Discover Net Optics solutions for raising monitoring performance and productivity while lowering costs. The demands to virtualize, scale, and implement new applications while conducting security, forensics, compliance and performance monitoring activities are adding to the list of hurdles facing IT teams. Challenges include multiple devices from many vendors, proliferating threats, soaring costs, scalability needs, 10G/40G/100G transition, environmental and compliance concerns—and more. We've collected and condensed a set of industry insights into what the driving need for increased network visibility, and the solutiuons necessary to meet this goal. How to Thrive in the Changing Network Landscape Net Optics offers a growing family of best-in-class solutions to let you access and monitor all traffic at all times and maintain a healthy, secure, and cost-efficient infrastructure. Download this guide to network visibility challenges and solutions for insights into network monitoring management and optimization.

1. COMMAND YOUR
DATA CENTER
How to Thrive In the Changing
Landscape
The demands to virtualize, scale, and implement new
applications while conducting security, forensics,
compliance and performance monitoring activities are
adding to the list of hurdles facing IT teams.
These network visibility best practices provide
insights into the solutions needed to manage and
optimize network monitoring to solve many of these
challenges.
Best Practices Guide I Data Center

2. NETWORK VISIBILITY
PRESSURES
As the network becomes critical to the success of
an organization, network security and performance
groups are challenged to gain greater insight
into that network. Network administrators must
enable access to network traffic for the monitoring
tools used by these teams. IT trends such as
increased reliance on SaaS applications, BYOD and
the transition to 10/40/100G are also increasing
complexity and vendor diversity within the data
center. Meeting these challenges calls for an
increasingly broad set of monitoring tools, which
frequently require visibility into specific network
segments or types of traffic. For these tools, 100%
visibility of network traffic is vital to effectively
securing and monitoring the network.
*Source: Net Optics survey of 1,235 IT professionals conducted at
RSA 2013 Conference
Monitor and manage application
performance throughout the network
Improve network bandwidth utilization
Improve cyber-threat identification
and response
Optimize performance of
network hardware
Meet regulatory compliance requirements
Improve the accuracy of network design
Enhance existing and future network
topologies
Evaluate ability of network to accommodate
additional applications and traffic
31%
16%
11%
10%
6%
9%
8%
9%
CHALLENGEDRIVING THE NEED FOR NETWORK MONITORING*
S

3. Network Layer
Instrumentation andTool Layer
Security Team Performance Team
BYPASS SWITCHES AND NETWORKTAPS
Inline Fail-Safe
Network Access
Access, Aggregation and
Regeneration
Performance
Monitoring
Security
Monitoring
Visibility Layer
Network Layer
?
?? ??
?
Instrumentation andTool Layer
Security Team Performance Team
Performance
Monitoring
Security
Monitoring
SPAN
x
Network Layer
Security Team Performance Team
?
?
? ?
?
?
FAIL-SAFE ACCESS AND
100% VISIBILITY
Net Optics access products, including Network Taps
and Bypass Switches, provide passive and fail-safe
access for tools deployed in either inline (IPS) or out-
of-band (IDS) configurations. Utilizing Network
Taps, Aggregation and Regeneration Taps, Bypass
Switches, and Virtualization Taps, network admins
are able to evolve beyond zero or limited SPAN
visibility. 100% network visibility allows teams to
analyze the specific traffic of interest they require in
order to monitor and secure the network.
PHASE I:
NO VISIBILITY
Network management teams initially lack visibility
into the network and the insight needed for
effective security and performance monitoring.
PHASE II:
SPAN / PORT MIRRORING VISIBILITY
Using SPAN or Port Mirroring provides limited
visibility into the network but is susceptible to
oversubscription and mis-configuration.
PHASE III:
100% VISIBILITY
Net Optics Access products provide a‘Visibility
Layer’to the network to achieve 100% visibility.
ESOLUTION
Learn more about Network Taps, visit the
Network Tap web page.

