nBox

An Embedded NetFlow v5/v9/IPFIX Probe (IPv4, IPv6, MPLS)

Many software netflow solutions (such as nProbe) users, realized that running a probe on a PC (or any other common hardware) is not always the best choice for several reasons:

  1. PCs have moving parts that can break making the probe unavailable.
  2. PCs are large, need monitors and keyboards, whereas probes often need to be deployed on places where there is not much space available.
  3. Administering PCs is not cheap and they require the purchase of an OS, its installation and maintenance.
  4. In large networks divided in several trunks it is necessary to have several probes each analyzing a trunk.
    This requires that multiple hosts running nProbe are deployed across the network.
  5. The cost (for both hardware and maintenance) is not neglectable in particular if several probes need to be deployed.

If you’re a user that does not want to bother with installing software probes on a PC or that wants to have an hardware-based, scalable and purpose-built solution then you are probably a nBox user where you have a low-cost small factor computer with no moving parts and nProbe on board easy to administer using the embedded web interface.

If you want to know more in detail how the nBox works from user’s prespective, you can go through the documentation section.

User Interface

The following figures shows you the nBox NetFlow/IPFIX web user interface.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Credits

NetFlow is copyright Cisco Systems.

Available Models

The nBox is available as physical appliance in various models.

nBox Form Factor Monitoring Capabilities Monitoring Port Options Software
Entry Level Desktop Up 100 Mbit
  • 2 x 1 Gbit Copper
 ntopng
Mini Desktop Up 500 Kpps
  • 1 Gbit Copper
 nProbe
ntopng
L 1U 19″ rackmount Up to 2.5 Mpps
  • 2 x 1 Gbit Intel ZC Copper
  • 2 x 10 Gbit Intel ZC Fiber SFP+
 PF_RING ZC
nProbe Pro
ntopng
M 1U 19″ rackmount Up to 6 Mpps
  • 2 x 1 Gbit Intel ZC Copper
  • 2 x 10 Gbit Intel ZC Fiber SFP+
 PF_RING ZC
nProbe Pro
ntopng
H10 1U 19″ rackmount Up to 10 Mpps
  • 2 x 10 Gbit Intel/FPGA ZC Fiber SFP+
  • 4 x 10 Gbit Intel/FPGA ZC Fiber SFP+
  • 2 x 40 Gbit Intel/FPGA ZC Fiber QSFP+
 PF_RING ZC
nProbe Pro
ntopng
H10C 1U 19″ rackmount Up to 14.88 Mpps
  • 2 x 10 Gbit Intel/FPGA ZC Fiber SFP+
 PF_RING ZC
nProbe Cento
ntopng
H40C 1U 19″ rackmount Up to 4x 14.88 Mpps
  • 4 x 10 Gbit Intel ZC/FPGA Fiber SFP+
  • 2 x 40 Gbit Intel ZC/FPGA Fiber QSFP+
 PF_RING ZC
nProbe Cento
H100C 1U 19″ rackmount Over 80 Mpps
  • 100 Gbit FPGA
 PF_RING ZC
nProbe Cento

Please contact us for details, price and availability, or get in touch with our resellers or buy them online (US/Canada customers only).