My TN Connection

In this edition of our Switch Sense series, which examines Ethernet switching features and functions, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at Port Mirroring and it’s affect on network traffic analysis.

Port Mirroring

Network administrators often need to have a way of monitoring network traffic. One of the ways in which to do this is through Port Mirroring. Although Port Mirroring is not an IEEE standard it is a function that is found in most managed Ethernet switches today.

To use Port Mirroring a network administrator must specify which port(s) will have their traffic copied to the mirror port on the switch. The network administrator must select at least one source port to use Port Mirroring. The traffic on the source port(s) will be copied to the destination port. continue »