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2016's Winner Best of Blog - Born in the USA, Tech Talk, SPAN vs TAP and more

January 5, 2017

Thank you networking community! You voted and we are pleased to announce the top 'Tap into Technology ' blog posts of 2016.

Below are the top 3 posts from 2016. Thank you for being a part of the Garland community and we look forward to the exciting network news, products and information 2017 will bring.

 1. [SlideShare] Tech Talk 2016: Crapplet, Cat Waxing, and CamelCase

Posted by Tim O'Neill on 9/6/16

Back by popular demand is my second edition of Tech Talk, were you can learn all about "Crapplets," "Cat Waxing" and other unusually interesting words from the cyber world. 

In our 2015 post I explained "Smurfing" and "Yak Shaving," and according to my colleagues at Garland it was a viral hit. Based on the strong response, I've gone back to the basement to think of all the terms and phrases I've heard over the years to develop Tech Talk 2016.

So if you want to expand your vocabulary and don't mind getting odd-ball looks when you drop the line, "I'd like to meet the Einstein that wrote this Cowboy Code," then read on.

>>READ MORE

 

2. Born in the USA: The Story of Garland Network TAPs

BornInTheUSA-2.pngPosted by Jerry Dillard on 6/30/16

Since I began my career as a network engineer in the mid ‘90s, I have always considered network uptime and security to be the ultimate metrics against which all innovations in the communications industry should be measured.

In fact, these two principles were the guiding force behind my seminal work designing a network TAP and the reason that Garland Technology today is a successful American enterprise with solutions deployed worldwide.

In this post, I'll explain why Garland takes extra steps to ensure a quality made and tested network TAP, and the importance of US manufacturing.

>>READ MORE

3. [Video] SPAN vs TAP Comparison

Portrait_TonyFortunato_TAPS_vs_SPAN.jpgPosted by Tony Fortunato on 4/14/16

 I want to address the age old argument of SPAN vs TAP. Over the years I’ve read a few articles covering the points you should be familiar with when working with either. Most of the articles cover similar points; SPAN will not forward corrupted packets and that it can drop packets.

What I haven’t seen is material addressing the timing issue as well as a realistic load of approximately 9%. Here's what my video shows...

>>READ MORE

 

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Heartbeats Packets Inside the Bypass TAP

If the inline security tool goes off-line, the TAP will bypass the tool and automatically keep the link flowing. The Bypass TAP does this by sending heartbeat packets to the inline security tool. As long as the inline security tool is on-line, the heartbeat packets will be returned to the TAP, and the link traffic will continue to flow through the inline security tool.

If the heartbeat packets are not returned to the TAP (indicating that the inline security tool has gone off-line), the TAP will automatically 'bypass' the inline security tool and keep the link traffic flowing. The TAP also removes the heartbeat packets before sending the network traffic back onto the critical link.

While the TAP is in bypass mode, it continues to send heartbeat packets out to the inline security tool so that once the tool is back on-line, it will begin returning the heartbeat packets back to the TAP indicating that the tool is ready to go back to work. The TAP will then direct the network traffic back through the inline security tool along with the heartbeat packets placing the tool back inline.

Some of you may have noticed a flaw in the logic behind this solution!  You say, “What if the TAP should fail because it is also in-line? Then the link will also fail!” The TAP would now be considered a point of failure. That is a good catch – but in our blog on Bypass vs. Failsafe, I explained that if a TAP were to fail or lose power, it must provide failsafe protection to the link it is attached to. So our network TAP will go into Failsafe mode keeping the link flowing.

Glossary

  1. Single point of failure: a risk to an IT network if one part of the system brings down a larger part of the entire system.

  2. Heartbeat packet: a soft detection technology that monitors the health of inline appliances. Read the heartbeat packet blog here.

  3. Critical link: the connection between two or more network devices or appliances that if the connection fails then the network is disrupted.

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