A great advantage of NetFlow reporting is that you can learn who’s using all your bandwidth.

In fact, according to Paul, a blogger for Plixer’s Systrax, if your network traffic starts looking like Chicago around rush hour, it’s pretty difficult to find the traffic flows you’re looking for.

That being the case, do what we used to do in Chicago during rush hour –find a cozy bar and wait until things thin out a bit or you could get a Cisco NetFlow collector to analyze your network traffic. This robust solution comes with flexible enough reporting so you can zero in on the flows that genuinely concern you.

Paul says it’s not difficult to configure, but you should ask yourself a few questions to make sure you’re on the right track.

One is simply if NetFlow v5 is capable of giving you the level of detail you’ll need. You might have to “configure flexible NetFlow to export data such as MAC addresses, NBAR and Cisco’s (News - Alert) performance reporting statistics,” Paul says, adding that you also need to determine if you want ingress or egress traffic analysis as well.

Cisco can help you answer these crucial questions, depending on your particular needs. And if you decide that yes, you can use NetFlow to get what you need, then after you configure it with the flows going to the reporting tool, it will start trending and reporting “with no further configuration required,” as Paul says, noting that in fact NetFlow comes with a free NetFlow testing tool to help get you oriented.

If you really want to check it out thoroughly, and if you’ve always wanted an excuse to visit Sanford, Maine in February, TMCnet recently reported that Plixer International (News - Alert) will host FlowFest 2012: Advanced NetFlow Training for IT Professionals.

Slated to take place on February 22 and 23, this not-to-miss event is designed to provide attendees with practical tips and hands-on training on NetFlow technology best practices.

"FlowFest is designed to take network troubleshooting to a whole new level by providing attendees with real-life NetFlow-based solutions to solve present-day bandwidth deterioration," Scrutinizer NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Product Manager Michael Patterson (News - Alert) concluded.