The sFlow sensor receives traffic data from an sFlow v5-compatible device and shows the traffic by type. This sensor has several filter options to divide traffic into different channels.
Make sure that the target device supports sFlow v5.
This sensor analyzes only header traffic.
sFlow Sensor
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.
Sensor in Other Languages
Dutch: sFlow
French: sFlow
German: sFlow
Japanese: sFlow
Portuguese: sFlow
Russian: sFlow
Simplified Chinese: sFlow
Spanish: sFlow
Remarks
This sensor has a very high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 50 of this sensor on each probe.
This sensor requires that the sFlow v5 export is enabled on the target system. The target system must send the flow data stream to the IP address of the probe system.
This sensor does not support cluster probes. You can only set it up on local probes or remote probes.
This sensor only supports IPv4.
This sensor accepts RAW data only. The stream must be sent via IPv4.
If you clone this sensor to the same probe, PRTG keeps the selected IP addresses on which it listens for Flow (NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow, IPFIX) packets. If you clone this sensor to a different probe, PRTG selects all available IP addresses by default.
You cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.
Limitations
There are some limitations that you should consider before you use this sensor:
This sensor only supports sFlow v5 datagrams.
This sensor only supports IPv4 flows.
This sensor only supports the "raw packet header" format.
This sensor only supports the "Flow sample" and "Extended flow" formats. It cannot process "Counter" formats.
This sensor only processes samples where the source ID matches the ifIndex of the input interface (avoiding double-counted traffic) and ascending sequence numbers.
This sensor only supports sample packets of the Ethernet type "IP" (with optional VLAN tag)
This sensor only supports sampled packets of the types TCP and UDP.
We recommend that you use sFlow Tester for debugging.
If the name contains angle brackets (<>), PRTG replaces them with braces ({}) for security reasons. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What security features does PRTG include?
This setting is for your information only. You cannot change it.
Tags
Enter one or more tags. Confirm each tag with the Spacebar key, a comma, or the Enter key. You can use tags to group objects and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case-sensitive. Tags are automatically inherited.
It is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).
For performance reasons, it can take some minutes until you can filter for new tags that you added.
The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:
bandwidthsensor
sflowsensor
Priority
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines the position of the sensor in lists. The highest priority is at the top of a list. Choose from the lowest priority () to the highest priority ().
sFlow v5 Specific Settings
sFlow v5 Specific Settings
Setting
Description
Receive Packets on UDP Port
Enter the UDP port number on which the flow packets are received. It must match the UDP port number in the sFlow export options of the hardware router device. The default port is 6343. Enter an integer.
Sender IP Address
Enter the IP address of the sending device that you want to receive the sFlow from. Enter an IP address to only receive data from a specific device or leave the field empty to receive data from any device on the specified port.
Receive Packets on IP Address
Select the IP addresses on which PRTG listens to sFlow packets. The list of IP addresses is specific to your setup. To select an IP address, enable a check box in front of the respective line. The IP address that you select must match the IP address in the sFlow export options of the hardware router device.
When you configure the export, make sure that you select the appropriate sFlow v5 for this sensor
You can also select all items or cancel the selection by using the check box in the table header.
Stream Data Handling
Define what PRTG does with the stream and packet data:
Discard stream data (recommended): Do not store the stream and packet data.
Store stream data only for the 'Other' channel: Only store stream and packet data that is not otherwise filtered and is therefore accounted to the default Other channel. PRTG stores this data in the \StreamLog subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file name is Streams Sensor [ID] (1).csv. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.
Store all stream data: Store all stream and packet data. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.
Use with caution. It can create huge data files. We recommend that you only use this setting for a short time.
Channel Configuration
Channel Configuration
Setting
Description
Channel Selection
Define the categories that the sensor accounts the traffic to:
Web: Internet web traffic.
File Transfer: Traffic from FTP.
Mail: Internet mail traffic.
