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Cisco CNS NetFlow Collection Engine User Guide, Release 5.0.2
OL-6899-01
Chapter 1 Overview
CNS NetFlow Collection Engine Architectural Overview
CNS NetFlow Collection Engine collects and summarizes (aggregates) data into data files based on
user-defined criteria specified in a CNS NetFlow Collection Engine aggregator. An aggregator is an
aggregation task defined by a set of user-configurable attributes that specify how CNS NetFlow
Collection Engine summarizes the traffic flows that are received. Two important aggregator attributes
are:
• Aggregation schemes – defines the subset of data of interest in a traffic flow, as well as which
statistics are kept
• Filter – criteria for accepting or rejecting flows that are aggregated or summarized
CNS NetFlow Collection Engine provides a set of predefined aggregation schemes to help you collect
NetFlow export data and summarize the data (that is, aggregate the flows). You can choose one or more
of these aggregation schemes to customize CNS NetFlow Collection Engine for your operating context.
Moreover, in Release 5.0 you can modify any of the predefined aggregation schemes or define your own
aggregation schemes based on them. You can also use filters with aggregation schemes to include or
exclude certain types of NetFlow data.
For more information about threads, aggregation schemes, and filters, see Chapter 4, “Customizing the
CNS NetFlow Collection Engine,” in the CNS NetFlow Collection Engine User Guide.
CNS NetFlow Collection Engine Architectural Overview
CNS NetFlow Collection Engine consists of the following components:
• Collector
• Web-based User Interface (UI)
• CNS/XML Interface
• Reporting engine
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Peer
These subsystems work together to provide CNS NetFlow Collection Engine functionality, including
data collection, the user interface, configuration and control, and reporting. They also allow custom
client applications to interface with CNS NetFlow Collection Engine. See Figure 1-2 for a graphical
representation of the CNS NetFlow Collection Engine system architecture.