Network Management and Realtime Traffic Flow Measurement

An understanding of the traf® c ̄ ows in a network is vital for network management. One needs to collect traf® c ̄ ow data from many points throughout the network for performance monitoring and capacity planning, and be able to analyze it in terms of users and traf® c types for security and congestion management. The Realtime Traf® c Flow Measurement (RTFM) Architecture provides an effective method for obtaining traf® c ̄ ow data, and for these purposes it offers some advantages over current remote monitoring (RMON) techniques. The IETF’ s RTFM Working Group has developed the architecture and is re® ning it within the IETF Standards process [1±4].