Which protocol is a Cisco protocol that collects metadata about IP traffic flows?

Which protocol is a Cisco protocol that collects metadata about IP traffic flows?

• A. IPFIX
• B. Bandwidth
• C. sFlow
• D. NetFlow

Answer: (D)

NetFlow is a Cisco protocol that collects metadata about IP traffic flows. It works by grouping packets into flows defined by common attributes such as source and destination IP addresses, source and destination ports, protocol, and other fields. The router or switch exports per-flow summaries to a NetFlow collector, including start and end times, the number of packets and bytes, and often interface information. This flow-level data lets you see who is communicating with whom, what services are used, and how bandwidth is consumed, which is essential for traffic analysis, capacity planning, and security monitoring. IPFIX provides the same kind of data as an IETF standard based on NetFlow v9 and is more vendor-neutral; sFlow also collects similar data but uses sampling, and Bandwidth is not a protocol.

NetFlow is a Cisco protocol that collects metadata about IP traffic flows. It works by grouping packets into flows defined by common attributes such as source and destination IP addresses, source and destination ports, protocol, and other fields. The router or switch exports per-flow summaries to a NetFlow collector, including start and end times, the number of packets and bytes, and often interface information. This flow-level data lets you see who is communicating with whom, what services are used, and how bandwidth is consumed, which is essential for traffic analysis, capacity planning, and security monitoring. IPFIX provides the same kind of data as an IETF standard based on NetFlow v9 and is more vendor-neutral; sFlow also collects similar data but uses sampling, and Bandwidth is not a protocol.