Organizations that can't see their traffic can't secure or optimize it. A robust network packet capture architecture requires two layers working in tandem: hardware access infrastructure that copies traffic from live links with zero packet loss, and analysis tools that make sense of that data. Neither works without the other. The wrong combination creates blind spots that cost organizations millions in breach costs, performance degradation, and compliance failures. This guide compares the leading solutions across both layers, so you can build an architecture that gives you 100% visibility without compromising network availability.
| Vendor | Key Strength | Max Speed |
|---|---|---|
|
Scalable hybrid TAP/broker with full API automation |
Up to 400G |
|
|
Always-on full packet recording with forensic-grade evidence |
Up to 100G |
|
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Portable TAP + integrated analysis for field and edge deployments |
Up to 10G |
|
|
Purpose-built TAPs and packet brokers for IT, OT, and cloud |
Up to 400G |
|
|
Feature-rich NPB with L7 application intelligence |
Up to 100G |
|
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Open-source protocol analyzer, 20M+ annual downloads |
Software only |
Network Critical delivers the infrastructure layer of network packet capture through its SmartNA-PortPlus range of scalable network packet brokers and its SmartNA-XL hybrid TAP/broker chassis. The platform captures 100% of network traffic and routes it to monitoring, security, and analysis tools — all without dropping a single packet or impacting the live network.
The SmartNA-PortPlus scales from 48 to 194 ports across 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G, and 100G speeds in a single RU chassis. When higher-speed environments demand it, the SmartNA-PortPlus HyperCore extends that reach to 400G with 32 QSFP-DD interfaces and a 25.6 Tbps backplane. Both platforms run Drag-n-Vu software, a patented graphical configuration engine whose Rule Optimization Engine saves up to 70% of system rule resources.
The RESTful API enables direct machine-to-machine integration with security and analysis tools, allowing platforms like Darktrace to automatically update traffic filters and port maps without human intervention. Network TAPs and packet broker functions are combined in a single hybrid chassis, reducing rack space, power draw, and management overhead. Passive fiber TAPs require no power, introduce zero latency, and ensure the network link remains live even during a complete power failure.
Solutions range from 10 Mbps to 400 Gbps and serve financial services, telecommunications, government, energy, aerospace, and healthcare.
Proven Results:
Endace specializes in always-on, full packet recording and is the analysis layer partner for organizations that need forensic-grade evidence of every network event. The EndaceProbe product line captures, indexes, and stores 100% of network traffic at sustained line rates with nanosecond-resolution timestamping, providing conclusive evidence for incident response, threat hunting, and compliance auditing.
Key Products:
The platform is FIPS 140-3 validated, Common Criteria/NIAP NDcPP v2.2e certified, and listed on the DoDIN APL — making it a verified choice for defense, government, and regulated enterprise environments. A single management console searches across all on-premises and cloud EndaceProbes simultaneously, returning results in seconds. Pre-built integrations with Splunk, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Cisco, and Elastic allow analysts to pivot from a SIEM alert directly to the relevant packet evidence with one click.
EndaceProbe hardware appliances can also host third-party monitoring applications directly, consolidating hardware and eliminating dedicated appliances for tools like NetFlow generators and IDS/IPS.
Profitap delivers packet capture and analysis in two complementary form factors: the IOTA network probe for fixed deployments, and the ProfiShark series for portable field use. Both are purpose-built to provide hardware-quality capture without the complexity or cost of enterprise chassis solutions.
Key Products:
ProfiShark provides a fail-safe inline connection on 100M and 1G models, meaning the network link is preserved even when the device loses power. The 10G models support both copper and fiber SFPs, covering mixed-media environments. All ProfiShark devices are undetectable on the network — no IP or MAC address is assigned — ensuring capture has no impact on production traffic or security posture. IOTA's REST API enables programmatic capture control, and centrally managed fleet deployments are supported through IOTA CM.
