Niagara Networks - Network Visibility
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    Request a Visibility Design Review

    Plan the Traffic Path to Your Existing Tools

    Build a visibility layer around the traffic your tools actually need. Niagara Networks TAPs provide traffic access, while packet brokers can aggregate, filter, replicate and distribute traffic to security and monitoring tools.

     

    Traffic flow: network links → TAP or SPAN access → aggregate and filter → replicate or load-balance → existing tools.

     

    For a visibility design review, bring:

    • Traffic sources and topology, including physical, virtual and cloud segments

    • Link speeds, media and expected traffic volume

    • Monitoring and security tools, port types and capacity

    • Required packet functions and resilience

    • Deployment timing and site constraints

     

    Discuss a traffic-delivery design and a configured quote with Niagara Networks. Feature availability and throughput depend on the selected platform and configuration.

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    Integrated Network Monitoring Tools Work Alone or Together for Optimum Effectiveness
    At the lowest level – the Visibility access points level – Niagara Networks components are designed to work best together as well as initially being capable of acting as self-contained and independent modules within the network topology. Each access point, whether serviced by one of our network taps, network packet brokers (NPBs), or network bypass switches, is a seamless yet necessary part of the overall design.

    At the same time, hybrid components as well modules that are made up of specific combinations of network visibility layer enhancing devices are employed as specific building blocks for key network links and access points. An example of this would be a combination of NPBs and bypass switches. In another example, the network bypass switch can even be used as a network tap. In any and all cases, however, the correct placement of the individual network monitoring tools (or groups thereof) is the key and essential ingredient for effective integrated network performance.

    At the higher level – the Services level – Niagara Networks offers the right balance of tools and modules. The scenarios and tasks they are meant to handle range from the simplest, straightforward requirements, to the most complex of network topologies. This provides for full, pervasive network visibility that is so mission-critical in the network’s performance, its management, and troubleshooting requirements, and particularly in ensuring the maximum network security visibility shield for SOC teams.

    The two levels of Niagara Networks offerings (the Services and the Visibility layers) and the solutions they provide make for a stable and secure networks.
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    Niagara Networks Visibility Solutions

    Connect to all elements in the network for complete “pervasive” visibility.

    We Design, Develop and Manufacture our Products in the Silicon Valley, USA.

    NN Tap round

    Network TAPs

    Tap into your network with passive or active TAPs. A wide range of network monitoring tool connectors and fiber types are supported. Passive TAPs are based on an optical splitter so that the tapped network point and appliance are always connected. Active TAPs are based on optical or copper relay, ensuring full physical signal regeneration at the tapped network point. Learn more >>
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    Inline Bypass

    Our signature product based on Inline Bypass offers a bypass segment comprising of two network ports and two appliance ports. Double-protection bypass technology offers a failsafe optical or copper relay on network monitoring tool ports and a user-configurable heartbeat generated packet on appliance ports. Use heartbeat technology to automatically detect appliance failure and failover to the network, and back to the appliance, based on the appliance’s availability. Inline Bypass is available in multiple size bypass segments, supporting a range of network interfaces up to 400Gb. All products based on Inline Bypass can be user-configured as active TAPs. Learn more >>
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    Network Packet Broker and ePacketron Network Intelligence

    Niagara Networks' advanced packet brokers serve as a bridge platform that can be deployed in either enterprise or service provider environments, providing extended visibility into on-prem, private, public, and hybrid cloud networks.

