How to Troubleshoot Fiber Network TAPs

Network Taps are a crucial part of the tool kit used by engineers responsible for network security, performance, and capacity management. Taps are robust devices that rarely ever exhibit issues, but as with any network equipment – it may occasionally be necessary to troubleshoot them. In some cases this is an inherent part of a multi-layered process of elimination, but in certain circumstances the process might begin with the Tap itself. The following procedures are presented with Datacom Systems fiber Taps* in mind, but the general principles are applicable to all brands of Taps.

Configuring Network Taps for Maximum Effectiveness

Network Taps, in addition to being available for copper or fiber media, can be purchased in a fixed configuration, typically called “duplex Taps” – or as “Aggregation Taps.” The latter category offers options for how the data copies are distributed among the monitor ports. This article will clarify the differences between the two Tap types, as well as exploring the rationale for different Tap configurations, and examples of their applications.

Cloud Security – Is your Data Safe?

Cloud Security

On March 4th, 2021, the Infosec and compliance firm Qualys, a member of the Forbes 100 and a provider of security auditing services to over 10,000 customers globally, experienced an attack by a Clop Ransomware zero-day exploit target affecting the Accellion FTA server – a legacy file transfer technology. Many other companies were also targeted, but Qualys has stated that no ransomware was installed in their system, nor was there any request for payment received.

Get improved visibility into high speed network connections

The FTP-1516 can reduce the total cost of implementing a monitoring solution by allowing a 40G link to be monitored without using expensive 40G ports. The FTP-1516 allows you to leverage existing 10G monitoring ports and can be a cost effective alternative to upgrading to a 40G monitoring solution.

Tapping into the Cloud

When customers need to troubleshoot their cloud-based applications, they reach for two things: Wireshark and a Network Tap.