SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer EDITOR’S CHOICE The leading network traffic analyzer.Here’s our list of the best NetFlow analyzers & collectors: Its knowledge of the IP protocols enables it to interpret packets and work in terms of flows. NetFlow thus only handles IP, focusing on OSI model Layers 3 and 4. NetFlow is stateful and works in terms of the abstraction called a flow: that is, a sequence of packets that constitutes a conversation between a source and a destination, analogous to a call or connection.Ī NetFlow exporter device collects data on the IP traffic entering/exiting the device it inspects packets and groups them into flows by inspecting particular fields: the source and destination addresses, protocols, ports, etc.ĭata on observed flows is rolled up from the packets and cached locally (in the flow cache), then it’s periodically exported to the collector based on active and inactive timeouts.

NetFlow is a network protocol developed by Cisco that notes and reports on all IP conversations passing through an interface.

Netflow analyzers