Dell PowerConnect 55xx Systems User Guide 369sFlowThis section describes sFlow monitoring of traffic.It contains the following sections:• sFlow Overview• Workflow• sFlow Receiver Settings• sFlow Interface Settings• sFlow StatisticssFlow OverviewThe sFlow feature enables collecting statistics using the sFlow samplingtechnology, based on sFlow V5.This sampling technology is embedded within switches and routers. Itprovides the ability to continuously monitor traffic flows on some or all theinterfaces, simultaneously.The sFlow monitoring system consists of an sFlow agent (embedded in aswitch or router or in a stand alone probe) and a central data collector, knownas the sFlow receiver.The sFlow agent uses sampling technology to capture traffic and statisticsfrom the device it is monitoring. sFlow datagrams are used to forward thesampled traffic and statistics to an sFlow receiver for analysis.sFlow V5 defines:• How traffic is monitored.• The sFlow MIB that controls the sFlow agent.• The format of the sample data used by the sFlow agent when forwardingdata to a central data collector. The device provides support for two typesof sFlow sampling: flow sampling and counters sampling. The followingcounters sampling is performed according to sFlow V5 (if supported bythe interface):– Generic interface counters (RFC 2233)– Ethernet interface counters (RFC 2358)
