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Packet Flow Switches (PFS) and TAPs

Deliver cost-effective and complete packet visibility while streamlining your monitoring architecture and reducing security risks.

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Strategic Packet Visibility for the Connected World

NETSCOUT’s disaggregated packet flow switch architecture enables strategic packet visibility that scales and operates dynamically, enabling pervasive visibility with NETSCOUT's InfiniStream® appliances (part of the nGenius® Enterprise Performance Management platform) or security systems, regardless of infrastructure modifications or changes in the source of network traffic. With TAPs and packet flow switches from NETSCOUT, service assurance, security assurance, and other monitoring tools can be physically anywhere and logically everywhere.

NETSCOUT TAPs and nGenius Packet Flow Switches

Dynamically Connect Any TAP Point in the Network to Any Tool

Scalable Architecture Provides Seamless Growth with Investment Protection

Easy-to-Use Management Platform Provides a Single Plane of Glass to the Monitoring Fabric

Inline External Powersafe TAPs (EPTs) power decryption and analysis of traffic for security applications.

Features

Scalable Network Visibility

As your networks and traffic volumes grow, so too should your readiness to respond to issues as they arise.
Active Inline Security

Inline packet flow switch deployments enable a pervasive defense architecture for inline and passive network protection.
Decryption for Inline or Passive Tools

Inline or passive decryption gives visibility in the face of pervasive encryption.
Eliminate Disruption to Traffic or Protocol Transactions

Simplify traffic acquisition and distribution for diverse network monitoring applications including performance management, service delivery management, and security monitoring.

The NETSCOUT nGenius® packet flow switch (PFS) and TAPs family enables multiple IT groups to aggregate, replicate, and manage the flows of traffic throughout the monitoring network, whether it’s for application performance monitoring, unified communications (UC), or security. Traffic management and security enablement capabilities ensure risk-free deployment of inline security and threat detection systems.

Scalable Network Visibility

As your networks and traffic volumes grow, so too should your readiness to respond to issues as they arise.

In the ongoing race to stay ahead of advanced persistent threats and and continually improve cybersecurity posture and capabilities, organizations must take a proactive approach. NETSCOUT packet flow switches provide critical visibility to combinations of security solutions, such as inline network protection and passive out-of-band intrusion detection appliances, as well as active payload analysis offerings.

PFS systems, in an active-protection deployment, increase reliability and simplify scale out. If any active inline security applications fail, they may be bypassed or traffic can be sent to another system. A unified visibility plane enables you to implement multiple security systems and create a pervasive defense architecture against a broad range of attacks.

Active Inline Security

Inline packet flow switch deployments enable a pervasive defense architecture for inline and passive network protection.

Purpose-built decryption/encryption provides low latency, high performance visibility into encrypted traffic. Inline and passive deployment models give architectural flexibility while supporting the latest encryption standards.

Decryption for Inline or Passive Tools

Inline or passive decryption gives visibility in the face of pervasive encryption.

By combining industry-leading NETSCOUT nGenius packet flow switches, passive and bypass TAPs, and our highly flexible nGenius PFS management platform, NETSCOUT simplifies traffic acquisition and distribution for diverse network monitoring applications including performance management, service delivery management, and security monitoring. Our robust family of passive TAPs provides InfiniStream appliances (powered by Adaptive Service Intelligence® (ASI) technology) and nGenius packet flow switches with full access to network traffic, while remaining transparent to the networking infrastructure and eliminating disruption to traffic or protocol transactions.

Eliminate Disruption to Traffic or Protocol Transactions

Simplify traffic acquisition and distribution for diverse network monitoring applications including performance management, service delivery management, and security monitoring.

nGenius Packet Flow Switches and TAPs for Security

Leveraging packet data for security purposes is key to getting detailed insights into cyberthreats and their activities on the network. By utilizing this pure data source, teams can reduce tool sprawl and drive greater action. With nGenius Packet Flow Switches and TAPs, teams can exercise powerful tool chaining, which intelligently directs traffic from tool to tool, for example, from the packet to the decryption appliance to the firewall to a sandbox, and so on, which allows traffic to be properly analyzed and understood. Additionally, nGenius PFS for security performs automatic health checks by sending a formed packet from the PFS platform to a tool in order to determine if it is performing properly based on what is or is not returned.

nGenius PFS is also fed by an External Powersafe TAP (EPT), which is positioned inline for security purposes. This helps provide raw packet data to the switch, allowing for the decryption and analysis of the information within for security functions.

PFS Products

nGenius 7000 Series Packet Flow Switches

Expand Your Visibility Fabric with Advanced Packet Broker Functionality

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nGenius 5000 Series Packet Flow Switches

The nGenius Packet Flow Switch (PFS) 5000 series models operate at speeds up to 400Gbps and easily scales for large-scale network monitoring needs.

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nGenius Decryption Appliance

Enable inspection of SSL/TLS encrypted traffic for use by passive or inline security and service assurance tools.

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nGenius Packet Flow eXtender Software

Packet Flow eXtender (PFX) is a software application enabling expert packet conditioning  for service assurance and cybersecurity monitoring. The solution is built on NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG.

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nGenius PFS Fabric Manager

nGenius PFS Fabric Manager is a central management pane of glass that enables administrators to easily configure, deploy, and troubleshoot monitoring networks.

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NETSCOUT TAPs

Simplified and reliable monitoring devices. You need robust monitoring devices that offer full access to network traffic while remaining transparent to the networking infrastructure.

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