TAPs (Physical & Virtual)

“Physical and virtual traffic access for pervasive visibility.”

What are NETSCOUT TAPs?

NETSCOUT’s Test Access Points (TAPs) are the foundation of visibility fabrics, enabling lossless access to traffic for monitoring, observability, and security.
They guarantee 100% packet fidelity for analysis tools, while maintaining fail-safe operation on production links.
In addition to physical TAPs, NETSCOUT also offers vTAPs to capture traffic inside virtualized and cloud environments, ensuring end-to-end observability.

Types of NETSCOUT TAPs

Copper TAPs

• Support 1G copper Ethernet links.
• Provide full-duplex monitoring with no packet loss.
• Ideal for legacy environments and enterprise LANs.

Optical TAPs

• Available for multimode and single-mode fiber (1G/10G/40G/100G).
• Options include passive optical TAPs (no power required) for maximum reliability.
• Used in data centers and high-speed backbone links.

High-Density Modular TAPs

• Chassis supporting multiple TAP blades.
• Enable scalable deployment in enterprise and carrier networks.
• Reduce footprint by consolidating multiple TAPs into a single frame.

Bypass TAPs

• Designed for inline security appliances (firewalls, IDS/IPS, DLP).
• Provide fail-safe bypass in case of tool failure or maintenance.
• Maintain traffic continuity with heartbeat-based failover.

Aggregation TAPs

• Combine multiple low-utilization links into fewer monitoring outputs.
• Simplify tool connectivity when port availability is limited.
• Often used before Packet Flow Switches for initial aggregation.

Virtual TAPs (vTAPs)

• Software agents deployed inside hypervisors (VMware, KVM) or cloud instances (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Capture east-west and north-south traffic in virtualized environments.
• Forward traffic to vSTREAM probes or PFS for Smart Data generation.
• Provide visibility where physical TAPs cannot be deployed (cloud workloads, NFV).

Benefits for the Client

• End-to-end visibility – from physical backbone links to cloud workloads.
  
• Lossless fidelity – 100% packet copy, no filtering or drops.
  
• Fail-safe operation – passive optical and bypass TAPs ensure resiliency.
  
• Scalable design – modular chassis for dense environments.
  Hybrid observability – vTAPs extend visibility into virtualized and cloud domains.

Why NETSCOUT TAPs are Different ?

• Comprehensive portfolio – copper, optical, modular, bypass, and virtual TAPs.
  
• Carrier-grade reliability – trusted in Tier-1 operator backbones.
• Integrated fabric – designed to work seamlessly with PFS, nDA, and Smart Data probes.
• Cloud-ready – vTAPs ensure hybrid and multi-cloud visibility.

Typical Use Cases

• Deploy optical TAPs on high-speed backbone links (10/40/100G).
• Use copper TAPs for enterprise LAN visibility.
• Deploy bypass TAPs inline with security appliances for resilience.
• Consolidate monitoring with aggregation TAPs.
• Extend visibility to cloud workloads with vTAPs + vSTREAM probes.

“High-performance copper, fiber, and virtual TAPs for uncompromised network visibility.”

What are Keysight TAPs?

Keysight Network TAPs (Test Access Points) provide reliable, lossless access to network traffic across copper, fiber, and virtual environments.

They are the foundation of Keysight’s Visibility Solutions, enabling monitoring, security, and observability tools to see all the traffic — without drops, without compromise.

Keysight offers one of the most complete TAP portfolios in the market:

• Passive and Active Fiber TAPs (including BiDi and high-speed 400G),
• Copper TAPs for enterprise and datacenter links,
• Aggregation and Regeneration TAPs,
• Bypass TAPs for inline security,
• Virtual TAPs for cloud and SDN environments.

Key TAP Families

🔹 Passive Fiber TAPs

• Split optical signals to provide 100% packet visibility.
• Support single-mode and multi-mode fiber, from 1G to 400G.
• Available in BiDi (Bidirectional) versions for modern datacenter interconnects.
• Zero impact on network performance — fully passive, no power required.

🔹 Active Fiber & Copper TAPs

• Powered TAPs that maintain signal integrity on long links or high-speed connections.
• Support for regeneration (duplicating traffic to multiple tools).
• Ideal for dense, high-speed datacenter environments.

