SoftPI Flow Colector Lite edition is a free version of SoftPI Flow Collector.
The table below provides the main differences between these editions.
|
Features |
SoftPI Flow Collector |
SoftPI Flow Collector Lite |
|
Supported protocols: |
||
|
NetFlow version 5 |
+ |
+ |
|
NetFlow version 9 |
+ |
- |
|
RFlow |
+ |
+ |
|
IPFIX |
+ |
- |
|
|
||
|
Restrictions on the number of data sources |
No |
3 |
As the table shows, the SoftPI Flow Collector Lite edition makes sense to use if there is not more than 3 data sources (routers, access points, sensors, computers, etc.) and when the data sources uses only NetFlow version 5 (RFlow - actually the same NetFlow version 5).
It should be borne in mind that NetFlow version 9 and IPFIX protocols contain a greater number of information fields than NetFlow version 5.
The main advantage of NetFlow version 9 and IPFIX in compared to NetFlow version 5 is the availability of fields for the IP address version 6 (IPv6), that allows you to analyze the network traffic, which is not dependent on your version of IP addressing (version 4 or 6). As well as these protocols contain information about the MAC addresses that can uniquely identify a network device.