Black Box TS230A-R2 User manual

Provides access to the data streams passing

through a high-speed network device and a

switch.

Models available to monitor both copper and optical links.

Order toll-free in the U.S.: Call 877-877-BBOX (outside U.S. call 724-746-5500)

FREE technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: Call 724-746-5500 or fax

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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION and INDUSTRY CANADA

RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE STATEMENTS

This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio-frequency energy, and if not installed and

used properly, that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, may cause

interference to radio communication.

It has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A computing device in

accordance with the specifications in Subpart B of Part 15 of FCC rules, which are designed to

provide reasonable protection against such interference when the equipment is operated in a

commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause

interference, in which case the user at his own expense will be required to take whatever

measures may be necessary to correct the interference.

Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance

could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. This digital apparatus does not

exceed the Class A limits for radio noise emission from digital apparatus set out in the Radio

Interference Regulation of Industry Canada.

Le présent appareil numérique n’émet pas de bruits radioélectriques dépassant les limites

applicables aux appareils numériques de la classe A prescrites dans le Règlement sur le

brouillage radioélectrique publié par Industrie Canada.

Normas Oficiales Mexicanas (NOM)

Electrical Safety Statement

INSTRUCCIONES DE SEGURIDAD

1Todas las instrucciones de seguridad y operación deberán ser leídas antes de que el aparato

eléctrico sea operado.

2Las instrucciones de seguridad y operación deberán ser guardadas para referencia futura.

3Todas las advertencias en el aparato eléctrico y en sus instrucciones de operación deben ser

respetadas.

4Todas las instrucciones de operación y uso deben ser seguidas.

5El aparato eléctrico no deberá ser usado cerca del agua-por ejemplo, cerca de la tina de

baño, lavabo, sótano mojado o cerca de una alberca, etc..

6El aparato eléctrico debe ser usado únicamente con carritos o pedestales que sean

recomendados por el fabricante.

7El aparato eléctrico debe ser montado a la pared o al techo sólo como sea recomendado por

el fabricante

8Servicio-El usuario no debe intentar dar servicio al equipo eléctrico más allá a lo descrito

en las instrucciones de operación. Todo otro servicio deberá ser referido a personal de

servicio calificado.

9El aparato eléctrico debe ser situado de tal manera que su posición no interfiera su uso. La

colocación del aparato eléctrico sobre una cama, sofá, alfombra o superficie similar puede

bloquea la ventilación, no se debe colocar en libreros o gabinetes que impidan el flujo de

aire por los orificios de ventilación.

10 El equipo eléctrico deber ser situado fuera del alcance de fuentes de calor como radiadores,

registros de calor, estufas u otros aparatos (incluyendo amplificadores) que producen calor.

11 El aparato eléctrico deberá ser connectado a una fuente de poder sólo del tipo descrito en

el instructivo de operación, o como se indique en el aparato.

12 Precaución debe ser tomada de tal manera que la tierra fisica y la polarización del equipo

no sea eliminada.

13 Los cables de la fuente de poder deben ser guiados de tal manera que no sean pisados ni

pellizcados por objetos colocados sobre o contra ellos, poniendo particular atención a los

contactos y receptáculos donde salen del aparato.

14 El equipo eléctrico debe ser limpiado únicamente de acuerdo a las recomendaciones del

fabricante.

15 En caso de existir, una antena externa deberá ser localizada lejos de las lineas de energia.

16 El cable de corriente deberá ser desconectado del cuando el equipo no sea usado por un

largo periodo de tiempo.

17 Cuidado debe ser tomado de tal manera que objectos liquidos no sean derramados sobre la

cubierta u orificios de ventilación.

18 Servicio por personal calificado deberá ser provisto cuando:

AEl cable de poder o el contacto ha sido dañado; u

BObjectos han caído o líquido ha sido derramado dentro del aparato; o

CEl aparato ha sido expuesto a la lluvia; o

DEl aparato parece no operar normalmente o muestra un cambio en su desempeño; o

EEl aparato ha sido tirado o su cubierta ha sido dañada.

rev. 1

Contents

Chapter 1: TAPs Overview

Security, convenience, and dependability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Deciding whether to use a TAP or a SPAN/mirror port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Choosing between a SPAN, Aggregator, or full-duplex TAP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

When to use a SPAN/mirror port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

When to use an Aggregator TAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

When to use a full-duplex TAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 2: Copper TAPs

Major features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Standard and optional parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Installing the Copper TAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Ports, LEDs, and power connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Interpreting the Link and Speed LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

10/100 TAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

10/100/1000 TAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Chapter 3: Optical TAPs

Major features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Standard and optional parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Installing the Optical TAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Attenuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Attenuation and TAPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Determining the best split ratio for you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Attenuation and optical cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Managing attenuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Chapter 4: Aggregator TAPs

Major features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Standard and optional parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Choosing an Aggregator TAP buffer size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Installing the Copper Aggregator TAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Ports, LEDs, and power connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

rev. 1

Interpreting the Link and Speed LEDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Connection sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chapter 5: FAQ and Troubleshooting

