Hewlett-Packard has announced that it has implemented a new technology designed to improve traffic monitoring in wireless networks.  HP’s ProCurve Network enterprise LAN switching business features a full fledged NAC portfolio to check devices before they are admitted to networks, to assign and enforce their access rights as they join networks and to monitor and accordingly restrict their behavior if they misbehave.  ProCurve has incorporated sFlow technology into its Wireless Edge Services new xl Module for its switches.

sFlow is an IETF specification – RFC 3176 -- that uses packet-based traffic sampling to provide network-wide visibility. sFlow is a MIB technology that is embedded on some network switches.  It allows customers to view network traffic by randomly sampling network traffic from all ports, then running the samples through an algorithm to create a complete network map that is updated in real time. 

It is intended to improve information about network traffic both in wired and wireless environments, allowing a customer to respond to security threats. sFlow can also be used to detect network intrusions, such as unauthorized rogue NAT devices (WLAN hubs) that might be present on the network, for assistance in wireless deployment, and for troubleshooting wireless performance and signal strength.

The wireless extensions for sFlow were jointly developed by HP ProCurve and InMon Corporation.

Read more here.