Traffic arriving at a single network port can be sent to multiple destination tool ports.

Example: Send packets simultaneously to an intrusion detection system on one tool port, a forensic data recorder on another, and a traditional protocol analyzer on a third.

Features	Functions	Benefits
Any-to-Any	Deploy any tool to any link at anytime without affecting the production network	Improved monitoring efficiency, effectiveness and network uptime
Any-to-Many	Multicast traffic to support multiple tools with competing monitoring demands	Share SPAN ports and taps, customizing access for all tools all the time
Many-to-Any	Aggregate traffic from multiple access points to create a "big pipe" or "end-to-end" view	Deploy fewer tools and consolidating valuable tools in a tool farm
Packet Filtering	Customize and map traffic flow to multiple tools and reduce traffic load on all tools	Optimize tool utilization and sharing load across multiple tools

The figure below illustrates the concept of data flows between network and tool ports. Data arrives from different sources at the network ports on the left and is forwarded to different tools connected to tool ports on the right. Traffic arriving at a single network port can be sent to multiple destination tool ports. Filters can be applied to network and tool ports. Filters applied to network ports are pre-filters and filters applied to the tool ports are post-filters.