Network Packet Brokers in Networking: NPBs Explained

Network Packet Brokers are essential elements that help achieve the goals of network visibility and optimization, ensuring secure and efficient data transfer. With the exponential growth of transmitted data, managing, monitoring, and safeguarding network traffic have become increasingly daunting. Enter network packet brokers (NPBs), offering a solution to this evolving challenge. This article will provide a detailed introduction to NPBs, aiming to assist network administrators in making informed decisions.

   

What is NPB in a Data Center, and Why Do You Need it?

  

Network Packet Brokers Definition

      

Network Packet Broker (NPB) facilitates network traffic access and analysis, also known as "network packets." Essentially acting as managers of network traffic, NPBs gather data from various network links, filter it, and then distribute each packet to the appropriate monitoring tool. This process enhances the efficiency of network monitoring and security tools by providing them with refined data sourced from different parts of the network.

Why Do You Need NPBs? 

 

Network packet brokers (NPBs) play a pivotal intermediary role within data center network infrastructure. They facilitate the efficient flow of traffic between the network and monitoring/security tools, ensuring that data is directed appropriately for processing.

In data centers, where a substantial volume of traffic is handled daily, NPBs are indispensable. They contribute to the smooth operation of the network, guaranteeing that security and monitoring tools receive the necessary data. Without NPBs, network congestion could occur, impacting the data flow to monitoring and security tools, thereby compromising their ability to identify and mitigate security threats.

 

What Problems Can Packet Brokers Solve?

    

Network packet brokers address several common challenges encountered by data center administrators:

 

Tool Overload: Monitoring and security tools may become overwhelmed when inundated with excessive data.

 

Eliminating Blind Spots: By offering visibility into network traffic, NPBs eradicate blind spots within the network. This enhanced visibility enables administrators to promptly identify and respond to security incidents.

 

Managing Tool Sprawl: Data centers often deploy numerous monitoring and security tools, posing a management challenge. Network packet brokers streamline this process by consolidating tools and directing traffic to the appropriate tool, thus reducing complexity and enhancing efficiency.

 

Alleviating Traffic Congestion: In the absence of a network packet broker, network traffic can be congested, resulting in diminished performance and potential downtime.

 

Common Applications of NPB

  

Data Center Monitoring: Data centers typically deal with vast amounts of network traffic to support applications and services. In this setting, NPBs are frequently employed for load balancing traffic, filtering packets, and steering traffic to multiple monitoring tools to ensure high performance and availability.

    

Cloud Environment Monitoring: As organizations migrate workloads to the cloud, monitoring cloud environments becomes crucial. In the cloud, NPBs can be utilized to manage and optimize traffic within the cloud, ensuring performance and security of cloud applications.

How Does Network Packet Brokers in Networking Work?

 

Network Packet Brokers (NPBs) function by capturing network packets from diverse network links, such as switches or routers, utilizing their network interfaces. These devices can concurrently manage multiple network links, facilitating the aggregation of traffic from various sources. Upon capturing packets, NPBs employ filtering and forwarding rules to determine the appropriate destination for each packet based on criteria like protocol type, source/destination IP addresses, port numbers, or application-level characteristics.

  

Apart from filtering, NPBs can execute additional operations on captured packets, including deduplication (eliminating duplicate packets), packet slicing (retaining relevant packet segments), and packet modification (altering specific fields within packets). These operations serve to enhance the efficiency of monitoring tools and alleviate their processing burden. Subsequently, processed packets, by filtering and manipulation rules, are directed to the relevant monitoring tools. This can be accomplished through diverse methods such as load balancing (distributing packets among multiple tools), tunneling (encapsulating packets in a distinct protocol for remote tool delivery), or time division multiplexing (sequentially routing packets to different tools).

  

In essence, Network Packet Brokers serve as centralized and intelligent traffic distributors, ensuring that pertinent packets are routed to appropriate monitoring and security tools. By optimizing network traffic flow, NPBs enhance the efficiency and efficacy of these tools, empowering organizations to proficiently monitor and safeguard their network infrastructure.

NPBs vs. TAPs: What are Differences in Application?

 

Network security teams utilize TAPs and NPBs to monitor potential threats and intrusions within the network. TAPs are employed to provide complete visibility, while NPBs are used for advanced traffic processing and intelligent distribution, enabling more efficient responses during real-time threat detection. But what are the differences between TAPs and NPBs?

  

Purpose and Function

NetworkTraffic Access Points are passive devices offering non-intrusive, full-duplex access to network traffic. They replicate all traffic traversing a designated link or segment, channeling it to monitoring or analysis tools for examination.

 

In contrast, NPBs are active devices with multifunctional capabilities encompassing traffic aggregation, filtering, load balancing, packet modification, and intelligent traffic routing. They collect network traffic from various origins, enforce policies/rules, and dispatch the traffic to suitable monitoring or security tools.

 

Approach to Handling Data

NPBs engage in active processing of network traffic, executing tasks like aggregation, filtering, load balancing, and directing traffic to diverse destination devices or tools. NPBs possess the capability to alter packet headers, manipulate data, and fulfill specific requirements.

 

On the other hand, network TAPs adopt a passive approach to network traffic management. They capture network traffic through duplication without modifying the original data. TAPs refrain from altering traffic and solely convey it to destination devices or tools for analysis.

   

Effect on Network Traffic

Network Packet Brokers play a strategic role in network traffic management, employing methods like distribution, load balancing, and filtering to guarantee that each tool or device receives essential data. They streamline traffic distribution to optimize resource usage, avert congestion, and mitigate bottlenecks.

  

In contrast, network Traffic Access Points specialize in capturing network traffic without impeding its transmission. TAPs deliver comprehensive traffic visibility, enabling uninterrupted monitoring and analysis of all traffic with no adverse effects.

  

Influence on Network Management

Network Packet Brokers are primarily focused on handling and managing network traffic, optimizing traffic distribution and management, while network TAPs are focused on providing complete visibility into network traffic for monitoring, security analysis, and compliance. They serve different roles in network management and monitoring, complementing each other to ensure efficient network operations and effective monitoring and security practices.

 

What Factors Should You Consider When Choosing a Packet Broker?

  

When selecting Network Packet Brokers (NPBs), several crucial considerations come into play:

   

Capacity for Handling Network Traffic

It's essential to ensure that NPBs can manage the maximum volume of network traffic without dropping packets or introducing latency issues.

  

Filtering Functionality

NPBs should possess robust filtering capabilities, allowing for the classification of traffic based on diverse criteria such as IP address, protocol, or application. Additionally, functionalities like packet slicing, deduplication, and masking are pivotal.

  

Load Balancing

Effective NPBs should facilitate equitable distribution of network traffic across multiple devices, ensuring optimal utilization of each device. This not only enhances network performance but also alleviates the burden on individual devices.

   

Compatibility

NPBs must seamlessly integrate with various devices including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and performance monitoring tools. They should also support a wide array of protocols to ensure compatibility with diverse network devices and monitoring tools.

  

Conclusion

   

Network packet brokers are crucial in the effective management, monitoring, and security of network traffic within large data centers. They offer invaluable visibility into network traffic, mitigating congestion, streamlining monitoring and security tool integration, and enhancing overall network performance. By prioritizing a high-quality network packet broker, data center administrators can uphold smooth network operations, ensuring that monitoring and security tools access requisite data for safeguarding the network. As data transmission volumes escalate across networks, the significance of NPB is poised to amplify further.