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    Is Your Network Visibility Strategy Built on Guesswork?

    Network Visibility Assessment: Find Your Visibility Gaps

    Book a Demo Have questions? Read the FAQ

    Your Network. Your Traffic. Your Real Optimization Numbers.

    Niagara Networks Visibility Gap Assessment offers your business both security and a real-time visual representation of your network infrastructure, showing exactly how packet broker optimization reduces tool overload. Optimize your network and view your visibility architecture visually mapped, from core switches to uplinks, SPAN sessions, TAP insertion points, packet brokers, and security tools.

    NVAT-3-HD

    How it Works? 

    1.  Upload a sanitized Cisco switch configuration
    2.  Visualize full topology, SPAN sessions, TAP points, and tool feeds
    3.  Model optimization and receive a full report showing raw vs. optimized traffic

    Niagara Networks changes network visibility from a bunch of monitoring feeds to a secure and managed traffic intelligence layer, capturing the right traffic, optimizing it for each of the tools, and protecting mission-critical systems and networks from blind spots and downtime.

    Collect the Right Traffic

    Capture complete packet data from physical, virtual, cloud, and hybrid environments using TAPs, virtual TAPs, and bypass access points.

    Optimize It Intelligently

    Use packet brokers and network intelligence to filter, deduplicate, slice, decrypt, replicate, and load-balance traffic before it reaches your tools.

    Deliver It with Confidence

    Feed SOC, NOC, monitoring, and security platforms with reliable, policy-driven traffic while protecting uptime across mission-critical networks.

    Most visibility deployments start with assumptions. Ours starts with your actual switch configuration.

    When you upload your sanitized Cisco switch config file (interfaces and span sessions only — no IPs, no routing tables).  Within seconds, you’ll receive:

    A mapped-out graphic of your network topology and all active span/mirror sessions

    Auto-detection of span oversubscription and packet drop issues

    Interactive TAP and packet broker deployment across your real links

    Traffic optimization modeling - all in real time - Layer 4 filtering, deduplication, packet slicing, NetFlow generation

    Full downloadable report with raw vs. optimized traffic per security tool

    Everything runs entirely in memory, with nothing stored. Want full control? Run it on your own system via our Docker image. 

    NVAT-REPORT

    Visibility Assessment Summary Report -
    See how much you could optimize before it hits your security tools.

    Full downloadable report, showing raw vs. optimized traffic per security tool. Get an assessment report that summarizes monitored zones, deployed visibility links, raw traffic, optimized traffic, with extra recommended visibility architecture.

    Security Posture and Monitoring Zones

    Vital network perimeters are identified and the primary traffic vectors designated for security extraction and security monitoring.

    Deployed Visibility Links and TAP Hardware

    Full physical and virtual link analysis, requiring 100% packet visibility. Actual traffic is calculated based on simulated utilization.

    Packet Broker Aggregation

    Every piece of raw traffic is ingested from the network prior to optimization filters being applied.

    From Visibility Gap Assessment to Architecture... 

     

    Visibility Layer

     

    Once the visibility gap assessment is complete, Niagara Networks helps to design the visibility layer using TAPs, packet brokers, bypass, ePacketron intelligence, virtual visibility & orchestration. Our visibility portfolio helps SOC and NOC teams move from fragmented monitoring feeds to a managed visibility layer that enhances overall performance and security.

    Niagara Networks Appliance Comparison Matrix

     

     

    Use Niagara TAPs

    Capture traffic from vital physical links across copper, fiber, optical, passive, active, and bypass deployments.  Read more

    Use Niagara Packet Brokers

    Filter, aggregate,  deduplicate, replicate, and load balance traffic for multiple security monitoring tools to help engineers effectively monitor vital data flows. 
    Read more

    Use Niagara Hybrid TAPs and Bypass Solutions

    Keep inline security tools protected with failover architectures that monitor continuous traffic flow and high availability. Read more

    Use Niagara ePacketron Network Intelligence

    Get encrypted traffic visibility restored with SSL/TLS decryption and offload advanced packet processing, including application filtering, packet slicing, deduplication, NetFlow/IPFIX, data masking, and traffic optimization across diverse enterprise use cases. Read more

    Use Niagara Virtual TAPs & Virtual Packet Broker

    Branch out visibility into cloud and virtualized environments, capturing east-west traffic and optimizing virtual traffic delivery where physical TAP deployment is not available. Read more