    As part of Niagara Networks’ advanced packet broker portfolio, ePacketron delivers high-performance Network Intelligence, transforming raw network traffic into optimized, actionable data for security, monitoring, and analytics tools. With up to 600 Gbps of advanced packet processing, ePacketron provides Layer 2–7 traffic intelligence, including deduplication, packet and flow slicing, application filtering, data masking, NetFlow/IPFIX generation, tunnel termination, selective TLS decryption, mobile visibility, and advanced filtering. By intelligently processing and reducing traffic before it reaches downstream tools, ePacketron helps improve tool efficiency, scalability, and overall visibility across modern network environments.  Learn more about Network Packet Brokers >>  Learn more about ePacketron >> Learn more about TLS decryption >>

    NN NVC round

    Niagara Visibility Controller (NVC) - Visibility Orchestration

    The Niagara Visibility Controller serves as a unified management layer for all products within the visibility layer, creating a virtual switching fabric and enabling effective resource allocation. It simplifies the process of setting up comprehensive monitoring for your network monitoring tools and provides an intuitive overview of the health and status of the visibility adaptation layer. Acting as an orchestration solution, the Niagara Visibility Controller seamlessly provisions, enables, and enforces new, dynamic, on-demand visibility services, ensuring optimal network performance and adaptability.

    Niagara Networks Integrated Pervasive Visibility Solutions

    The pervasive visibility solutions proposed by Niagara Networks are comprised of two levels of mechanisms that work together to provide you with the means to maintain a constant and comprehensive control over the network and its performance. These two levels are hardware components for bearing the brunt of the work to achieve full network visibility, and software mechanisms built into our software-defined network (SDN) based management system.

    Comprehensive Visibility Solution Architecture

    Achieving global and comprehensive network visibility requires identifying potential blind spots and failure points and designing the network infrastructure to incorporate monitoring tools that eliminate or significantly reduce visibility gaps. This can be accomplished by strategically allocating and positioning network TAPs, bypasses, and packet brokers (NPBs) to create a visibility adaptation layer that covers all potential access points across physical and virtual cloud environments.
    Beyond deploying network visibility components based on their individual merits, combining the unique strengths of these components can elevate your network's visibility and functionality. In addition to traditional hardware devices such as TAPs and switches that support network monitoring tools, Niagara Networks offers a versatile toolkit that includes innovative solutions like the virtual cloud packet broker and virtual TAPs. These tools enable complete visibility across hybrid infrastructures, including on-premises, public, and private cloud networks.
    This powerful combination extends the visibility adaptation layer from traditional on-premises perimeters to virtually any network infrastructure, providing security and networking teams with end-to-end visibility. Whether it’s physical, virtual, North-South, or East-West traffic, Niagara Networks ensures seamless and comprehensive monitoring capabilities.

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    In addition to just deploying the network visibility components on the basis of their own merit, by combining the advantageous features of the different types of components, you can ratchet your network pervasive visibility and functionality up a few notches. In addition to the standard elementary H/W devices (TAPs, switches, etc.) that support network monitoring tools, Niagara Network’s toolkit of versatile products includes the new virtual cloud packet broker and virtual TAPs to enable complete visibility across a hybrid on-premises and public and private cloud networks.   This combination offers even more advanced capabilities for the network visibility adaptation layer to extend the visibility layer from on-prem traditional perimeter to almost any virtual network infrastructure to enable security and networking teams to gain end-to-end network visibility across any network infrastructure – physical, virtual, North-South, and East-West

    Visibility Orchestration Component

    The effectiveness of your network monitoring tools - and, by extension, the overall capability of your network security - largely depends on the availability of network visibility for network managers and IT staff. This is the service layer where Niagara Networks’ advanced monitoring and management product, the Niagara Visibility Controller (NVC), demonstrates its value.

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    The NVC GUI provides precise views and management capabilities to ensure smooth network visibility operations. It integrates with the services layer of the visibility adaptation layer to address three critical areas: visibility, efficiency, and availability.

    • Visibility: Gain real-time insights into network activity through strategically deployed monitoring tools and the NVC's comprehensive view, enabling anomaly tracking and swift, informed responses.
    • Efficiency: Ensure monitoring tools and network devices, such as switches, routers, and NPBs, work seamlessly with security services to maintain data flow, reroute traffic, or quarantine suspect packets as needed.
    • Availability: Maintain uninterrupted business continuity with automatic failover mechanisms that seamlessly reroute control and data traffic during disruptions, working alongside monitoring tools and inline bypass devices.

