| abstract |
This is invention comprises a method and apparatus for Infinite Network Packet Capture System (INPCS). The INPCS is a high performance data capture recorder capable of capturing and archiving all network traffic present on a single network or multiple networks. This device can be attached to Ethernet networks via copper or SX fiber via either a SPAN port ( 101 ) router configuration or via an optical splitter ( 102 ). By this method, multiple sources or network traffic including gigabit Ethernet switches ( 102 ) may provide parallelized data feeds to the capture appliance ( 104 ), effectively increasing collective data capture capacity. Multiple captured streams are merged into a consolidated time indexed capture stream to support asymmetrically routed network traffic as well as other merged streams for external consumption. |