Q: How do you gain cost-effective, pervasive visibility into your network?

A: By using Arbor Peakflow SP to leverage IP flow information.

IP flow is a protocol used for collecting IP traffic information from network routers and switches. Many networking vendors embed IP flow technology into their products. Some of these vendors offer proprietary versions of the IP flow protocol, such as Cisco NetFlow, Juniper cFlow, Extreme Network and Foundary Network sFlow. Others such as Nortel utilize the industry-standard version of the protocol called IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX). In all cases, IP flow allows network components to capture information about traffic flows—streams of data that share a common source, destination and protocol. For each flow, IP flow captures the source and destination IP address and port; the type of protocol the traffic uses; the type of service being provided; and the logical interfaces for the flow.

Arbor Peakflow SP – Leveraging IP Flow to Manage and Secure Networks
Arbor Peakflow SP gathers and analyzes IP flow data. Using this data, Peakflow SP builds a model of normal network behavior. Subsequently, Peakflow SP alerts network operators to abnormalities or anomalies in their network traffic that could be due to simple misconfigurations or new service turn-up. More importantly, Peakflow SP can also detect network threats such as DDoS attacks based upon the IP flow information. By using Arbor’s flow correlation and anomaly detection capabilities, network operators can manage and secure their networks, troubleshoot and pinpoint network attacks, monitor users and applications, and report on network performance and security issues.

Using IP Flow to Reduce Costs and Generate Revenue
Peakflow SP provides a cost-effective approach to pervasive network visibility. That’s because it captures information about traffic flows by leveraging the IP flow technology that is already embedded in a network’s existing devices, rather than requiring additional hardware-based probes that are expensive to purchase and maintain. As a result, Peakflow SP helps organizations increase the ROI in their network infrastructure. Peakflow SP also reduces network transit costs by enabling more informed routing decisions based on clear visibility at the peering and transit edges. In addition, Peakflow SP is a comprehensive threat management system that can detect, surgically mitigate and report on DDoS attacks. Along with saving money, this threat management functionality can improve profitability by providing the foundation for new, revenue-generating, managed DDoS protection services.