What is obtained using NetFlow?

NetFlow gathers metadata about network flows or sessions, including details such as source and destination IP addresses, ports, protocols, timestamps, and the number of bytes and packets exchanged. This 'session data' provides visibility into network traffic patterns without capturing the full packet content.

Application logs are generated by software applications and contain application-specific events, separate from network flow data.

Network downtime reports are generated by monitoring systems based on availability metrics, which is different from traffic flow data collected by NetFlow.

Full packet capture records every bit of data in every packet, including the payload, which is far more comprehensive and resource-intensive than the metadata collected by NetFlow.