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[eBook] The 101 on Network TAPs - the Definitive Guide

January 24, 2017

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As a sales leader, my day is filled with training and educating resellers, network professionals and new Garland team members on the different types of network TAPs available. Depending on who I'm talking with, the conversation can be an overview of how TAPs work, the variety of functions performed by TAPs and what network scenarios network TAPs are commonly used with.

I discovered early on, that there weren't any resources for network TAP training and teamed up with our engineers and experts to create a blog series called The 101 on Network TAPs. The blog series has been so successful, we took excerpts of the key learning concepts and created a comprehensive TAP training guide.

Today, I'm pleased to introduce our new eBook, The 101 on Network TAPs - The Networking Users Guide, this is a definitive guide explaining the same concepts I explain everyday.


Not a ...'for Dummies' Book

The 101 on Network TAPs eBook is written for anyone in the network connectivity profession that needs a strong baseline of knowledge on network TAPs. In addition to the overall content, there are three call out areas to appeal to all knowledge levels:

TAP Tips - Easy to digest tips to save for later when you need to apply the knowledge

Remember - Don't forget this information - it's a key concept

Deep Dive - For networking and security professionals, we provide links to additional resources into technical concepts.


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Download Network TAPs 101!


Pure Play Education

Are you one of many IT professionals that gets tired of being 'sold to' in what vendors are calling 'educational content'? We wrote this eBook with unbiased, non-vendor specific content. However, if you would like to know more about Garland's network TAPs  contact me and my sales team for a 2017 product overview.  

This eBook is made possible through the research and writing of Jerry Dillard, CTO/Co-founder of Garland Technology and George Bouchard, System Engineer at Garland Technology. Both Jerry and George are contributing writers for Garland's 101 Series on Network TAPs - an educational blog series on how network TAPs work and the different functions they provide to the overall network design for access and visibility.

[Ready to dig in? Read or download the eBook Network TAPs 101 - The Networking User Guide now!]

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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.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT | THE 101 SERIES