sFLOW - sampled flow
======================

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        **What is sFlow?**

        sFlow (Sampled Flow) is a network monitoring protocol that provides continuous traffic visibility by sampling packets and collecting interface counters from network devices like switches and routers.

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        **Why is sFlow useful?**

        sFlow is useful because it offers scalable, real-time traffic analysis with low overhead, even in high-speed networks. It enables network administrators to monitor traffic patterns, detect anomalies, and troubleshoot performance issues efficiently.

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        **How it works?**

        sFlow works by sampling 1 out of every N packets on a network interface and exporting these samples, along with interface counters, to a central sFlow collector. The collector analyzes this data to provide insight into network usage and behavior.

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        **Where is sFlow used?**

        sFlow is widely used in large-scale enterprise networks, data centers, cloud environments, and service provider networks to monitor bandwidth usage, identify bottlenecks, and support capacity planning and security analysis.

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        **Which OSI layer does this protocol belong to?**

        sFlow operates at the **Application Layer (Layer 7)** but collects and analyzes data from various OSI layers, especially Layers 2 through 4 (Ethernet, IP, TCP/UDP).

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        **Is sFlow Windows specific?**

        No, sFlow is not Windows specific. While sFlow collectors can run on Windows, the protocol is platform-agnostic and implemented in networking hardware.

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        **Is sFlow Linux specific?**

        No, sFlow is not Linux specific. However, many open-source sFlow collectors and analysis tools are available for Linux systems, and Linux is commonly used in sFlow-based monitoring solutions.

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        **Which Transport Protocol is used by sFlow?**

        sFlow uses the **UDP** protocol for transmitting sampled data from agents (network devices) to collectors.

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        **Which Port is used by sFlow?**

        sFlow typically uses **UDP port 6343** for exporting sampled packets and counter data.

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        **Is sFlow using client-server model?**

        Yes, sFlow follows a **client-server model**, where the **sFlow agent** (client) in the network device sends data to the **sFlow collector** (server) for storage, analysis, and visualization.

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        Topics in this section,

                * :ref:`Learnings in this section <sFLOW_step1>`

                * :ref:`Terminology <sFLOW_step2>`

                * :ref:`Version Info <sFLOW_step3>`

                * :ref:`sFLOW Version&IEEE Details <sFLOW_step5>`

                * :ref:`sFLOW Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv4 <sFLOW_step18>`

                * :ref:`sFLOW Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv6 <sFLOW_step19>`

                * :ref:`sFLOW Protocol Packet Details <sFLOW_step6>`

                * :ref:`sFLOW Usecases <sFLOW_step7>`

                * :ref:`sFLOW Basic Features <sFLOW_step8>`
                    
                * :ref:`Reference links <sFLOW_step17>`


.. _sFLOW_step1:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: Learnings in this section

        * In this section, you are going to learn

.. _sFLOW_step2:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: Terminology
        
       * Terminology


.. _sFLOW_step3:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: Version Info
    
         * Version Info

.. _sFLOW_step5:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: sFLOW Version&RFC Details

        * rfc details

.. _sFLOW_step18:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: sFLOW Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv4

       * setup

.. _sFLOW_step19:

.. tab-set::
  
   .. tab-item:: sFLOW Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv6

     * setup
       
.. _sFLOW_step6:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: sFLOW Protocol Packet Details

        * packet details
       


.. _sFLOW_step7:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: sFLOW Usecases

       * usecases
        
        

.. _sFLOW_step8:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: sFLOW Basic Features
    
        * features 



.. _sFLOW_step17:

.. tab-set::

    .. tab-item:: Reference links
     
       * Reference links