NETSCOUT nGenius 5100 Ethernet Switch

The nGenius 5100 Packet Flow Switch (PFS) is a dense 100G model and is a part of the nGenius PFS 5000 series of packet flow switches. The nGenius 5100 model is designed with 100GbE deployments in mind, and bridges the gap between 10GBE, 40GbE and 100GbE Ethernet networks and tools.

The nGenius PFS 5100 delivers 32 x 100GbE QSFP28 ports, which are capable of 32 x 40GbE QSFP+, and a maximum of up to 128 10GbE ports, via breakout cables, all in a 1RU, fixedconfiguration form factor. All ports are enabled by default, with each port configurable as an input port, intermediate (service) port, or output port. With the NETSCOUT pfsMesh, a selforganizing architecture, traffic capture devices can be deployed in a redundant, low-latency meshed architecture for dynamic and fault-tolerant visibility that can scale to over 4000* ports across LAN and WAN environments.

Cost-effective Feature Set

Packing a lot of interfaces into a compact form factor, the nGenius PFS 5100 supports core network packet broker features, which includes filtering, load balancing, replication, and aggregation. With an expansive feature set, the nGenius PFS 5100 is, like other devices in the PFS portfolio, capable of supporting and managing a monitoring network independently. Connect HD Fiber TAPs and any number of tools, including the NETSCOUT InfiniStream® product, to the nGenius PFS 5100, and easily manage a diverse and complex monitoring network.

Flow-aware load balancing enables intelligent control of traffic distribution to the monitoring tools, increasing output capacity while maintaining session integrity. For example, a 100GbE tap from the network can be captured and automatically balanced across multiple 10GbE or 40GbE monitoring tool ports based on user-defined session criteria. Flow-aware load balancing can operate in tandem with hardware-based filtering or independently.

Security Optimization

To take action as offenders and bad actors are detected, the active inline security tools need to see and handle all the traffic that needs to be inspected.

nGenius packet flow switches with inline tool chaining allow aggregation, filtering, and load-balancing of actual network traffic toward multiple inline security applications whilst maintaining only a single intrusion into each network link, and provide application-specific health checks (not just heartbeats) to ensure the active security tools are connected and functioning properly. External bypass TAPs can be used to ensure that the security policies are adhered to during power failure.

Management

The nGenius 5100 packet flow switch systems can be managed via a Web UI, CLI, and NETCONF XML API using HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, or Telnet. The system can be monitored via Syslog and SNMP. Each device ships with an intuitive and easy to use graphical element management system (EMS) out of the box. Simply point a web browser at the nGenius 5100 packet flow switch to manage, and let the web-based user interface (WebUI) power the packet flow system.The nGenius 5010 packet flow switch provides automated event driven monitor output traffic direction and responses (Syslog messages, SNMP traps, deactivate ports). The devices support field software updates for maintenance and feature or performance enhancements. Management IP addresses can be manually assigned or obtained via DHCP.