4. OPTIMIZATION OF
NETWORK SECURITY
AND PERFORMANCE
MONITORING TOOLS
When network monitoring solutions are deployed
as isolated point solutions or configured to receive
non-optimized traffic, they are susceptible to
degradation in their efficiency and effectiveness.
Increasing network speeds and application diversity
also creates new hurdles. Network administrators
are faced with the challenge of ensuring that their
network monitoring infrastructure is manageable,
comprehensive and optimized to perform under
these diverse loads without affecting network
performance.
*Source: Net Optics survey of 822 IT professionals conducted at
CiscoLive 2013 Conference
CHALLENGE
100G
40G
10G
1G100M
10G, 40G AND 100G NETWORK EQUIPMENT SHIPMENTS GREW 62% IN 2012
DATA CENTER INTERFACE SPEEDS HAVE SOARED SINCE 2000, WITH NO END IN SIGHT
TOP 3 STRATEGIC GOALS FOR NETWORK MANAGERS*
2000 2009 2015 2019 2022
UPGRADE IT
INFRASTRUCTURE
ENABLE
ROLL-OUT OF NEW
TECHNOLOGIES
IMPROVE
USER
EXPERIENCE
34.8%
34.6%
34.4%
S

5. E
Network Layer (Location 2)
Instrumentation andTool Layer
Network, Security & Performance Management Teams
Security
Monitoring
Compliance
Monitoring Application
Monitoring
Performance
Monitoring
NETWORK PACKET BROKERS (NPB)
Load BalancingAggregation and
Regeneration
Packet Filtering
Network Layer (Location 1) Network Layer (Location 3)
Optimized Network Monitoring Traffic
BYPASS SWITCHES AND NETWORKTAPS
Inline Fail-Safe
Network Access
Access, Aggregation and
Regeneration
BYPASS SWITCHES AND NETWORKTAPS
Inline Fail-Safe
Network Access
Access, Aggregation and
Regeneration
BYPASS SWITCHES AND NETWORKTAPS
Inline Fail-Safe
Network Access
Access, Aggregation and
Regeneration
SOLUTIONCENTRALIZED CONTROL
AND OPTIMIZATION
Net Optics Total Visibility Solutions provide a
layer of control as to which tool receives specific
traffic. Capabilities such as flow-mapping, de-
duplication, aggregation, filtering and load-
balancing optimize network traffic before it
reaches a monitoring tool. The benefits of adding
this Visibility Layer to your deployment include:
manageability, reduced overhead, increased
utilization and better performance from your
entire set of network monitoring tools. High
Availability (HA) configurations are also possible
for your monitoring deployment, a major benefit
for networks under pressure to deliver always-on
performance.
Learn more about Network Packet Brokers, visit the
NPB solutions web page.

6. CHALLENGE
MONITORING INTER-
VM TRAFFIC WITH
EXISTING SECURITY AND
PERFORMANCE TOOLS
Data Centers are on the path to either converged
or full virtualization. However, many monitoring
tools designed for traffic flowing over the physical
network don’t have the ability to inspect traffic
between two Virtual Machines. Not only does
this situation leave security administrators blind
to possible malicious activity within this growing
segment of the network, but achieving an integrated
approach to total network visibility becomes next to
impossible. Achieving visibility into your virtualized
traffic that is comparable to that of your physical
network requires extensive redeployment—or the
purchase and implementation of an entire new set
of virtualization-specific tools.
*Source: Net Optics survey of IT professionals conducted at
VMworld2013 Conference
SYSTEM/VM ADMINISTRATOR’S MOST IMPORTANT SECURITY CHALLENGES*
1
2
3
Preventing
sensitivedata
fromcreepinginto
lesssecurevirtual
environments
Integrating
virtualization
securitywith
currentphysical
securitytoolsand
practices
Maintaining
compliancewith
regulatoryand
auditrequirements
S