    Pervasive visibility through the network visibility adaptation layer ensures seamless performance, meeting critical business needs with confidence.
    Featured Resources
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    Unleashing Network Intelligence through Packetron TLS Decryption

    Unleashing Network Intelligence through Packetron TLS Decryption
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    WEBINAR - Network Visibility for Unified Communications

    WEBINAR - Network Visibility for Unified Communications
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    Solution Brief

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    Large Government Healthcare Organization Solves Network Visibility Complexity with Niagara Networks
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    Network Visibility – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

    Modern networks generate massive volumes of traffic across physical, virtual, and cloud environments. A visibility layer ensures monitoring tools receive the right traffic, in the right format, at the right scale, without overwhelming the tools or missing critical data.

    Niagara Networks enhances monitoring tools by centralizing traffic access and optimization. Its visibility architecture aggregates, filters, load-balances, and enriches traffic before delivering it to tools, improving accuracy, performance, and ROI.

    Without a visibility layer, monitoring tools may experience:

    • Blind spots in high-speed or encrypted traffic

    • Packet loss due to oversubscription

    • Incomplete or duplicate data

    • Poor performance and inaccurate analytics

    These issues reduce trust in monitoring results.

    Network packet brokers act as intelligent intermediaries between traffic sources and monitoring tools. They aggregate traffic from multiple points, apply filtering policies, and distribute optimized traffic streams to one or more tools simultaneously.

    Yes. An advanced packet broker enables traffic replication and distribution, allowing multiple monitoring tools (APM, NPM, NDR, forensics, etc.) to analyze the same traffic in parallel without impacting production networks.

    Yes, with the right architecture. Niagara supports encrypted traffic visibility through centralized TLS decryption, metadata extraction, and traffic optimization, enabling monitoring tools to regain insight into encrypted flows when policy allows.

    By optimizing and distributing traffic centrally, organizations can:

    • Extend the life of existing tools

    • Reduce the number of tools required

    • Avoid premature upgrades to higher-capacity appliances

    • Improve overall monitoring efficiency

    This significantly lowers total cost of ownership (TCO).

    At high speeds, tools alone cannot scale efficiently. A visibility layer with hardware-accelerated packet brokers distributes traffic across multiple tools and balances load, enabling monitoring to scale without constant tool replacement.

    Load balancing spreads traffic evenly across multiple monitoring appliances, preventing overload and ensuring consistent performance. If one tool fails, traffic can be redirected automatically to maintain continuous monitoring.

    Niagara provides consistent visibility across:

    • On-premises data centers

    • Virtualized environments

    • Public and private clouds

    Physical TAPs, virtual TAPs, and centralized physical and virtual network packet brokers ensure monitoring tools see traffic regardless of where workloads run.

    Niagara’s open architecture supports a wide range of tools, including:

    • Network Performance Monitoring (NPM)

    • Application Performance Monitoring (APM)

    • Network Detection & Response (NDR)

    • Traffic analytics and flow monitoring

    • Forensics and troubleshooting platforms

    As networks become more distributed, encrypted, and application-driven, monitoring is essential to ensure performance, availability, and security. Without reliable monitoring, issues go undetected, SLAs are missed, and operational risk increases.

    Traffic filtering ensures each monitoring tool receives only the traffic it needs, based on protocol, application, VLAN, IP, or other criteria. This reduces noise, improves analysis accuracy, and prevents unnecessary processing.

    No. Network monitoring supports NOC, SOC, and CloudOps teams by providing shared visibility into traffic behavior, performance anomalies, and potential threats - enabling faster collaboration and resolution.

    Niagara’s modular, scalable visibility architecture allows organizations to adapt to new tools, higher speeds, and evolving architectures without redesigning their monitoring infrastructure - protecting long-term investments.