🔹 Aggregation & Regeneration TAPs

• Combine multiple links into a single monitoring port (aggregation).
• Replicate the same traffic stream to multiple monitoring and security tools (regeneration).
• Reduce complexity and maximize tool utilization.

🔹 Bypass TAPs (for Inline Security Tools)

• Protect network availability when firewalls, IDS/IPS, or NDR systems are deployed inline.
• Fail-to-Wire and Fail-to-Open modes to maintain continuity if tools fail or are taken offline.
• Built-in heartbeat technology to monitor inline devices and trigger bypass automatically.

🔹 Virtual TAPs

• Extend visibility into cloud, SDN, and virtualized environments (VMware, AWS, Azure, Kubernetes).
• Capture intra-VM and east-west traffic that is invisible to physical TAPs.
• Feed traffic into virtual packet brokers or hybrid visibility fabrics.

Benefits for the Client

• Uncompromised visibility: Access every packet, error, and anomaly in real time.
• Future-proof: Support for 1G to 400G speeds across copper, fiber, and BiDi links.
• Optimize tool ROI: Deliver clean, precise traffic streams to NDR, SIEM, and APM tools.
• Increased resilience: Inline bypass TAPs ensure security tools don’t become single points of failure.
• Cloud-ready: Extend observability to virtual and multi-cloud workloads.

 Why Keysight TAPs are Different ?

• Comprehensive portfolio: covers copper, fiber, BiDi, aggregation, bypass, and virtual TAPs.
• High-speed readiness: up to 400G fiber TAPs for modern datacenters.
• BiDi support: native TAPs for bidirectional transceivers.
• Integration: tightly connected with Keysight Vision Series Packet Brokers for advanced filtering, deduplication, and traffic intelligence.
• Global trust: widely adopted in telecom, finance, and government sectors.

 Typical Use Cases

• Provide lossless traffic feeds to monitoring and security platforms.
• Deploy Bypass TAPs to secure inline firewalls, IPS, and NDR appliances.
• Use Aggregation TAPs to consolidate multiple low-utilization links.
• Deploy Virtual TAPs for visibility in hybrid and cloud environments.
• Enable high-speed observability in 100G and 400G datacenter backbones.

Services & Support (What We Offer)

• Visibility Workshops – assess customer infrastructure and define TAP strategy.
• Deployment Services – install and integrate TAPs across datacenter and WAN.
• Cloud Visibility Design – extend TAP strategy to hybrid and virtual environments.
• Integration – connect Keysight TAPs with Vision Packet Brokers for complete Deep Observability.
• Managed Services – operate and maintain TAP infrastructure.

“Fail-safe, lossless access to network traffic for monitoring and security.”

What are Profitap TAPs ?

Profitap Network TAPs (Test Access Points) provide permanent, in-line, and fail-safe access to live network traffic. Unlike SPAN ports, TAPs guarantee lossless packet capture, zero out-of-order frames, and no impact on network performance.

Profitap offers one of the broadest TAP portfolios in the industry, covering copper, fiber, bypass, aggregation, replication, regeneration, and virtual TAPs (vTAP), ensuring visibility across physical, virtual, and cloud infrastructures.

Focus on Optical TAPs (Fiber TAPs)

Profitap’s optical TAPs are non-intrusive splitters that deliver 100% visibility into duplex fiber links without affecting live traffic. They are designed for carrier-grade reliability and cover a full range of optical standards:

• Single-Mode Fiber (SMF) TAPs
  ▫️For long-haul and backbone links.
  ▫️Wavelengths: 1310/1550 nm and CWDM/DWDM spectrum.
  ▫️Speeds: 1G → 400G.
• Multimode Fiber (MMF) TAPs
  ▫️For short-range data center and enterprise connectivity.
  ▫️Variants for OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, OM5.
  ▫️Speeds: 1G → 100G.
• BiDi (Bidirectional) TAPs
  ▫️Capture bidirectional traffic carried on a single fiber.
  ▫️Ideal for modern high-density data centers.
• High-Speed Fiber TAPs
  ▫️Support for 40G, 100G, 200G, and 400G Ethernet.
  ▫️Optimized for leaf-spine architectures and carrier backbones.
• Ruggedized & Secure Optical TAPs
  ▫️Hardened enclosures for government, finance, and defense environments.
  ▫️Ensure tamper resistance and compliance with strict regulatory requirements.

