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Version: 7.4

System Requirements

Compute Resources

The resources required to collect, decode and process flow records is dependent on the type of record (Netflow, IPFIX or sFlow), and the specific contents of those records.

CPU Cores

The decoding and processing flow records is primarily a CPU-centric load. While there are various factors that will affect throughput, the following table provides guidance on the expected throughput per core on current server-class processors.

Flow TypeFlows/sec.
Netflow v53500-4000
Netflow v94500-5000
IPFIX4500-5000
sFlow v53250-3750
note

As mentioned, the above values are an approximate range of records per second. Depending on the specific content of flow records in a given environment, and the actual performance of the CPU, actual throughput may be less (or more) than the indicated range.

Memory

The collector will cache various pieces of information, such an Netflow v9 and IPFIX templates, DNS names, Interfaces names, and more. This cached data is held in memory. Memory usage is generally less than a 1-2GB. However, environments which observe a high number of public IP addresses, for which Maxmind or NetIntel enrichment options are enabled, will have higher memory requirements.

The high volume of UDP packets experienced in many environments, combined with less than optimal default Linux kernel network parameters, can result in kernel buffer overflows and dropped packets. To minimize the chance of such data loss, especially during sudden peaks in packet volume, the Linux kernel network parameters should be modified as shown in the following examples.

tip

The recommended settings should be added to a file in /etc/sysctl.d so that they are applied automatically when the system is booted.

For light to moderate ingest rates (less than 75000 flows per second):

net.core.netdev_max_backlog=4096
net.core.rmem_default=262144
net.core.rmem_max=67108864
net.ipv4.udp_rmem_min=131072
net.ipv4.udp_mem=2097152 4194304 8388608

For heavy ingest rates (more than 75000 flows per second):

net.core.netdev_max_backlog=8192
net.core.rmem_default=262144
net.core.rmem_max=134217728
net.ipv4.udp_rmem_min=131072
net.ipv4.udp_mem=4194304 8388608 16777216

Network Connectivity

Depending on the configured options, the ElastiFlow solution will require various TCP and UDP ports to receive flow records, retrieve data for enrichment and store data in the chosen data platform. Any host or network firewalls through which such traffic must pass, will need to be configured to allow communication on these ports.

note

The UDP and TCP ports used by many systems is often configurable. The following tables of port numbers refer to the default ports.

Listening for Flow Data

NetObserv Flow can be configured to listen for incoming flow record packets on one or more UDP ports. The default and other common ports are listed in the following table.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
UDP9995inElastiFlow default port
UDP2055inNetflow standard port
UDP4739inIPFIX standard port
UDP6343insFlow standard port
UDP9996-9998inadditional common ports

While a variety of ports can be used to listen for flow record packets, the specific ports which must allowed are those for which the collector is configured using EF_FLOW_SERVER_UDP_PORT.

Accessing Enrichment Data

NetObserv Flow can enrich flow records with various additional information. Depending on the configured enrichment options, communication on the following ports must be allowed.

DNS

Required when EF_PROCESSOR_ENRICH_IPADDR_DNS_ENABLE is true.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
UDP53outDNS

SNMP

Required when EF_PROCESSOR_ENRICH_NETIF_SNMP_ENABLE is true.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
UDP161outNetwork interface attributes via SNMP

NetIntel

To retrieve Network Intelligence data, NetObserv Flow requires an internet connection over port 443.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
TCP443outNetIntel API: query.netintel.elastiflow.com
TCP443outNetIntel API: CloudFlare IP ranges
TCP443outNetIntel Storage: CloudFlare IP ranges
TCP443outGoogle Storage API: storage.googleapis.com

Storing Data

NetObserv Flow supports sending the collected and processed flow records to a variety of data platforms. The ports used by each supported platform is provided in the following tables.

Elastic Stack

Required when EF_OUTPUT_ELASTICSEARCH_ENABLE is true.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
TCP9200outElasticsearch REST API
TCP5601outKibana UI and API

OpenSearch

Required when EF_OUTPUT_ELASTICSEARCH_ENABLE is true.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
TCP9200outOpenSearch REST API
TCP5601outOpenSearch Dashboards UI and API
note

Currently the Elasticsearch output is used for storing data in both the Elasticsearch and OpenSearch. It is expected that the APIs of the applications will diverge over time. For this reason a dedicated OpenSearch-specific output will be available in a future release.

Splunk

Required when EF_OUTPUT_SPLUNK_ENABLE is true.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
TCP8088outHTTP Event Collector (HEC)
TCP8000outSplunk UI

Kafka

Required when EF_OUTPUT_KAFKA_ENABLE is true.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
TCP9092outKafka broker

Cribl

Required when EF_OUTPUT_CRIBL_ENABLE is true.

ProtocolPortDirectionDescription
TCP8088outCribl Worker