A network administrator is deploying a Cisco IPS appliance and needs it to operate initially without affecting traffic flows. It must also collect data to provide a baseline of unwanted traffic…

Failsafe mode dictates how the IPS behaves during a failure (fail-open or fail-close), not an operational mode for data collection without affecting traffic.

Inline tap mode allows a Cisco IPS appliance to be placed physically inline with network traffic, but it functions like a network tap, monitoring all traffic without actively blocking or modifying it. This mode is ideal for initial deployments where the goal is to collect baseline data and identify threats passively without impacting network flows.

Promiscuous mode (SPAN/mirror port) passively monitors traffic but is not deployed inline and thus doesn't fulfill the requirement of being physically inline while not affecting flows.

Bypass mode allows all traffic to pass through the IPS without any inspection or data collection, which does not meet the requirement of collecting data.