Remote port mirroring using IGMP publish/join functions to establish mirrored data streams

摘要

The claims specify a system wherein a switch 110 establishes a mirrored data stream 160 based upon a message 162 specifying the destination 124 for the mirrored stream. Preferably the switch maps a port 3 to an identifier MIR1 stolen from another protocols identifier space and the mirroring request includes this identifier. In the embodiments the other protocol is IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol). A mapping from a port 3 to an address in the IGMP multicast group table is established 155,157 and the address is publicised. The mirror destination 124/126, which may include an analyser, requests mirroring with an IGMP join message 162 include the address MIR1. The switch 110 then mirrors the data from port 3 to repository 124 using IGMP publish messages 160, as well as sending the data to the original destination 122. The traffic on port 3 does not need to use a multicast address. The invention does not need to establish a VLAN or similar path configuration to route data to the repository 124.