ANALYZE

Pros and Cons of Network Package Sniffing

With this technique the raw data packages on your network are monitored as they pass by. There is no need to insert scripts in your web pages or have the server monitor application produce log files. It is all handled on a network level.

This gives you several advantages over all other monitoring methods. First, you get access to data, such as "stop request" (when a user hits the STOP button before the page is loaded), that neither a server monitor nor a tracker can pick up. You will also be able to access extremely large amounts of visitor data much faster. In fact, with some network sniffing products you can get statistics in real time - for any size of website.

Network sniffing in itself is just a way of collecting visitor data - like a server monitor producing a log. However, network sniffing products often come bundled with some kind of reporting software as well as modules to output the data as traditional server log files or export it directly to a database for further data mining and reporting.

Advantages:

• Easy to set-up and run
  No scripts to implement or server logs to maintain.
  
  
• Free up resources on your web server
  When you use network package sniffing you can turn off your server monitor application. This will free up 15-20% of the resources on your servers - that's how much power it usually takes to write the logs.
  
  
• Access to all data
  Network package sniffing is the only method that provides access to all the visitor data.
• True real time data access
  Network sniffing is the only way to get real time data access and reporting features. When a user sends a request to your sever you actually monitor the data package before it hits your server so you can react on it before your server answers the user.

Disadvantages:

• Can be a problem to use on secure servers
  If most of your website is on secure web servers this may not be the right solution for you. Talk with the supplier of the network sniffing solutions you are interested in to find out more about how they handle secure servers.
  
  
• Can be expensive
  For a small site network sniffing can be expensive compared to other methods. For large sites it can be cheaper.

TIP:
For more about network package sniffing and how it can benefit your business on the Web, send an e-mail to sales@positiontech.com - we market one of the leading products - Net Logger from European based technology company Unispeed.

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