A network packet broker aggregates network traffic from multiple ports for forwarding to analysis applications.
When a packet broker is attached to networking devices, a copy of the traffic that passes through the devices is sent to the packet broker. Based on your configuration, the packet broker filters the copied traffic for the data that you want to analyze. The broker then sends the filtered traffic to an analysis application.
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
| ACL filtering | Directs network traffic based on Layer 2 to Layer 4 protocol headers |
| Aggregation | Combines traffic that from multiple ports and directs it to one port or port channel |
| Decapsulation | Removes the outer tunnel headers from a packet |
| Header stripping | Removes header tags that are not supported by some visibility applications, including 802.1BR, VN (virtual NIC), VLAN, VXLAN, GTPU, GRE, and IPIP headers |
| Load balancing | Distributes network traffic among ports in a port channel |
| Packet slicing | Filters packet headers for the header components that you want to target. For a list of such components, see Create a Policy Rule Match for a Device. |
| Replication | Copies network traffic to multiple ports and port channels |
| Route map forwarding | Redirects Layer 2 and Layer 3 packets to the selected physical or port channel interface |
| Transport tunnel termination |
|
| Transport tunnel encapsulation | GRE only |