Cisco Cisco NetFlow Generation Appliance (NGA) 3140 Information Guide
Q&A
© 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
Page 1 of 1
Cisco NetFlow Generation Appliance (NGA) 3140
General Overview
Q. What is Cisco
®
NetFlow Generation Appliance (NGA) 3140?
A. Cisco NetFlow Generation Appliance 3140 is purpose-built, high-performance solution for flow visibility in
high-throughput Gigabit Ethernet networks typical in most data centers and campus core deployments. It
empowers network operations, engineering, and security teams with actionable insight into network traffic for
the purpose of resource optimization, application performance improvement, traffic accounting, and security
needs.
Cisco NGA consumes raw network data from platforms such as Cisco Nexus
®
7000, Cisco Nexus 5000, and
Catalyst
®
6500 Series Switches to create and export NetFlow Data Export (NDE) records (v5, v9, IPFIX) for
traffic analysis and other management needs. The power of visibility is dramatically amplified when NGA is
connected to multiple network devices to analyze flows hop by hop, essential for security, capacity planning,
and troubleshooting. To simplify operational manageability, the appliances can be deployed at key
observation places such as the server access layer, fabric path domains, and Internet exchange points.
Designed for high performance and maximum deployment flexibility, the appliance gathers network data using
Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) and network tap, implements a large active flow cache, and can be
configured to export NetFlow data to multiple collectors. The NDE flows are exported in weighted round-robin
fashion for load balancing and the exports can be customized to meet specific management application needs
using 10 filters per destination.
Q. What are the key features and benefits of the Cisco NGA solution?
A. The Cisco NetFlow Generation Appliance 3140 redefines network visibility and sets a new standard for
high-performance, cost-effective NetFlow generation. The key features and benefits are outline in Table 1.
Table 1.
Cisco NGA Features and Benefits
Feature
Benefit
Purpose-built, high-performance form factor
●
Improved performance of forwarding device by offloading NetFlow generation function
●
100 percent accuracy with full visibility into traffic flows
●
Cost-effective application and traffic visibility in high throughput Gigabit Ethernet networks
NetFlow v5, v9, and IPFIX support
●
Ease of integration with any standard NetFlow collector
SPAN and network tap support
Multiple collectors (up to six)
Advanced filters for custom exports
●
Improved return on investment (ROI) with the flexible deployment choices
●
Hop-by-hop flow visibility across multiple network tiers
●
Efficient use of NetFlow information across multiple management applications for
monitoring, troubleshooting, capacity planning, and security
Load balancing and flow replication across
multiple collectors
multiple collectors
●
Effective network design to maximize scalability
Application awareness
●
Enhanced application recognition and reporting. Cisco NGA recognizes application on the
basis of port, port-ranges, and built-in heuristics
Predictable cost model
●
Simplified licensing model
Embedded GUI and command-line interface
(CLI) for configuration
(CLI) for configuration
●
Ease of configuration, reduced learning curve, and improved productivity