What happens if my TAP loses power? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

What latency does a TAP create?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Are the analyzer ports “send only”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Can I daisy chain an Aggregator TAP? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Can I “team” NICs in my analyzer?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

How do I connect my failover devices?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Not seeing traffic at the analyzer from the TAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Choosing crossover or straight-through cables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

I am seeing CRC errors on my network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

VLAN tags not visible at the analyzer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Chapter 1 TAPs Overview

rev. 1

Chap ter 1

TAPs Overview

Security, convenience, and dependability

Chapter 1 TAPs Overview

rev. 1

Thank you for purchasing the TAP: the most robust, secure, and

convenient mechanism for network analyzers and similar devices to

copy data streams from high-capacity network links.

A network Test Access Port (TAP) provides access to the data streams

passing through a high-speed, full-duplex network link (typically

between a network device and a switch. The TAP copies both sides of

a full-duplex link (copper or optical, depending on type of TAP), and

sends the copied data streams to an analyzer, probe, intrusion

detection system (IDS) or any other passive analysis device. There are

different TAP models available to monitor both copper and optical

links.

Security, convenience, and dependability

The security and convenience of a TAP makes it preferable to inline

connections for network analysis and intrusion detection and

prevention (IDS/IPS) applications. Because a TAP has no address on

the network, the TAP and the analyzer connected to it cannot be the

target of a hack or virus attack. TAPs are economical to install,

allowing you to leave them permanently deployed. This allows you to

connect and disconnect the analysis device as needed without

breaking the full-duplex connection, much like plugging in an

electrical device.

A TAP is also preferable to using a switch’s SPAN/mirror port to copy

the data stream. Unlike the SPAN/mirror port, a TAP will not filter

any errors from the data stream. Also, because a SPAN/mirror port is a

half-duplex link (that is, a send-only “simplex” data stream), it has the

capacity to transmit only half of a fully-saturated link. Additionally, a

TAP does not use any of the switch’s CPU resources.

Deciding whether to use a TAP or a SPAN/mirror port

A TAP is a passive splitting mechanism installed between a device of

interest and the network. A TAP copies the incoming network traffic

and splits it. It passes the network traffic to the network and sends a

copy of that traffic (both send and receive) to a monitoring device in

real time. A switch cannot pass physical layer errors (poorly formed

packets, runts, CRCs) to the analyzer, but a TAP will.

Deciding whether to use a TAP or a SPAN/mirror port

Chapter 1 TAPs Overview

rev. 1

Most enterprise switches copy the activity of one or more ports

through a Switch Port Analyzer (SPAN) port, also known as a mirror

port. An analysis device can then be attached to the SPAN port to

access network traffic.

Use Figure 1 and Tab le 1 to determine whether to use a TAP or a

SPAN/mirror port.

Figure 1 TAP versus SPAN

Choosing between a SPAN, Aggregator, or full-duplex TAP

Chapter 1 TAPs Overview

rev. 1

Choosing between a SPAN, Aggregator, or full-duplex

TAP

There are numerous ways to access full-duplex traffic on a network

for analysis: SPAN/mirror ports, Aggregator TAPs, or full-duplex TAPs

are the three most common. Which you use depends on the saturation

level of the link (up to 200% of link speed when both sides are

combined) you want to monitor and the level of visibility you require.

Each approach has advantages and disadvantages. SPANs and

Aggregator TAPs are designed to work with a standard (and usually

less expensive) network card on the analysis device, but their

limitations make them less than ideal for situations where it is

necessary to guarantee the visibility of every packet on the wire.

A full-duplex TAP is the ideal solution for monitoring full-duplex

networks utilized at more than 50 percent (100% when both sides are

Table 1 Pros and Cons of TAPs and SPANs

TAP SPAN/mirror port

Pros Eliminates the risk of dropped packets Low cost

Monitoring device receives all packets,

including physical errors

Remotely configurable from any system

connected to the switch

Provides full visibility into full-duplex networks Able to copy intra-switch traffic

Cons Analysis device may need dual-receive capture

interface if you are using a full-duplex TAP

(does not apply to Aggregator TAPs)

Cannot handle heavily utilized full-duplex links

without dropping packets

Additional cost with purchase of TAP hardware Filters out physical layer errors, hampering

some types of analysis

Cannot monitor intra-switch traffic Burden placed on a switch’s CPU to copy all

data passing through ports

Switch puts lower priority on SPAN port data

than regular port-to-port data

Can change the timing of frame interaction

altering response times

Bottom

line

A TAP is ideal when analysis requires seeing all

the traffic, including physical-layer errors. A

TAP is required if network utilization is

moderate to heavy. An Aggregator TAP can be

used as an effective compromise between a

TAP and SPAN port, delivering some of the

advantages of a TAP and none of the

disadvantages of a SPAN port.

A SPAN port performs well on low-utilized

networks or when analysis is not affected by

dropped packets.

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