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Installation Guide

 
This Guide will help you to determine the optimum location for TrafMeter in order to count traffic between your computer network and Internet.

 
Simple network configuration

 
In a small- or medium-sized organization, the computer network may consist of only one segment to which all workstation computers are connected, often by means of a network hub. The segment is connected to the Internet by an access router/gateway/firewall device, as shown in Figure 1.

 
For simple network configurations, install TrafMeter on a computer connected to a hub carrying all traffic to and from the Internet gateway.

 
If gateway is Windows-based computer with proxy-server software (e.g. Microsoft ISA Server, WinRoute, WinGate and etc.) you can install TrafMeter on this computer.

 
Switched networks

 
The network described in Figure 1 uses a non-switching network hub to connect the workstations to the access router. In this scenario, all data generated by the workstations will be delivered to the TrafMeter computer.
 
In a switched network, a network switch (or Ethernet switch) is used to "segment" the network, to reduce network loading by blocking some data from branches of the network that do not require that data.
 
If an unmanaged network switch is used, it is not possible to connect the TrafMeter computer directly to the switch (even though all data passes through the switch) and an additional network hub must be installed between the switch and access router, to provide data to TrafMeter. This case is shown in Figure 3.

 
If a managed (or intelligent) switch is used, you can configure the switch to deliver all IP data to a "monitor" (or "spanning") port on the switch, and connect the TrafMeter computer to this port. This case is shown in Figure 4.