Garland Technology focuses exclusively on network visibility, offering TAPs, packet brokers, hardware data diodes, and inline bypass solutions for IT, OT, and cloud environments. Their PacketMAX Advanced Aggregators support speeds from 10/100M up to 400G across copper, single-mode fiber, and multi-mode fiber.
Key Products:
Garland products assign no IP or MAC address, making them immune to network-based attacks. Their hardware data diodes make reverse traffic flow physically impossible — a hardware-enforced security guarantee that software-based solutions cannot replicate. The company maintains active OT partnerships — including with Radiflow for ICS/OT environments — and supports NERC CIP, NIS2, and IEC 62443 compliance frameworks. An extensive library of white papers, use cases, and design guides supports in-house evaluation and deployment planning.
Keysight's Vision network packet broker portfolio combines traffic access, intelligent filtering, and security integration in a unified platform. The Vision ONE supports both inline and out-of-band deployments from a single chassis, integrating IPS, DLP, IDS, and data recording tools simultaneously.
Key Products:
The dynamic filter compiler handles all filter rule complexity automatically, eliminating the risk of misconfiguration under complex Boolean logic requirements. SSL/TLS decryption is available inline or out-of-band, addressing the encrypted traffic challenge where over 80% of enterprise traffic is now encrypted. In January 2025, Keysight launched AppFusion — an integrated partner program hosting Forescout, Instrumentix, and Nozomi Networks software directly on Vision NPB hardware, reducing the need for separate appliances.
Wireshark is the de facto standard open-source packet analyzer, used by network engineers worldwide to inspect, filter, and interpret captured traffic. It supports deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, real-time capture, and offline analysis of PCAP files generated by hardware TAPs, probes, and network access infrastructure.
With over 20 million downloads annually and a contributor community exceeding 100,000 developers, Wireshark is actively maintained and widely supported across Linux, Windows, and macOS. It reads PCAP output from virtually all hardware capture platforms — including ProfiShark, EndaceProbe, and Network Critical TAPs — making it the universal analysis layer for environments where a dedicated probe is not required.
Wireshark is maintained by the Wireshark Foundation, a non-profit organization, and is distributed freely under the GNU General Public License (GPL). For organizations that need hardware-accelerated capture or long-term recording, Wireshark functions as the analysis front-end to dedicated TAP and probe infrastructure rather than as a standalone capture solution.
No two networks have identical capture requirements. The criteria below will help you match solution capabilities to your operational reality.
Your capture infrastructure must match your network's link speeds without dropping packets. For 100G and 400G data center interconnects, hardware-accelerated solutions — such as the SmartNA-PortPlus HyperCore or the Endace EP-94C8-G5 — are required. At 1G and 10G, a wider range of options including portable probes and modular chassis solutions are viable. Underspecifying capture hardware is a common and costly mistake: packets dropped at the access layer cannot be recovered later.
Consider how long you need to retain full packet data. Incident response investigations frequently require access to traffic from days or weeks before a breach was detected. Purpose-built recording platforms like EndaceProbe are designed for long-duration retention at line rate. If your primary need is real-time troubleshooting rather than forensic investigation, a probe-based solution with shorter retention cycles may be more appropriate and cost-effective.
Inline tools sit in the traffic path and can actively block threats, but they introduce risk: if the tool fails, traffic stops. Bypass TAP solutions solve this by maintaining the network connection even when the inline appliance loses power or crashes. Out-of-band tools receive a passive copy of traffic and carry no risk of introducing a single point of failure. Most mature visibility architectures use both: TAPs for access, packet brokers for traffic distribution, and a mix of inline and out-of-band tools downstream.
Hardware TAPs cannot capture traffic between virtual machines on the same hypervisor host or within cloud environments. If your workloads are hybrid, you need solutions that address both layers. Options include cloud-native agents like Garland Prisms, virtual TAPs, or platforms like EndaceProbe Cloud that extend the same recording architecture into AWS and Azure. Consider what percentage of your critical traffic runs on-premises vs. in the cloud before selecting a platform.