    Use Niagara Visibility Orchestration

    Make provisioning and centralized policy management simpler across the entire visibility layer to modernize your day-to-day network management. Read more
    Build a visibility layer that every tool can trust

    Request Your Free Assessment

    Explore Network Visibility Solutions

    • Discuss packet broker, TAP, and bypass requirements
    • Review throughput, tool capacity, and deployment needs
    • Ask about pricing, availability, and product fit

    Contact us for a demo

    Network Visibility Gap Assessment FAQ

    Niagara Networks Visibility Gap Assessment is a completely free assessment experience that allows teams within network, security, SOC, and NOC organizations to assess their existing visibility architecture. With the use of a sanitized switch configuration file, the assessment produces an overview of the network topology, showing how traffic can be optimized before entering security or monitoring appliances.

    Our assessment shows your network topology, switch link connections, SPAN/mirror sessions, visibility gaps, tool feeds, and possible areas of traffic optimization. It can also point out the areas where TAPs, Network Packet Brokers, or traffic intelligence functions would help with achieving better visibility and reducing tool overload.

    You need to provide a sanitized switch configuration file, compatible with Cisco IOS or Cisco Nexus environments. The file should include interface and SPAN/mirror session information needed to build the visibility map and analyze traffic paths.

    No, it does not. The assessment is created to exclude any kind of sensitive information. There is no need for IP addresses, routing tables, passwords, application data, user data, or payload in this case. The goal is to gather visibility-related configuration information, including interfaces, link status, and SPAN/mirror sessions.

    Not at all. The test is designed to perform without saving your configuration data. Everything is done in a single session to create a report about visibility.

    Yes, if your company prefers to have complete control of the assessment, Niagara Networks can offer you a Docker-based solution that can be executed within your own environment.

    Currently, our tool offers support for Cisco IOS and Cisco Nexus configurations. 

    Network Visibility’s assessment models how traffic optimization techniques can reduce the amount of raw traffic being sent to monitoring and security devices. This can include Layer 4 filtering, deduplication, packet slicing, unsampled NetFlow/IPFIX exportation, and load balancing onto NDR, SIEM, IDS, IPS, APM, NPM, and other tools.

    This is how much raw traffic enters the visibility layer and how much it can be decreased prior to delivery to each tool. The packet slicing technique can help to decrease the traffic volume before sending it to performance monitoring tools, while the deduplication technique can eliminate duplicate packets that can overload NDR or analytics platforms.

    It can include a network visibility map in graphic form, SPAN/mirror sessions used, zones being monitored, suggested TAP placements, packet broker placements, raw vs. optimized traffic, and suggestions for security/visibility improvements in line with industry best practices.

    The assessment is perfect for network architects, security architects, SOC teams, NOC teams, infrastructure teams, and operations management that want to assess visibility gaps, tool sprawl, SPAN issues, and packet broker/TAP needs for the future.

    It is better because a generic ROI calculator only makes assumptions, while the Niagara Networks Visibility Assessment Tool is based on your actual network configuration, providing a more practical and environment-specific view of your visibility gaps and optimization potential.

    Yes, it can. The assessment will assist in identifying possible SPAN/mirror session limitations, such as over-subscription and packet drop problems, which can silently lower the visibility coverage for security and monitoring tools, directly impairing threat response capabilities.

    No, it does not; the tool has been specifically developed to conduct a quick visibility assessment. It can assist you in starting the design conversation with real data, but a full architecture review supported by specialized professional services or managed services may still be recommended for complex environments, large-scale deployments, or multi-site visibility projects.

    The length of the assessment time varies, but once the configuration data is available the assessment can create useful visibility insights fast. The objective is to help your team go from assumptions to a clear, graphical view of your actual network visibility architecture.

    Post-assessment, we can help review the results, find visibility gaps, recommend TAP and packet broker deployment options, and help define how to optimize traffic delivery to your security, monitoring, and analytics services.

    Yes, it is free. Our Visibility Assessment Tool is given as a free assessment to help organizations understand their current visibility architecture and traffic optimization potential.

    You can easily get started right away. Click the request button on this page to schedule your free visibility assessment. Niagara Networks will guide you through the process and explain what configuration information is needed.