A network TAP® (test access point) is a monitoring device that mirrors the traffic that is passing between network nodes. A TAP is a hardware device inserted at a specific point in the network to monitor specific data. As an essential part of the Gigamon Visibility and Analytics Fabric™, network TAPs acquire traffic to provide the visibility required to secure, monitor and manage your enterprise network infrastructure continuously and efficiently.
How Taps Work
A TAP monitors one network connection and generally comes with at least three ports: A port, B port and a monitor port. TAPs allow network traffic to flow through the devices A and B ports uninterrupted, while simultaneously copying the same data to the monitor port. The monitor port can feed VoIP recording devices, network intrusion detection and prevention systems, network analytics, protocol analyzers, packet sniffers and traffic aggregation systems. Additional information >