How Cisco IT Uses Analysis Module to Gather Information on Host, Network, and Application Traffic

The Cisco team needed a solution that could provide more than packet capture. They needed to look at the application layer across the network, to manage performance and troubleshooting. They needed to integrate monitoring across the LANs and WAN, providing real-time and historical monitoring. Quality of Service (QoS) has grown in importance, and with the emergence of Voice over IP (VoIP), application-monitoring needs are more complex than ever. The Cisco Network Analysis Module (NAM) was the answer. The NAM is an integrated traffic monitoring service module that occupies a single slot in the chassis of the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch. It gives Cisco network administrators full application layer visibility, providing this information to the network engineer using a browser from any point on the network.