NetOptics

The emergence of 10 Gigabit speeds in the networking market means a steady increase in complex, multi-protocol traffic. With voice, data, and video all sharing the same network links, network traffic for performance and security issues is more important than ever before. Organizations recognize the need to build monitoring access into the architecture of 10G networks from day one, and Net Optics Director xStream is the ideal foundation for a 10G Monitoring Access Platform (MAP).

Director xStream is an access switch that aggregates, regenerates, filters, and load balances monitoring traffic. With twenty-four 10G/1G network/monitor ports in 1U of rack space, Director xStream empowers the NOC to share a pool of monitoring tools across a large number of network links. If more network or monitor ports are required, any port can be used for either network or monitor. Additionally, using simplex cables you can effectively double your ports to support 48 connections: 24 network inputs and 24 tool outputs. Moreover, all of Director xStream's 24  ports support 1G SFP as well as 10G SFP+ transceivers. The use of external Taps allows Director xStream to process in-line link connections.

Load Balancing

Load Balancing splits the traffic into multiple streams so two or more tools working in parallel can process the data. Director xStream supports static Load Balancing that takes the traffic from any network port or aggregated set of network ports and distributes it to two, three, four, or any number of available monitor ports. IP address, port, protocol, VLAN, and MAC address, or any other packet header field can be used to balance the load.

TapFlow™ Filtering

Your pool of monitoring tools can handle more traffic, more links, and more protocols by using the Director xStream TapFlow's filtering technology to send each tool only the traffic-of-interest for its particular purpose. TapFlow's hardware filtering engine processes traffic at full 10 Gbps line speeds while filtering the traffic by protocol, IP address, TCP/UDP port, VLAN, and more. Thousands of filters are supported, making it easy to meet any monitoring challenge.

Port Tagging

Traffic aggregated from different links can look like a single, indistinguishable data stream to your monitoring tools. By tagging each packet with the port it arrived on, a tool simply looks at the tag and sorts it out into separate streams. xStream provides VLAN Doctoring allowing you to manage and manipulative your VLAN environment.

Aggregation, Regeneration, and Switching

Director xStream provides one-to-one, many-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many mappings of network links and Span ports to monitor ports. Traffic from any set of network links and Span ports can be aggregated into a single stream and copied to any monitor port. In addition, the same aggregated traffic stream can be regenerated to multiple monitor ports at the same time, enabling different groups to monitor the same data without conflicts. Multiple distinct aggregation and regeneration operations can function simultaneously without impacting processing speed or data integrity, even for fully utilized 10-Gbps ports.

High Availability with State Synchronization 

As the Network becomes critical for achieving business success, SLAs continue to demand near 100% uptime. xBalancer—like all three products in the xStream Family—delivers High Availability (HA) features to provide continuous monitoring visibility to your tools. State synchronization allows for two units to be deployed in a HA configuration to exchange globals, link fault date, device timeDate zone, filter rules, heartbeat and load balancing group settings. Customers can deploy fully redundant security and monitoring tools in both in-line and out-of-band configurations—even if those tools were not designed with high availability features of their own.

Data Rate & Media Conversion

SFP+ ports enable Director xStream to support both 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps links and tools, with any type of copper or fiber media. Just plug in the appropriate SFP (1G) or SFP+ (10G) transceiver modules to match the interfaces of your links and tools. Director xStream automatically performs the data rate and media type conversions. Your CAPEX is lowered because you can apply tools to links with dissimilar media rather than purchasing new tools. For example, traffic from a 10-Gbps fiber link can be filtered or load balanced to multiple 1-Gbps copper-interface monitoring tools; and multiple 1-Gbps links can be aggregated to a 10-Gbps monitoring tool.

Network Intelligence

Boost Network Intelligence with dozens of statistics. Key statistics include packet size distribution, priority level distribution, unicast, broadcast, multicast, IPv4, and IPv6. Wonder how much IPv6 traffic you have on your network? Just check the IPv6 statistics counters. All statistics can be exported as CSV files from the WebUI or via SNMP.

Easy Configuration

The management software provides a WebUI and command-line interface (CLI) for setting Director xStream parameters and filters and checking status and traffic statistics with a few keystrokes. The CLI can be accessed locally through an RS232 serial port, or remotely with a secure SSH connection. It is fully backward compatible with the Director CLI. SNMPv3, v2, and v1 are also supported.

Dual Power Supplies

Director xStream has two independent power supplies that provide fault tolerance: If one power supply loses power, the unit continues operating on the remaining supply. The power supply modules are hot swappable, so your monitoring capability does not need to be interrupted if a power supply needs replacement. Both universal AC and -48VDC (Telco) models are available.

Security and Reliability

Director xStream is a secure and reliable appliance that delivers unsurpassed monitoring access flexibility. It handles network traffic entirely in hardware, so there is no software to be loaded, maintained or compromised. Configuration variables and filters can be changed only through the device's management port, so the system is immune to viruses, worms, and other attacks that pass through the Director xStream’s network ports.

Doing Our Part
Net Optics is dedicated to ensuring user safety, and developing products that are environmentally friendly. Director xStream adheres to UL and CE safety certifications; FCC, VCCI, and C-Tick EMC certifications; and RoHS and WEEE environmental certifications.