NFO Central
DRAFT!
The NFO Central section is the central configuration hub for managing distributed NetFlow Optimizer deployments. It allows you to define a node's operational role and manage the connection and intelligent load distribution across multiple NFO instances.
The three primary operational modes are:
- Standalone: A single NFO instance handling all functions.
- NFO Central: The dedicated control plane for managing peer connections, licensing, and intelligent traffic distribution.
- NFO Peer: A worker node that receives flow data and configuration from the NFO Central instance.
NFO Node Configuration
This is the first step in setting up any distributed deployment. You select the operational role for the current NFO instance.
Configuring NFO Central (The Control Plane)
When selecting the NFO Central operational mode, the interface expands to provide authentication tokens used to secure communication with peer nodes.
- Access Token: A token generated by NFO Central that NFO Peers use to authenticate their connection. Press the Generate button to create a new token.
- Access Token Hash: A secure hash of the access token, displayed for verification purposes.
- Connected Peers: A list showing all peer nodes that have successfully connected to this NFO Central instance, including their status, performance metrics, and data rates.
The Connected Peers table provides essential real-time monitoring statistics for load balancing and health checking:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The hostname of the connected NFO Peer node. |
| IP Address | The network address of the connected NFO Peer node. |
| Version | The software version running on the NFO Peer node. |
| Last Seen | Timestamp of the last successful communication with the peer. |
| Status | Shows the current operational state (e.g., ONLINE, OFFLINE). |
| NFO Start Time | The timestamp indicating when the NFO Peer process was last started. |
| CPU Load % | The current system-wide CPU utilization for the peer node. |
| Mem Used % | The percentage of system memory currently utilized by the peer node. |
| NFO CPU Load % | The percentage of CPU dedicated specifically to the NFO process on the peer node. |
| NFO Mem Used... | The amount of memory being used specifically by the NFO process. |
| Input Rate | The number of packets/messages the peer is currently ingesting. |
| Processing Rate | The rate at which the peer is processing flows, typically measured in flows per second. |
| Total Drops | The cumulative number of flows dropped by the peer node due to overload or processing issues. |
Configuring NFO Peer (The Worker Node)
When setting a node to the NFO Peer operational mode, you must specify the connection details for the central management hub.
- Peer name: The unique name of the peer node within the deployment.
- NFO Central URL: The full URL (including port) of the central control plane instance (e.g.,
https://<host>:8443). - Access Token: The access token generated by the NFO Central instance, used by the peer to authenticate its connection.
- Access token hash (Read-Only): A secure hash of the access token.
- NFO UUID (Read-Only): The unique identifier for the NFO instance.
- Import certificate: Used to secure the connection between the peer and NFO Central.
Load Balancer (Intelligent Traffic Distribution)
The Load Balancer tab contains the configuration settings for the dynamic load distribution algorithm, which is the core intelligence behind NFO Central's scaling capabilities.
Dynamic Rebalancing
The Load Balancer implements a dynamic, custom load balancing algorithm designed specifically for NetFlow traffic. Its goal is to continuously determine and utilize the least loaded NFO Peer to prevent any single node from becoming overwhelmed.
The algorithm achieves this by:
- Monitoring Peer Load: NFO Central continuously monitors the input packets rate per device for all connected network exporters (devices).
- Dynamic Weighting: The collected packet rate for each exporter device acts as a dynamic weight to estimate the load each peer will receive.
- Intelligent Distribution: The system dynamically splits all exporter devices into several processing groups based on their current input packet rate. Traffic is then distributed across NFO Peers based on these groups.
- Continuous Adjustment: The system rebalances traffic distribution ... based on the latest calculated 'input packets rate per device,' ensuring NFO load remains balanced across all peer nodes.
This dynamic system significantly improves upon manual distribution by automatically adjusting to real-time traffic spikes and shifting loads, replacing the reliance on manually configured IP address masks with intelligent, performance-based decisions.