What is Multi-Port Monitor?

CA Application Delivery Analysis Multi-Port Monitor is a powerful appliance that captures session-level packet data from a monitored data center. The appliance captures the data for reporting in CA Application Delivery Analysis and CA Application Performance Management (CA APM).

Data from the TCP packet headers help CA Application Delivery Analysis monitor end-to-end performance to measure application response time.
Data from full HTTP packets help CA APM map transactions in your environment to monitor the end-user experience and measure service-level agreements.

By passively monitoring large volumes of data center traffic from multiple ports, Multi-Port Monitor helps keep a continuous record of end-to-end system performance.

Packet headers from all traffic passing through the monitored mirrored ports are recorded and stored on Multi-Port Monitor for a short time. Data from 1-minute reporting intervals is kept for a few days and provided for analysis. Metrics are forwarded to CA Application Delivery Analysis for reporting or to CA Transaction Impact Manager (CA TIM), for reporting in CA APM.

Charts and tables in a Multi-Port Monitor analysis show per-host activity and performance data. An analysis offers multiple views of sessions data, volume statistics, and response times. An analysis also offers work flows for troubleshooting, several options for exporting data, and filtering options to help IT staff diagnose and respond to issues.

Multi-Port Monitor offers features to monitor its functionality.

Hardware-based filtering and packet-capturing options per logical port.
Hardware filters to calibrate performance and capture only the data of interest.
Multiple data feeds administered from one web page.
SNMP traps send an automatic notification about errors that can affect data monitoring or capture.

Multi-Port Monitor includes the following components:

Appliance

Hardware and software that monitor traffic that flows into and out of a switch. Performs the following functions:

Captures packets and writes them to storage.
Collects traffic statistics and analyzes packets for performance information.
Stores statistical data about the network, server, and application performance in a high-performance database.
Sends statistical data to CA TIM or CA Application Delivery Analysis for reporting and analysis.

Web interface

An administrative interface, accessible from a browser, that lets you:

View appliance statistics, including drive, CPU, and capture card status.
Configure system settings, such as port definitions, filtering options, and secure user accounts.
View, filter, and sort performance data that is based on captured packets and presented in formatted charts or tables.
Review locally stored session-level data on the Analysis tab.

This section contains the following topics:

Support for CA Application Delivery Analysis

Support for CA Transaction Impact Manager