Other TAP Families

• Copper TAPs – in-line access for 10/100/1000M and 10G copper links.
• Bypass TAPs – maintain link integrity when security tools fail or need maintenance.
• Aggregation TAPs – merge multiple links into a single output for monitoring.
• Regeneration TAPs – replicate one link to multiple monitoring tools.
• Replication TAPs – distribute identical traffic copies for parallel monitoring.
• Virtual TAPs (vTAPs) – capture east-west traffic in virtualized and cloud environments.

Benefits for the Client

• Lossless optical visibility – every packet, error, and frame is captured.
  
• Future-proof speeds – from legacy 1G up to next-gen 400G.
  
• Deployment flexibility – support for SMF, MMF, BiDi, CWDM, and DWDM.
  
• Enhanced compliance – secure TAPs for regulated industries.
  
• Tool optimization – aggregation and replication to maximize monitoring ROI.

Why Profitap is Different ?

• Broadest optical TAP portfolio – SMF, MMF, BiDi, high-speed, ruggedized.
  
• Carrier-grade reliability – deployed in telcos, data centers, and critical infrastructures.
  
• Security focus – tamper-resistant designs for regulated sectors.
  
• Hybrid visibility – combine optical TAPs with copper and vTAPs.
  
• Innovation leader – continuously extending to 400G+ environments.

Typical Use Cases

• Backbone monitoring with 400G SMF TAPs.
• Data center visibility with MMF/OM4 TAPs.
• Secure government or banking networks with tamper-proof fiber TAPs.
• Cloud and east-west traffic capture with vTAPs.
• Aggregated feeds to IDS, SIEM, and performance tools.

Services & Support (What We Offer)

• Optical Visibility Assessment – identify fiber access points and blind spots.
  
• Deployment Services – integrate TAPs into live SMF/MMF/400G links.
  
• Integration Workshops – connect TAP outputs to NDR, IDS, and observability tools.
  
• Optimization Services – fine-tune split ratios, aggregation, and regeneration.
  
• Managed Visibility – TAP-enabled monitoring delivered as-a-service.

“Reliable, lossless traffic access for security and monitoring tools.”

What are Gigamon TAPs?

Gigamon Traffic Access Points (TAPs) are hardware devices that provide uncompromised, lossless visibility into network traffic by duplicating packets as they flow through a link.

They form the foundation of the Gigamon Visibility and Analytics Fabric, ensuring monitoring and security tools receive accurate, real-time traffic without impacting production performance.

Gigamon TAPs cover all environments — copper, fiber, high-speed datacenter links, and inline security architectures — with options for passive, active, and bypass TAPs.

Key TAP Families

🔹 Passive TAPs – Série M

• Design: Optical splitters for fiber links and copper passive access.
• Features:
  • Fail-safe access: no impact if TAP loses power.
  • 100% traffic visibility, including errors and malformed packets.
  • Available in single-mode and multi-mode fiber versions, supporting speeds from 1G to 400G.
  • Compact form factors for high-density datacenter deployments.
• Use Cases: Ideal for monitoring links where availability and transparency are critical.

🔹 Active TAPs – G-TAP A Series 2

• Design: Powered TAPs for copper links.
• Features:
  • Active regeneration of traffic, ensuring signal integrity on long or complex links.
  • Aggregation and replication functions built-in.
  • Monitor both sides of full-duplex traffic with a single monitoring port.
  • Hot-swappable power supplies and field-replaceable fans for high availability.
• Use Cases: Best for high-speed, long-distance, or complex datacenter environments where passive TAPs would not guarantee signal integrity.

