SOLUTION BRIEF

Combined Ixia and SolarWinds Solution Can Monitor Physical

and Virtual Networks of Any Size
HIGHLIGHTS

Malware Analyzer

Ixias network visibility solutions

complement SolarWinds Network
Performance Monitor (NPM) Packet
SHARE
Analysis by extending access to
all needed physical and virtual
infrastructure traffic. The joint solution
provides complete visibility into
De-Duplicate
network traffic in a highly scalable,
easy to deploy system. Packet based
monitoring solutions are only as
useful as the data they receive. The
integrated Ixia and SolarWinds solution
automatically ensure the right packets
are captured at the right time for
analysis by NPM. SolarWinds NPM
enables the customer to quickly detect,
diagnose, and resolve network performance problems and
outages. By automating monitoring based on the alerting
and correlation capabilities of SolarWinds, issues can be
resolved before they become a problem.

NETWORK VISIBILITY SOLUTION

Ixias network visibility solutions work in concert with
SolarWinds NPM to monitor the customers network. The
Ixia network packet brokers (NPBs) passively directs
out-of-band network traffic from multiple access points
such as SPANs, taps / virtual taps (also sold by Ixia) in the
network and sends them to SolarWinds NPM for analysis.
Traffic is aggregated from all needed access points in the
physical and virtual network, and corresponding packets
can be forwarded to NPM to provide comprehensive
visibility and to address shortages in monitoring access
points. Ixias network visibility solutions help SolarWinds
NPM work at peak efficiency by filtering out unneeded
traffic and removing duplicate packets. When additional
capacity is needed Ixia can load balance traffic across
multiple NPM instances. Ixias network visibility solutions
also allow traffic from a single network access point to
be shared with multiple monitoring tools, this eliminates
the SPAN/tap shortages that occur when another tool is
attached to a needed access point.

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DLP

IDS/IPS

www.ixiacom.com

NPM
Automation

Load Balance

Access Physical & Virtual Packet Traffic

TAP
Virtual TAP

SPAN

Data Center Network

JOINT SOLUTION BENEFITS

Full network visibility Ixias network visibility

solutions deliver packets from anywhere in
the physical or virtual network for analysis by
SolarWinds NPM

Simplified deployment The solution is flexible

enough to work in any network environment, and
can share access with monitoring and security
tools that are already deployed

Easily scalable additional 1GbE, 10GbE, 40GbE,

or 100GbE ports can be added to meet bandwidth
requirements, and traffic can be load balanced
across multiple NPM Packet Analysis instances.

Maximize efficiency Ixias network visibility

solutions remove duplicate packets, and can
automatically filter packet forwarding and capture
based on alert and event rules from SolarWinds
NPM.

Accelerate root cause analysis by immediately

having the required packets available.

915-6950-01 Rev. A, November 2014

SOLUTION BRIEF

Ixias network visibility solutions Automated Response

Technology complements SolarWinds ability to detect,
analyze and respond to network issues. When SolarWinds
detects an anomaly, it automatically reconfigures the Ixia
NPB to automatically send the right traffic to NPM Packet
Analysis. SolarWinds alerts on performance of specific
networked devices, and passes the IP address of the
affected device(s) as an argument so that the Ixia NPB only
sends the relevant packets to NPM. Packet capture can
be automated based on alert rules, right-click, or events
from NPM. This ensures that the right data is immediately
available for root cause analysis, while avoiding the need
for large scale and expensive packet storage. Incident
remediation can begin the instant an anomaly occurs with
the benefit of having all the required packet information.
The joint solution speeds root-cause analysis, eliminates
time consuming manual steps, and simplifies compliance.

DISCOVER, MAP, AND MONITOR IN

LESS THAN AN HOUR
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
makes it easy to quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve
performance issues before outages occur. This affordable,
easy-to-use agentless software delivers real-time views
and dashboards that enable you to visually track and
monitor network performance at a glance. Plus, using
dynamic network topology maps and automated network
discovery, you can deploy and keep up with your evolving
network. Now with deep packet inspection and analysis,
NPM provides quick and accurate identification of network
and application reliability.

Ixia Worldwide Headquarters

26601 Agoura Rd.
Calabasas, CA 91302
(Toll Free North America)
1.877.367.4942
(Outside North America)
+1.818.871.1800
(Fax) 818.871.1805
www.ixiacom.com
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Ixia European Headquarters

Ixia Technologies Europe Ltd
Clarion House, Norreys Drive
Maidenhead SL6 4FL
United Kingdom
Sales +44 1628 408750
(Fax) +44 1628 639916

www.ixiacom.com

IXIA NETWORK VISIBILITY SOLUTIONS

Ixias network visibility solutions provide complete
network visibility into physical and virtual networks,
improves network security and optimizes monitoring
tool performance. Ixia NVS ensures that each monitoring
tool gets exactly the right data needed for analysis.
This improves the way you manage your data center
and maximizes return on investment. Our customers
include large enterprises, service providers, educational
institutions and government agencies.
For additional information:
http://www.ixiacom.com/solutions/visibility-architecture

ABOUT SOLARWINDS
Since our founding in 1999, SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI)
mission has been to provide purpose-built products that
are designed to make IT professionals jobs easier. We
offer value-driven products and tools that solve a broad
range of IT management challenges whether those
challenges are related to networks, servers, applications,
storage or virtualization.
For additional information:
Web: www.SolarWinds.com

Ixia Asia Pacific Headquarters

21 Serangoon North Avenue 5
#04-01
Singapore 554864
Sales +65.6332.0125
Fax +65.6332.0127

SolarWinds
7171 Southwest Parkway
Building 400
Austin, Texas 78735
P: 866.530.8100
www.SolarWinds.com

915-6950-01 Rev. A, November 2014