A Scalable Architecture for Network Traffic Monitoring and Analysis Using Free Open Source Software

The lack of current network dynamics studies that evaluate the effects of new application and protocol deployment or long-term studies that observe the effect of incremental changes on the Internet, and the change in the overall stability of the Internet under various conditions and threats has made network monitoring challenging. A good understanding of the nature and type of network traffic is the key to solving congestion problems. In this paper we describe the architecture and implementation of a scalable network traffic monitoring and analysis system. The gigabit interface on the monitoring system was configured to capture network traffic and the Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) and Webalizer produces graphical and detailed traffic analysis. This system is in use at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; we describe how this system can be replicated in another environment.