<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none;" alt="" src="https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=2975524&amp;fmt=gif">
BLOG

Ensuring Full Data Capture in Harsh Environments

September 13, 2018

Federal Network Security Monitoring Garland Technology

Network visibility is the foundation of all network activities.  Network visibility becomes even more important in mission-critical situations, however when these situations move outside the lab, it can be more challenging to ensure that visibility and collect all the traffic of interest.  

A leading infrastructure contract for the Department of Defense (DoD) came to Garland Technology because they were looking for a way to effectively collect and analyze data related to communications, battlefield tactical deployments, and situational awareness.

Understanding the Situation

While network Test Access Points have been used by the Department of Defense as part of the network visibility solution to measure and assess battlefield communications, they identified a need for a type of hardware that would regularly be able to stand up to the harsh environments of the field, while also supporting higher network speeds. The TAP needed to be ruggedized, compact, and be of superb quality and design. Ultimately, they determined that what they needed for the field testing didn’t exist in the marketplace. A vendor had to be chosen to create a unique breakout TAP that provided the flexibility needed by the DoD.

The contractor turned to Garland Technology after finding they could address the custom modification specs and deliver the products faster than other vendors.


Project Requirements

1. Portability & Vehicle-Mounted
The solution had to be portable as it would be tested both inside and outside of military vehicles during drills and exercises. But they also wanted the ability for the TAPs to be mounted to a plate and then run the cabling to any connected devices that need traffic from a breakout TAP.

2. Durability
It was imperative that the hardware be able to withstand harsh environments including high heat, corrosive elements and high pressure.

3. Design
A design requirement also included a solution to address electromagnetic interference (EMI).

4. Capability
The connections and power connectors needed to be secure with custom Mighty Mouse ports.

>> Download now: Zero Trust Cybersecurity [Whitepaper]


The Solution

Garland Technology developed a custom Military-Grade Industrial TAP supporting 1G network speeds that boasted “wings” on the chassis so each could be mounted in a different location, as well as having a double-bay chassis so they could TAP more tools. These features ensured that battlefield exercise data was effectively collected. All communication devices were outfitted with a Garland Technology network TAP which fed the data through a packet capture tool and onto hard drives.

Garland Technology continues to capture 100% of ongoing DoD exercise data using network TAPs. This has ensured the packet capture of full-duplex traffic without dropping packets or losing connections under extreme environmental elements.

Garland Technology delivered the industry’s most customizable breakout TAP products in the shortest amount of time with complete reliability; well-beyond traditional market life.
-Bruce Aldrick, Jacobs Engineering

With over 250 Garland Network TAPs in circulation, and over four and a half years, the DoD has not experienced any product failure, nor had a need for improvements/replacements, thus, Garland Technology was able to deliver a business product solution that was, and still is, a business driver.

Looking to add a visibility solution to your next deployment, but not sure where to start? Join us for a brief network Design-IT consultation or demo. No obligation - it’s what we love to do!

zero-trust-cybersecurity-free-whitepaper

See Everything. Secure Everything.

Contact us now to secure and optimized your network operations

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