Patent ID: 9712419
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. An integrated switch tap device for managing and monitoring network traffic, comprising: a set of network ports, said set of network ports being configured for at least one of receiving said network traffic and outputting said network traffic from said integrated switch tap device, said set of network ports including at least a first network port; a first logic arrangement configured at least for performing routing functionalities, wherein said routing functionalities including analyzing said network traffic, determining a destination for at least a portion of said network traffic, and directing said network traffic from said first network port to a second network port of said set of network ports; a first central processing unit (CPU) configured at least for processing said routing functionalities; a set of monitoring ports, said set of monitoring ports being coupled to one or more monitoring devices; a first tap module, said first tap module being configured at least for intercepting at least part of said network traffic flowing through said integrated switch tap device, creating a copy of said at least part of said network traffic, and forwarding said copy of said at least part of said network traffic to at least one of said set of monitoring ports; said first tap module including a filtering functionality, wherein said filtering functionality includes identifying types of data packets from said network traffic for forwarding to said at least one of said monitoring ports, wherein said filtering functionality is user-configurable; and a second CPU separate from the first CPU configured at least for processing tap functionalities associated with said first tap module, whereas said network traffic is configured to traverse said integrated switch tap device whether power is provided to circuitry of said integrated switch tap device.