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Catalyst 6500 Series Switch Software Configuration Guide—Release 8.7
OL-8978-04
Chapter 49 Configuring SPAN, RSPAN and the Mini Protocol Analyzer
SPAN, RSPAN and Mini Protocol Analyzer Session Limits
The functional differences between the Mini Protocol Analyzer and SPAN are as follows:
•
The Mini Protocol Analyzer does not use a SPAN destination port, which frees up an extra port for
network traffic.
•
The Mini Protocol Analyzer does not require an external traffic analyzer such as a remote monitor.
•
You do not require physical access to the switch to attach a network analyzer. You can access and
download the output file from the Flash memory.
Mini Protocol Analyzer Session
A Mini Protocol Analyzer session is an association of a source port with the output file to which the
source port traffic is mirrored. You can filter the type of traffic that is monitored by the following criteria:
•
Source IP address
•
Destination IP address
•
Source MAC address
•
Destination MAC address
By default, all traffic is captured. If you specify any combination of source and destination filters, only
the traffic that matches those source and destination filters will be captured. The source and destination
filters are applied on a Boolean logical OR basis—if traffic meets any of the criteria specified in any of
the filters, it will be captured.
If you specify a filter based on the packet size, the packets that are larger than the specified size are
captured and truncated to the specified size. You can specify a maximum of 16 filters for a Mini Protocol
Analyzer session. Enter the
set packet-capture snap-length
command to specify the length to which
the packets are truncated. The packet length is not counted against the maximum number of filters.
You can specify the filtering criteria either before or after you begin the Mini Protocol Analyzer session.
If you specify the filtering criteria before you start the Mini Protocol Analyzer session, only the traffic
that meets the filtering criteria is captured and sent to the output file. You can also filter the captured
traffic after the Mini Protocol Analyzer session completes by using the Filter function of the Ethereal
Network Protocol Analyzer.
You enable or disable a Mini Protocol Analyzer session using CLI or SNMP commands.
A Mini Protocol Analyzer session becomes active when both of the following criteria are met:
•
After the source port becomes operational.
•
After you enter the
set packet-capture start
command.
SPAN, RSPAN and Mini Protocol Analyzer Session Limits
You can configure (and store in NVRAM) a maximum of 30 SPAN sessions or 29 SPAN sessions and
(store in the Flash memory) one Mini Protocol Analyzer session in a Catalyst 6500 series switch.
