Patent ID: 9736051
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. An arrangement comprising a network tap, the network tap comprising: a first port for receiving data packets from a network, wherein the data packets specify a destination address; logic communicatively coupled to said first port, said logic adding first metadata to each data packet of a first plurality of data packets comprising a percentage of said data packets from the network, thereby forming a first plurality of metadata-enhanced data packets, wherein said first metadata includes data specifying a geographic location of said arrangement, and wherein said geographic location is also a location where said first metadata is added to said first plurality of data packets, and wherein the data specifying the geographic location is distinct from a respective network address in each data packet of the first plurality of data packets; a second port for forwarding said first plurality of metadata-enhanced data packets from the network tap to a monitoring tool remote from the network tap, thereby enabling monitoring of the network by said monitoring tool remote from the network tap, wherein said first metadata comprises data employed by said monitoring tool remote from the network tap to perform network monitoring tasks; and a third port for forwarding the data packets on a path to the destination address.