Patent ID: 8861374

Claim:
A method for compensating for time-based sampling by sample elimination in a network device communicatively connected to a network, the method comprising: receiving a packet over the network at a monitoring point of the network device; replicating the received packet; determining whether to sample the replicated packet using a time-based sampling scheme, wherein the time-based sampling scheme comprises sampling a predetermined number of samples during a predetermined time interval; upon determining that the replicated packet should be sampled, queuing the replicated packet to a port of the network device; adjusting for oversampling caused by the time-based sampling scheme by: determining whether to eliminate the queued packet by comparing a configured sample rate with a current sample rate; upon determining that the current sample rate is less than the configured sample rate, exporting the queued packet from the network device; and upon determining that the current sample rate is greater than or equal to the configured sample rate, dropping the queued packet.