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Configuring sFlow
sFlow is a traffic monitoring technique.
As shown in Figure 68, the sFlow system involves an sFlow agent embedded in a device and a
remote sFlow collector. The sFlow agent collects interface counter information and packet
information and encapsulates the sampled information in sFlow packets. When the sFlow packet
buffer is full, or the aging timer (fixed to 1 second) expires, the sFlow agent performs the following
tasks:
• Encapsulates the sFlow packets in the UDP datagrams.
• Sends the UDP datagrams to the specified sFlow collector.
The sFlow collector analyzes the information and displays the results. One sFlow collector can
monitor multiple sFlow agents.
sFlow provides the following sampling mechanisms:
• Flow sampling—Obtains packet information.
• Counter sampling—Obtains interface counter information.
Figure 68 sFlow system
Protocols and standards
• RFC 3176, InMon Corporation's sFlow: A Method for Monitoring Traffic in Switched and Routed
Networks
• sFlow.org, sFlow Version 5
sFlow configuration task list
(Required.) Configuring the sFlow agent and sFlow collector information
Perform at least one of the following tasks:
• Configuring flow sampling
• Configuring counter sampling
Device
sFlow collector
Ethernet
header
UDP
header
sFlow Datagram
IP
header
Flow
sampling
Counter
sampling
sFlow agent
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