault
isolation, and troubleshooting purposes.