🔹 Bypass TAPs (for Inline Security)

• Design: Specialized TAPs for inline deployments, sitting between firewalls, IPS, or NDR appliances and the network.
• Features:
  • Fail-to-Wire or Fail-to-Open modes: maintain traffic flow if a security device fails or is taken offline.
  • Integrated heartbeat packets to monitor appliance health and trigger bypass automatically.
  • Support for inline tool chaining — multiple security appliances can be inserted in sequence.
  • High-availability design: redundant power and failover mechanisms.
• Use Cases: Critical for security appliances deployed inline, ensuring they don’t become a single point of failure.

Benefits for the Client

• 100% visibility: Access every packet, error, or anomaly without drops.
• Tool optimization: Deliver clean, reliable traffic streams to monitoring and security tools.
• Reduced risk: Inline TAPs ensure security appliances don’t disrupt traffic during outages or maintenance.
• Compliance-ready: Guaranteed traffic integrity supports audit, forensics, and regulatory monitoring.
• Future-proof design: Support from 1G to 100G, copper and fiber, passive or active, inline or out-of-band.

Why Gigamon TAPs are Different ?

• Lossless traffic capture: unlike SPAN/mirror ports, TAPs guarantee full packet visibility with no drops.
• Comprehensive portfolio: passive, active, and bypass TAPs to fit any architecture.
• High-density, modular options: compact chassis and scalable deployment in large datacenters.
• Part of the Gigamon Visibility Fabric: seamlessly integrates with GigaVUE HC/TA Series and GigaSMART for advanced traffic intelligence.

Typical Use Cases

• Provide raw traffic access to NPMD tools for performance monitoring.
• Feed IDS/IPS and NDR appliances with reliable, lossless packet streams.
• Use Bypass TAPs to deploy firewalls and inline security without creating a bottleneck.
• Combine TAPs with NPBs (HC/TA Series) to create a scalable visibility fabric.
• Support regulatory compliance and forensics with full-fidelity traffic copies.

 Services & Support (What We Offer)

• Network Visibility Assessment – Identify critical points for TAP deployment.
• Design & Installation – Choose between passive, active, and bypass TAPs.
• Integration with NPBs – Connect TAPs to GigaVUE HC/TA for traffic aggregation and enrichment.
• Inline Security Architecture – Deploy Bypass TAPs to secure inline appliances with HA failover.

Managed Services – Continuous monitoring of TAP deployment health and performance.

“Enhanced visibility for public, private, and hybrid clouds to eliminate blind spots and reduce security risks.”

 What is GigaVUE Cloud Suite?

The GigaVUE Cloud Suite is Gigamon’s solution for cloud visibility and analytics, delivering traffic intelligence across public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid environments.

It eliminates blind spots by providing deep visibility into cloud workloads and east-west traffic, ensuring monitoring and security tools have access to the right data. By generating enriched metadata and enabling scalable traffic aggregation and filtering, GigaVUE Cloud Suite reduces risk, accelerates threat detection, and simplifies compliance across multi-cloud deployments.

Key Features

• Public Cloud Visibility — Native integration with AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud; capture and distribute traffic from cloud workloads to monitoring/security tools.
• Private Cloud & Virtualized Environments — Support for VMware, OpenStack, Kubernetes; visibility into virtual east-west traffic.
• Enriched Metadata for Cloud Workloads — Generate application and protocol-level metadata (HTTP, DNS, SSL/TLS, etc.) to accelerate security analytics.
• Scalable Traffic Aggregation & Filtering — Deliver only the right data to tools, optimizing performance and cost.
• Integration with Security and Monitoring Tools — Feed SIEM, IDS/IPS, NDR, APM, and observability platforms with cloud traffic.
• Hybrid Cloud Consistency — Unified visibility fabric across datacenter and cloud environments.
• Automation & Orchestration — API-driven deployment and integration with cloud-native tools.

Benefits for the Client

•  Eliminate blind spots: gain visibility into cloud east-west traffic often hidden from traditional tools.
• Reduce security risks: detect threats faster with full workload visibility.
• Optimize monitoring investments: reduce tool load with selective traffic delivery and metadata enrichment.
• Ensure compliance: meet regulatory requirements for monitoring, audit, and data governance in cloud environments.
• Hybrid & multi-cloud ready: consistent visibility across AWS, Azure, GCP, VMware, and Kubernetes.

Why GigaVUE Cloud Suite is Different ?

