The best IPFix crawlers and analyzers

The Internet Protocol Flow Information Export or IPFIX, is an IETF standard created to monitor and export information flow through routers, switches and other network devices. IPFIX is a popular standard, works well on most devices.

In general, all IPFIX tools perform the following functions.

1. Allow data stream from any IPFIX enabled device.
2. Extract binary data via device and convert it into text and number format.
3. Use selective filtering and synthesis techniques to reduce data volume.
4. Store data in SQL database or in flat files.

These functions can be classified into output, crawlers and analyzers. The exporter tracks key information about IP packets, groups the same packets into UDP and sends them to the crawler. In return, the crawler processes this data from an exporter and stores it in a database or file flat.

Finally, the analyzer converts this data into graphics and images to help network engineers get valuable information about network performance, monitoring, troubleshooting and more.

Let's take a closer look at these IPFIX tools and software and see what they offer via the following article!

1. Solarwinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer

Solarwinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer supports IPFIX, Netflow, sFLow, J-Flow and Huawei Netstream protocols. It is a comprehensive tool for collecting and analyzing information and is also part of Network Bandwidth Analyzer.

Its features include:

1. Follow the network to explore traffic patterns.
2. Works seamlessly with a variety of different platforms.
3. Identify applications and protocols that are consuming maximum bandwidth.
4. Collect traffic data from all network packages.
5. Change data from network packages into usable formats.
6. Analyze data and present in the form of reports, charts and graphs that are meaningful for users through web-based user interface.
7. Comes with PerfStack, a performance analysis dashboard, that allows users to drag and drop performance metrics on the timeline, to understand the visual correlation of data.
8. Monitor optimization of CBQoS policy. That means it confirms that priority traffic comes from cloud applications or VoIP traversing the network smoothly.
9. WLC traffic monitoring feature helps to monitor wireless networks.

Download a free 30-day trial version of Solarwinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer.

2. Plixar Scrutinizer

Plixar Scrutinizer is a powerful and scalable solution for thorough analysis of data, as well as providing insight into it.

The following are some features of the Plixar Scrutinizer:

1. Collect metadata and traffic flow from all network packets and store them in the database.
2. Comes with advanced filters to provide in-depth information about the data
3. The sophisticated reporting tool provides relevant data at the right time to help business owners make appropriate decisions.
4. Provide quick insight into collected data, increase efficiency and reduce costs for businesses.
5. Provides end-to-end visibility to help determine the root cause of any problem.
6. Easily expand the range to match the growth of the network.
7. Support quick resolution of security breaches.
8. Provide a proactive approach to security.
9. Supports many technologies such as Netflow, sFlow, IPFIX, JFlow, Netstream and more.
10. Works well on VMware, Hyper-V 2012 and KVM.
11. There is also the option to deploy Public cloud and Private cloud.

Plixar Scruitinizer has 4 packages: Free package, MDX, SSRV and SCR.

Download the free package of the Plixar Scruitinizer.

3. nProbe

nProbe provides the same level of functionality for multiple traffic streams and this makes the nProbe ideal for large environments. nProbe also saves money and time for businesses.

The following are some important nProbe features.

1. nProbe collects and exports data from any device that can be exported in Netflow v5 / v9 and IPFIX formats.
2. Works on Linux, Windows and embedded environments (an environment in which only one application can access the database at a time and no other network access occurs).
3. Providing Layer 7 application visibility, so nProbe can monitor more than 250 applications including popular applications like Skype and BitTorrent.
4. Provide full support for IPv4 and IPv6.
5. Consume less than 2MB of memory, regardless of network size.
6. Export threads to Apache, Syslog, Kafka, Splunk and MySQL.
7. Collect sFlow streams and translate them to IPFIX or NetFlow.
8. Comes with a multi-threaded structure for large systems.
9. Features integrated VoIP traffic analysis.
10. Designed to run on under-resourced environments.
11. Provides flow saving option on disk for later analysis.
12. It can be used as a probe, crawler (or both) or even a proxy, depending on business needs.
13. High scalability and full configuration

nProbe is available for free for universities and non-profit organizations.

Download nProbe.

4. IsFlow

IsarFlow is another useful option to monitor IPFIX and NetFlow data. This network monitoring solution comes with a GUI-based personalized reporting tool, so each person can see information that is important to them. Such a personalized approach makes IsarFlow ideal for individuals working together to monitor the network.

Besides personalization, IsarFlow also has other features such as:

1. Collect, store and process NetFlow, IPFIX and SNMP data to provide in-depth information on data patterns.
2. IsFlow is based on a distributed database structure for best scalability.
3. Create favorable conditions for planning to take full advantage of network capacity.
4. Help develop QoS strategies.
5. Recognize vulnerabilities and viruses early.
6. It is possible to monitor data from various sources using a unique threshold definition.
7. Provides a single, perfect server setup in situations where only one analyzer handles the entire network load.

5. FlowViewer

FlowViewer is a dynamic and web-based front-end for two open source data collection and analysis, namely the Flow-tools set by Mark Fullmer and SiLK from Carnegie Mellon NetSA. This tool was originally developed for NASA's Earth Sciences Data and Information System Network, but it is also widely used by SiLK and Flow-tools users.

Some interesting features of this tool include:

1. Allows users to create text based reports from network data.
2. Many different report formats are available to suit the preferences of different users.
3. Help create reports based on charts with written explanations.
4. Maintain the long history of a particular set of traffic. Users can select options daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and three years.
5. Allows the use of both Flow-tools and SiLK simultaneously.

Download FlowViewer (Free).

IPIX crawlers and analyzers provide rich information about network health and performance. These IPFIX tools collect information from network packages, create correlations with them and provide user information in a concise way.

Wish you find the right tool!