Chat: Traffic from chat and instant messaging.
Remote Control: Traffic from remote control applications such as RDP, SSH, Telnet, and VNC.
Infrastructure: Traffic from network services such as DHCP, DNS, Ident, ICMP, and SNMP.
NetBIOS: Traffic from NetBIOS communication.
Citrix: Traffic from Citrix applications.
Other Protocols: Traffic from various other protocols via UDP and TCP.
For each group, you can select how many channels the sensor uses, that is, how detailed the sensor divides the traffic. For each group, choose from:
No (): Do not account traffic of this group in its own channel. The sensor accounts all traffic of this group to the default channel named Other.
Yes (): Count all traffic of this group and summarize it in one channel.
Detail (): Count all traffic of this group and further divide it into different channels. The traffic appears in several channels that you can see in the Content column. Extensive use of this option can cause load problems on the probe system. We recommend that you set specific, well-chosen filters for the data that you really want to analyze.
For detailed information, see section Filter Rules.
Filtering
Setting
Description
Include Filter
Define if you want to filter any traffic. If you leave this field empty, the sensor includes all traffic. To include specific traffic only, define filters using a special syntax.
Exclude Filter
First, the sensor considers the filters in Include Filter. From this subset, you can explicitly exclude traffic, using the same syntax.
Sensor Display
Sensor Display
Setting
Description
Primary Channel
Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, the last value of the primary channel is always displayed below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.
You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.
Graph Type
Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:
Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel.
Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic. You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).
Stack Unit
This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above.
Select a unit from the list. All channels with this unit are stacked on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.
Primary Toplist
Primary Toplist
Setting
Description
Primary Toplist
Define which Toplist is the primary Toplist of the sensor:
Top Talkers
Top Connections
Top Protocols
[Any custom Toplists you add]
PRTG shows the primary Toplist in maps when you add a Toplist object.
Inherited Settings
By default, all of these settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy. We recommend that you change them centrally in the root group settings if necessary. To change a setting for this object only, click under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Scanning Interval.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
You cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects are always active. However, you can define additional schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window.
Access Rights
Access Rights
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.
Channel Unit Configuration
Channel Unit Configuration
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Channel Unit Configuration.
Toplists
For all Flow (NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow, IPFIX) and Packet Sniffer sensors, Toplists are available on the sensor's Overview tab. Using Toplists, you can review traffic data for small time periods in great detail.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), any number
ToS
Type of Service (ToS): any number
DSCP
Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP): any number
The following filter rules apply to sFlow sensors only.
Field
Possible Filter Values
Interface
Any number
InboundInterface
Any number
OutboundInterface
Any number
SenderIP
IP address of the sending device. Use this if you have several devices that send flow data on the same port, and you want to divide the traffic of each device into a different channel.
Possible values: IP address or DNS name
MAC
Physical address
SourceMAC
Physical address
DestinationMAC
Physical address
Channel List
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.
Channel
Description
Chat
The traffic from chat and instant messaging (IRC, AIM)
Citrix
The traffic from Citrix applications
Downtime
In the channel table on the Overview tab, this channel never shows any values. PRTG uses this channel in graphs and reports to show the amount of time in which the sensor was in the Down status
FTP/P2P
The traffic from file transfer (FTP/P2P)
Infrastructure
The traffic from network services (DHCP, DNS, Ident, ICMP, SNMP)
Mail
The internet mail traffic (IMAP, POP3, SMTP)
NetBIOS
The traffic from NetBIOS communication
Other
The traffic from various other protocols (UDP, TCP)
Remote Control
The traffic from remote control applications (RDP, SSH, Telnet, VNC)
Total
The total traffic
This channel is the primary channel by default.
Various
The traffic from various other sources
WWW
The traffic from the web (HTTP, HTTPS)
More
KNOWLEDGE BASE
How can I change the default groups and channels for flow and Packet Sniffer sensors?