7. VIRTUALIZATION TAP FOR
TOTAL VISIBILITY AND
HYPERVISOR SUPPORT
Net Optics Phantom Virtualization Tap™ bridges
the physical and virtual, so that you can monitor
the virtualized network with your existing set
of tools. Phantom is capable of capturing and
then sending inter-VM traffic of interest to the
tools that are already monitoring your physical
network.
The landmark Phantom Virtualization Tap
supports all best-of-breed hypervisors. It
works not only in ESX environments (“VMsafe
Certified”) and with internal VMware vSwitches,
but also with the Cisco Systems Nexus 1000V
virtual switch; MS Hyper-V 2012, Xen, Oracle
VM and KVM hypervisors. Simple to deploy
and engineered for the virtual environment,
the Phantom Tap extends the visibility of your
monitoring tools into the blind spots created by
virtualization.
Learn more about Phantom Virtualization Tap,
visit the Phantom product web page.
E
Network Layer Virtualization Layer
Instrumentation andTool Layer
Network, Security & Performance Management Teams
Security
Monitoring
Compliance
Monitoring Application
Monitoring
Performance
Monitoring
NETWORK PACKET BROKERS (NPB)
Load BalancingAggregation and
Regeneration
Packet Filtering
Optimized Network Monitoring Traffic
BYPASS SWITCHES AND NETWORKTAPS
Inline Fail-Safe
Network Access
Access, Aggregation and
Regeneration
VIRTUALIZATIONTAP
Source Packet
Filtering
Virtualization
Tap
Encapsulated
Tunneling
SOLUTION

8. CHALLENGE
MANAGING NETWORK
PERFORMANCE
Today’s network administrators face the challenge
of meeting increasingly stringent SLAs that call for
increased reliability and uptime. To quickly identify
existing or potential issues that might affect uptime,
the network team requires monitoring tools that
provide a comprehensive view of data center
performance—including every packet traversing a
host and all inter-vm traffic. Monitoring to ensure
peak network performance is key to consistent
application delivery and a quality end-user
experience.
*Source: Net Optics survey of 312 IT professionals conducted at
Interop Las Vegas 2013 Conference
>20
HOURS
AVERAGE TIME SPENT PER WEEK BY NETWORK ADMINS TROUBLESHOOTING NETWORK ISSUES*
19%OF TIME IS SPENT
MEASURING
LATENCY
AND DELAY
19%
OF TIME IS SPENT
MONITORING
BANDWIDTH
CONSUMPTION
56%OF RESPONDENTS FEEL
LIMITED BY THE
QUALITY OF
INFORMATION PROVIDED
BY EXISTING
MONITORING TOOLS
24%OF TIME IS SPENT
DETERMINING
ROOT
CAUSES

9. E
NET OPTICS SPYKE
BRINGS INSIGHT
AND PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT TO
YOUR NETWORK
Quick and easy to install and configure, this
sophisticated yet simple solution offers your
data center the ability to discover, diagnose
and resolve problems before they can damage
your core business. With practically no learning
curve, the Spyke™ Application-Aware Network
Performance Monitoring (AA-NPM) solution
reduces operations costs even as it cuts time spent
on problem identification and resolution.
Spyke uses DPI technology and root cause
analysis to let users drill down instantly from
high-level metrics to granular detail of every
application and function, plus track bandwidth
usage. You can identify actual user names and
individual VoIP calls, and gain deep transparency
into email traffic—all at a glance. This vital
information can lower your MTTR substantially.
Spyke does it all through a “single pane of glass”
interface for ultimate convenience and control.
Learn more about Spyke, visit the Spyke product
web page.
3 KEY STEPS TO NETWORK
TROUBLESHOOTING AND
RESOLUTION
PROBLEM DETECTION
Is there a problem in your network?
Net Optics Spyke provides network
managers insight into the current
status of their network to know
whether a problem exists.
PROBLEM ISOLATION AND DIAGNOSIS
Spyke’s ability to drill down into
protocol, device, server or client data
allows network managers to quickly
identify the location, scope and
nature of a network issue.
PROBLEM RESOLUTION
Gaining awareness of any network
issues, their nature and causes helps
network managers rapidly respond
and resolve those issues.
Network Layer
Network Performance Management Teams
APPLICATION AWARE
NETWORK PERFORMANCE MONITORING
Problem
Identification
Bandwidth
Monitoring
VoIP Quality
Monitoring
!
Visibility Layer
1
2
3
SOLUTION