Your packet capture infrastructure must feed the tools you already operate — whether that's a SIEM, IDS/IPS, NDR platform, or application performance monitor. Look for pre-built integrations with your existing tool vendors, API support for automated filter and port mapping updates, and one-click pivot from alert to packet evidence. Network Critical's RESTful API, for example, allows security platforms like Darktrace to directly control traffic routing without manual reconfiguration. This kind of tight integration transforms raw capture infrastructure into an active security architecture.
Standard enterprise TAPs are not designed for industrial environments. OT networks in manufacturing, utilities, and oil and gas require extended temperature tolerance, no disruption to safety-critical control systems, and fail-safe passive operation with no power dependency. Passive fiber TAPs are an established choice here, as they require no power and introduce no electronic components into the link. Where ruggedized deployments are required, verify temperature ratings and form factor options carefully before specifying hardware.
Network packet capture is the process of copying packets from a live network link and making them available for analysis, storage, or security inspection. It requires two components: a hardware or software mechanism to access the traffic (such as a network TAP or probe), and an analysis tool to interpret the captured data. Hardware TAPs capture 100% of packets without impacting the live network, while software capture on end-host interfaces may miss packets under high load.
A network TAP physically copies all traffic on a link — including malformed frames and CRC errors — and delivers a complete, unaltered copy to monitoring tools with zero packet loss. A SPAN port is a software-configured feature on a network switch that mirrors selected traffic to a monitoring port, but it can drop packets under high traffic load and is limited by switch CPU resources. For forensic investigations and compliance-grade monitoring, TAPs are the reliable choice. SPAN ports are suitable for lightweight, non-critical monitoring tasks.
Yes, in most cases. A TAP provides the physical access to network traffic, while a packet analyzer (such as Wireshark, EndaceProbe, or an NPB with analysis capabilities) interprets and presents that data. Some products combine both functions — for example, Profitap's IOTA acts as both an inline TAP and a full analysis platform. For enterprise deployments, separating the capture layer from the analysis layer provides greater flexibility and allows multiple tools to receive the same traffic simultaneously.
Retention requirements vary by use case and regulation. Security incident response investigations commonly require 30–90 days of full packet history to reconstruct the timeline of a breach. Some regulatory frameworks mandate longer periods — financial services and healthcare organizations should consult their compliance obligations. Always-on platforms like EndaceProbe are designed to sustain weeks or months of retention at full line rate. For shorter-term troubleshooting, even a few hours of rolling capture is often sufficient.
Passive capture tools record encrypted packets as they appear on the wire, which includes packet headers but not the decrypted payload. To inspect encrypted content, you need either SSL/TLS decryption capability in your packet broker or NPB (as offered by Keysight Vision ONE), or out-of-band decryption using a dedicated appliance. With over 80% of enterprise traffic now encrypted, selecting a visibility platform with integrated decryption capability is increasingly important for effective threat detection.
A packet broker sits between access infrastructure — such as TAPs — and monitoring tools. It aggregates traffic from multiple capture points, filters it, and routes the relevant streams to each downstream tool. A packet capture tool records or analyzes the traffic it receives. In a complete architecture, network packet brokers and capture tools work together: the packet broker ensures each tool receives exactly the traffic it needs, improving both tool performance and the accuracy of analysis results.
Choosing the right packet capture infrastructure is a long-term decision. The access layer you deploy today will determine what your security and monitoring tools can see for years to come.
Network Critical's SmartNA-PortPlus and SmartNA-XL platforms give you a hardware foundation built for growth — starting at 48 ports and scaling to 400G without replacing existing infrastructure. The hybrid TAP/packet broker architecture means you get access and intelligence in a single chassis, reducing cost and complexity from day one. With a proven track record at HSBC, Vodafone, BP, and Airbus, the platform is trusted where network failure is simply not an option.
Ready to see what complete packet capture looks like for your network? Talk to a Network Critical specialist and request a free network visibility audit.