PacketSentry appliances employ patented deep packet analysis technologies and multi-core processing to convert network traffic into records of user activity.

Comprised of Managers and Probes, PacketSentry hardware works in tandem to provide real-time network and security analysis.

PacketSentry Manager centrally administers the complete system, interfaces with network identity and directory services, and manages the database of transactions captured by PacketSentry Probes. The Manager uses embedded Oracle Enterprise and has multiple terabytes of online storage. The Manager controls and collects data from multiple Probes, which capture, analyze, and enforce network user transactions in real-time.

Key PacketSentry Manager specifications include a 3U rackmount enclosure, four Intel Quad Core Xeons, 44GB RAM, 6 SATA disk drives yielding 2.6 TB (RAID-1), a hardened 64bit Linux network operating system and two GbE and two Serial ports.

PacketSentry Probes are deployed in key locations on the network, such as on switch span ports (not in-line) in front of server farms. Each Probe processes over one gigabit of network traffic and conducts L4-7 decode analysis to record details, bind user identities and enforce PacketSentry rules.

Probes provide 1GBps traffic monitoring throughput. Hardware highlights include four Intel Quad Core processors and one Cavium accelerator, 12GB RAM, 2 SATA Disk Drives for 320 GB of capacity (RAID-1) and six GbE (2 management 3 monitor, 1 enforce) ports and one Serial port.

All communication between the PacketSentry Manager and Probes is authenticated and encrypted. The combined platform provides real-time, granular network user visibility, monitoring and policy enforcement.

Additional functionality includes:

- Centralized control via a browser interface that relays to administrators the information assets a network user can access - beyond Netflow trends and instances of IP addresses, ports and session data

- Deep packet analysis captures, decodes and correlates layers 4-7 user activity and provides information asset access controls in real-time at LAN-rate

- Active Directory integration imports, monitors and applies directory object changes to respective PacketSentry components

- Capture of all the business-level network transactions down to the database and database table, directory/folder name and filename, and e-mail, webmail, chat and P2P sources, destination and attachments

- Reporting and rules engine that includes extensible templates aligned to ISO, COBIT and data privacy frameworks and controls

The latest PackerSentry features allow auditing of access control permission changes on Windows file servers and network attached storage systems.

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