10. COMPLEX NETWORK
SECURITY DEPLOYMENTS
ACROSS MULTIPLE
LOCATIONS
As they add virtualized infrastructures, organizations
must also build in management layers to protect
the data traversing those networks. For many, the
effort to unify and centralize the management of
monitored traffic becomes a nightmare.
*Source: Net Optics survey of 1,216 IT professionals conducted
at RSA 2013 Conference
WHAT SECURITY PRACTICES ARE YOU
IMPLEMENTING?*
70.9% Firewalls
48.0% Data encryption
34.4% Endpoint protection (antivirus, anti-spyware)
32.3% Email security/spam filtering
31.3% Gateway antivirus/anti-malware
30.6% Intrusion prevention/intrusion detection
24.2% Web application firewalls
24.0% Vulnerability assessment/penetration testing
21.2% Wireless security
21.1% Log analysis/security event management/security
information management
19.7% Data loss prevention
19.1% Identity management
18.2% VPN
12.2% Strong passwords
11.9% Patch management
7.6% End user awareness programs
4.8% Network access control
4.5% Secure development processes/source code
auditing
4.3% Portable-device security
CHALLENGE

11. UNIFIED VISIBILITY
MANAGEMENT
Net Optics Indigo Pro™ is a unified management platform
that enables centralized monitoring and configuration
of few or many Net Optics devices, including network
controller switches, Network Packet Brokers (NPBs),
physical and virtual network taps and third party
devices. From a single management console, Indigo Pro
provides device configuration and element management,
event and fault management, bulk upgrades of device
software, an integrated device view, and rich graphical
visualization of network statistics.
Using Indigo Pro together with Net Optics taps, controller
switches and NPBs simplifies administration complexity
associated with configuring and upgrading each device
separately. This capability helps organizations attain a
higher ROI gained from overall time and cost savings.
Automatic Discovery
Indigo Pro automatically identifies supported Net Optics
and third-party devices throughout the network and
quickly adapts to any device added, removed or taken
offline. A dynamic topology map displays the devices
and provides detailed device status and configuration
information. This allows for easy deployment and
immediate access to managed devices.
Device Configuration Management
Indigo Pro provides many configuration options,
including filter settings, port management, user
authentication, software updates, event management
and graphical display of network activity. These enable
complete visibility and control over the data flowing in
and out of supported Net Optics devices and optimize
administration and maintenance.
Learn more about Indigo Pro, visit the Indigo Pro product
web page.
E
VISIBILITY
MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (VMS)
Network Layer Virtualization Layer
VIRTUALIZATIONTAP
Source Packet
Filtering
Virtualization
Tap
Encapsulated
Tunneling
Instrumentation andTool Layer
Network, Security & Performance Management Teams
Security
Monitoring
Compliance
Monitoring Application
Monitoring
Performance
Monitoring
NETWORK PACKET BROKERS (NPB)
Load BalancingAggregation and
Regeneration
Packet Filtering
Optimized Network Monitoring Traffic
BYPASS SWITCHES AND NETWORKTAPS
Inline Fail-Safe
Network Access
Access, Aggregation and
Regeneration
SOLUTION

12. RAPIDLY EVOLVING
NETWORK THREATS
Network security demands Defense in Depth,
an approach that keeps the network ahead of
proliferating threats. Defense in Depth calls for
multiple security systems working together and
delivering instantaneous feedback for conducting
forensics. Defense in Depth strategies combine,
cascade and join multiple security solutions to work
in concert transparently. Each component of this
solution addresses specific risk factors and attack
vectors. The next evolutionary step in Defense in
Depth strategy will address the need for various
security layers to respond dynamically to a detected
threat. They can then reorganize or re-deploy in the
ideal configuration for eliminating or minimizing
that threat.
Centralized
Controller
(SDN)
Management
Policies and Rules
Industry Standards
Network Packet
Broker
Network Visibility
Threat Mitigation
Agility
CHALLENGE

