Systems and methods for implementing a traffic visibility network

摘要

A method of packet processing, includes: providing a plurality of network appliances that form a cluster, wherein two or more of the plurality of network appliances in the cluster are located at different geographical locations, are communicatively coupled via a private network or an Internet, and are configured to collectively perform out-of-band packet processing; receiving a packet by one of the network appliances in the cluster; processing the packet using two or more of the plurality of the appliances in the cluster; and passing the packet to one or more network monitoring tools after the packet is processed.

主权项

1. A method of packet processing, comprising:
providing a plurality of network appliances that form a cluster, wherein two or more of the plurality of network appliances in the cluster are located at different geographical locations, are communicatively coupled via a private network or an Internet; receiving a packet from a network by one of the network appliances in the cluster, the network including a transmitting node that transmits the packet and a receiving node that is an intended recipient of the packet transmitted from the transmitting node; processing the packet using two or more of the plurality of the appliances in the cluster; passing the packet to one or more network monitoring tools after the packet is processed, the one or more network monitoring tools being configured to perform packet analysis, and being different from the intended recipient of the packet; and determining a state of a source that is associated with the packet; wherein:
the cluster of the plurality of network appliances comprises a filter for determining which of the one or more network monitoring tools to pass the packet;if the determined state of the source has a first state value, then the cluster passes the packet to at least a first one of the one or more network monitoring tools;and if the determined state of the source has a second state value, then the cluster passes the packet to a second one, or the second one and a third one, of the one or more network monitoring tools.