NetFlow FAQ?

[Hondy]

Hi

I read a little about Cisco NetFlow - is this a standard feature or do you have to pay for it?

Is only for routers or does it exist on switches and firewalls?

Whats the best way to view the data?

Thanks

 

[ADB100]

I think it is standard on all IOS routers. With regards to switches it is only on Catalyst 4500 (but only with Supervisors that have NetFlow hardware) and Catalyst 6500's running Integrated (Native) IOS. The routers don't keep the data and rely on exporting it to a NetFlow collector. There are a few commercial applications out there as well as some freeware Perl script based ones as well. My personal favourite is ManageEngine NetFlow Analyser from AdventNet. You can download a fully functioning copy from their website, however it has a 30-day limit. After that it will only monitor two interfaces.

http://manageengine.adventnet.com/products/netflow/index.html

Andy

 

[Hondy]

hmm ok thanks, snmp it is then

 

[burtsbees]

I don't think it is standard on all IOS's. What platform?

burt

 

[ADB100]

Don't be put off by it as it is an excellent tool. Have a look at the online demo on AdventNet's website. This will show you what information it generates.
I have a Cisco 877 ADSL router at home and use the Demo version of NetFlow Analyser as it still monitors 2 interfaces when the demo license expires. The latest version supports NBAR & displays QoS statistics.

Andy

 

[lerdalt]

This is one of those things where I think the commercial products are well worth the money. I spent days trying to get some of the open source stuff to work, and was never able to get it all quite right.

I did however like the output from nflowd (I think that was the process) as a collector. It was all the reporters that caused me nothing but grief.

I did right a script with a web front end that will telnet to the router and run a "show ip flow top" command and bring back the results. It's not great, but for quick hit stuff it's handy.

 

[DallasBPF]

We are using the Netflow thats in the link above... love it, has the ability to link your multiple sites with a google map. That being just one of the cool features of it, it gives a really nice GUI to drill down into your WAN for input/output. Not that impressed with their OpManager though, not sure exactly what pushes me away from it, but for some reason I just don't care for it.

Been trying to get the VQ manager up and going, has anyone actually used it before?

Dallas, Texas
Telecommunications
CCNA, Net+
Working on MCSA, Convergence+, CCVP

 

[brianinms]

This is what I use.

http://www.plixer.com/products/free-netflow.php

 

[Hondy]

thanks for all the responses guys, maybe I will investigate it further.

I would like to know why its not on all cisco interfaces, it sounds really cool. It would only be any use if I could use it on all of the gear though I think.

Cheers!