• Cloud-native design: built for elasticity, scale, and automation.
• Multi-cloud coverage: support for all major public cloud providers and private infrastructures.
• Metadata advantage: generate enriched traffic intelligence to accelerate detection and troubleshooting.
• Unified visibility fabric: integrates with Gigamon’s TA/HC Series to extend visibility from datacenter to cloud.

 Typical Use Cases

• Extend SOC visibility to cloud workloads (east-west + north-south traffic).
• Enable threat detection and response across hybrid and multi-cloud.
• Provide enriched metadata to SIEM and NDR for faster incident response.
• Support compliance audits by ensuring full visibility into regulated cloud workloads.
• Optimize APM and observability tools with selective, metadata-driven traffic feeds.

Services & Support (What We Offer)

• Cloud Visibility Assessment — identify blind spots across cloud workloads.
• Architecture & Design — integrate GigaVUE Cloud Suite into hybrid visibility fabrics.
• Deployment & Automation — implement in AWS, Azure, GCP, or private cloud with API-driven orchestration.
• Metadata Use Cases — leverage enriched metadata for SOC dashboards and APM tools.
• Ongoing Operations — co-sourcing and managed services for cloud visibility.

“Cloud-native visibility for hybrid and multi-cloud environments — without blind spots.”

What is CloudLens?

CloudLens is Keysight’s cloud-native visibility solution, designed to provide secure, agent-based packet access across public, private, and hybrid cloud environments.

Unlike traditional TAPs and SPANs, CloudLens operates inside the cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, VMware, OpenStack) to deliver real-time visibility into east-west and north-south traffic, eliminating blind spots and ensuring that security and monitoring tools get the right data.

It is part of Keysight’s Visibility Platform, tightly integrated with Vision Series Network Packet Brokers to unify observability from datacenter to cloud.

Key Features

• Cloud-Native Architecture
  • Agent-based packet capture directly in VMs, containers, and cloud workloads.
  • Scales elastically with cloud deployments.
• Multi-Cloud & Hybrid Support
  • Native integration with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, VMware, OpenStack.
  • Provides consistent visibility across public and private clouds.
• Traffic Intelligence
  • Capture, filter, and forward packets or flows to monitoring and security tools.
  • Ensure compliance with policies by delivering only the required traffic.
• Secure & Compliant Design
  • End-to-end encryption of captured traffic.
  • Role-based access and multi-tenant support.
• Integration with Keysight Ecosystem
  • Feeds traffic into Vision NPBs for advanced filtering, deduplication, and enrichment.
  • Unified with Keysight’s Visibility Fabric for end-to-end observability.

Benefits for the Client

• Eliminate cloud blind spots: access east-west traffic inside VMs and containers.
• Hybrid visibility: consistent observability from datacenter to cloud.
• Optimize security tools: filter and forward only relevant traffic.
• Security-first design: encrypted traffic capture and secure role-based access.
• Cloud-agnostic: works across AWS, Azure, GCP, and private cloud platforms.

Why CloudLens is Different ?

• Truly cloud-native: designed for cloud and container environments, not retrofitted.
• Agent-based flexibility: deploy in minutes across workloads.
• Multi-cloud support: visibility fabric spanning all major clouds.
• Part of Keysight’s Deep Observability: integrates with Vision Packet Brokers and visibility stacks.
• Trusted in regulated industries: compliance-ready for finance, healthcare, and government.

 Typical Use Cases

• Extend SOC/NDR visibility into cloud workloads (east-west + north-south).
• Provide compliance evidence for regulated industries operating in cloud.
• Feed cloud traffic into SIEM, IDS/IPS, and APM platforms.
• Enable hybrid observability with unified packet brokering across datacenter and cloud.
• Monitor microservices and containers in Kubernetes or OpenShift.

Services & Support (What We Offer)

• Cloud Visibility Assessment – identify blind spots in hybrid deployments.
• Deployment Services – rollout CloudLens agents across AWS, Azure, GCP, and private clouds.
• Integration – connect CloudLens with Vision NPBs, SIEM, and observability tools.
• Training – empower IT/SOC teams to operate and tune CloudLens.
• Managed Services – provide CloudLens as-a-service for continuous cloud visibility.