13. AGILE SECURITY RESPONSE
Security-Centric SDN: A Scalable, Cost-Effective
Security Architecture
Net Optics Security-Centric SDN enables the
scaling of existing security and other monitoring
tools without a costly overhaul. An organization
can now achieve total network visibility and
protection across the entire breadth and depth of
physical, virtual, and private cloud environments.
This new approach separates network elements
from security and monitoring devices; it also
enables automation and provisioning of
monitoring applications and tools based on
real-time traffic behavior. Security-Centric
SDN provides end-to-end network monitoring
and improves security, along with simplifying
operation.
Security-Centric SDN marries an SDN controller
with NPBs and a customer’s chosen security
tools. NPBs, with their ability to “chain” solutions,
integrate multiple systems, and distribute
traffic, provide the ideal means for provisioning
a dynamic response. Such chaining of security
solutions supports and enables Defense in Depth.
It embodies dynamic attack monitoring; the use
of NPBs for traffic distribution; and use of the
network controller for assessing the network,
provisioning SDN, and reacting to network activity.
Learn more about Security-Centric SDN, download
the eBook “Security-Centric SDN - A New Approach
to Implement Network Security That Works.”
Security
Enforcement
Security
Monitoring
Network Layer Virtualization Layer
VIRTUALIZATIONTAP
Source Packet
Filtering
Virtualization
Tap
Encapsulated
Tunneling
SDN CONTROLLER
NETWORK PACKET
BROKER
Centralized Management
Automated Provisioning
Defense in Depth
High Availability
BYPASS SWITCHES AND NETWORKTAPS
Inline Fail-Safe
Network Access
Access, Aggregation and
Regeneration
ESOLUTION

14. APPLICATION
CONTROL
SERVICE
ASSURANCE
TROUBLESHOOTING
AGGREGATION AND
REGENERATION
FILTERINGLOAD BALANCE
INTER-VM
MONITORING
HYPERVISOR AND
vSWITCH AGNOSTIC
FILTERING AND
TUNNELING
AGGREGATION AND
REGENERATION
FAIL-SAFE
NETWORK ACCESS
TOTAL APPLICATION AND
NETWORKVISIBILITY™
APPLICATION AWARE NETWORK
PERFORMANCE MONITORING (AA-NPM)
NETWORK PACKET BROKERS (NPB)
VIRTUAL AND CLOUD
NETWORKTAPS AND BYPASS
VISIBILITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (VMS)
ORGANIZATIONAL GROUPS
Performance
Security
Audit and
Privacy
IT and Network
Operations
IT / Server
Administration
Forensics
NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
Data Center
Remote Branches
Virtual Network
Private Cloud
THE NET OPTICS VISIBILITY ARCHITECTURE
FOR ENTERPRISE NETWORKS
VISIBILITY ARCHITECTURE
Net Optics delivers scalable, end-to-end
visibility solutions to achieve peak performance
and optimization of your physical, virtual,
private cloud, and branch office monitoring
deployments.
Total application and monitoring visibility lets
you overcome threats, prevent data loss and
deny unauthorized use. Net Optics’ plug-and-
play AA-NPM, NPB, Virtual/Cloud and Visibility
Management System solutions deliver quick
results and time-to-value with a convenient,
easy-to-use interface.
As your user base and data volumes grow,
our compact and scalable solutions keep your
network monitoring deployments cost-efficient
and productive.
Learn more about Net Optics Visibility
Architecture, watch the video.
The Net Optics network visibility architecture enables you to
streamline and manage network and performance monitoring.
TOTAL

15. DISCOVER HOW DATA
CENTERS ARE USING
NET OPTICS SOLUTIONS
TO RAISE PERFORMANCE
AND PRODUCTIVITY
WHILE LOWERING COST
www.netoptics.com
Net Optics is the leading provider of Total
Application and Network Visibility solutions that
deliver real-time IT visibility, monitoring and
control. As a result, businesses achieve peak
performance in network analytics and security.
More than 8,000 enterprises, service providers
and government organizations—including 85
percent of the Fortune 100—trust Net Optics’
comprehensive smart access hardware and
software solutions to plan, scale and future-proof
their networks through an easy-to-use interface.
5303 Betsy Ross Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95054, USA
Tel: +1 (408) 737-7777
www.netoptics.com
TOTAL
APPLICATION
AND NETWORK
VISIBILITY
LSOLUTION

16. Net Optics® is a registered trademark of Net Optics, Inc. Copyright 1996-2014
Net Optics, Inc. All rights reserved. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.