What is NetFlow?

What is NetFlow?
NetFlow is a network protocol developed by Cisco for collecting IP traffic information and monitoring network traffic Flow.It can also used to determine where traffic is coming from, where it is going to, and how much traffic is being generated. NetFlow-enabled routers export traffic statistics as NetFlow records which are then collected by a NetFlow collector.

What is a NetFlow Collector?
Routers that have the NetFlow feature enabled generate NetFlow records. These records are exported from the router and collected using a NetFlow collector. The NetFlow collector then processes the data to perform the traffic analysis and presentation in a user-friendly format. NetFlow collectors can take the form of hardware-based collectors (probes) or software-based collectors.

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