Net Optics Director - Manual (Page 5)

Director
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
Net Optics Director is a key component for building a comprehensive, consolidated monitoring infrastructure for both
network management and security. It extends the range of visibility for data monitoring across converged data and
digital voice networks, while eliminating monitoring port contention and minimizing the number of tools needed to
optimally manage the network.
A single Director device enables you to tap into multiple network links, and direct their traffic to multiple monitoring
ports. It includes aggregation and regeneration functions, so the link-to-monitor-port mapping can be one-to-one,
one-to-many, many-to-one, or many-to-many. In addition, it provides filtering: Each Monitor port can be programmed
to receive only traffic meeting user-defined filter criteria based on protocol, source and destination addresses, and
other criteria. This filtering capability enables specific types of traffic such as voice over IP (VoIP) to be directed to
particular monitoring tools.
Matrix switching, aggregation, and regeneration
Each Director chassis supports up to 12 in-line network links or 28 Span ports. For monitoring, up to 14 ports are
provided. Network and Span ports can be aggregated and regenerated to output ports in almost any combination.
Modular design
Director is modular to provide configuration flexibility.
Director Network Modules (DNMs) support SX (multi-mode) and LX (single-mode) fiber links and 10/100/1000 •
Copper links.
Each DNM provides either 6 in-line network links or 12 Span ports. •
The Director Chassis includes two DNM slots; they can be populated with the same or different DNM types. •
Ten 1-Gigabit Monitor ports are SFP-based, accepting any mix of Copper, SX, and LX interface modules. •
Four 10-Gigabit ports are XFP-based, accepting SR, LR, and ER interface modules. •
Flexible 10 Gigabit support
Four 10 Gigabit ports can be configured as Network, Span, or Monitor ports. They can be configured for the same or
different functions. Traffic from multiple 1-Gigabit Network or Span ports can be aggregated to a 10-Gigabit Monitor
port. Conversely, traffic from a 10 Gigabit Network or Span port can be dis-aggregated to multiple 1 Gigabit Monitor
ports through appropriate filtering. For example, traffic from different IP address ranges could be directed to separate
Monitor ports.
Expandable
Two 10 Gigabit ports on the rear of the unit enable daisy-chaining up to ten Director chassis to expand the number of
available ports, for a total of 380 ports in a fully expanded system (when available).
Monitor port-based filtering
Director avoids the confusion of pre-filtering versus post-filtering by strictly tying filtering to the Monitor ports. Each
Monitor port can be configured to have traffic from any number of Network or Span ports directed to it, and each Monitor
port applies up to 30 protocol-, address-, and utilization-based filters to the traffic.