You can add a physical flow collector and configure the switches to send sFlow and NetFlow records to the collector.

The collector VM that is used for NetFlow or sFlow is a dedicated collector. It cannot be used for any other data source.
Note:
  • Do not use a physical flow collector to collect VeloCloud Edge flow records.
  • vRealize Network Insight listens to sFlow records on port 6343 of the collector appliance. Therefore, make sure to send sFlow records to port 6343 of the collector.
  • For Cisco ASR/ISR (SD-WAN Assessment):
    • If you have an existing data source in your environment, add a separate collector VM as a Physical Flow Collector to collect NetFlow and sFlow records.
    • If you only have the Cisco ASR/ISR (SD-WAN Assessment) data source, then you can use the same collector VM to collect NetFlow and sFlow records.
If any other data source is added to the collector, it is not available as a Physical Flow Collector for sFlow and NetFlow.

Procedure

  1. Go to Settings > Accounts and Data Sources.
  2. Click Add Source.
  3. Under Flows, select Physical Flow Collector (Netflow, sFlow).
    sFlows are accepted only on a physical collector.
  4. On Add a new Physical Account or Source page, click Add Collector VM.
  5. The Add a new Network Insight Data Collector virtual appliance window is displayed. Click Copy to copy the shared secret to import the collector service ova in your VMware vCenter.
  6. Click Done.
  7. (Optional) In the Nickname text box, enter a nickname.
  8. (Optional) In the Notes text box, add a note if necessary.
  9. Click Submit.

Results

Note: vRealize Network Insight collects the packet samples for sFlow and therefore cannot show the complete metrics for the flows.

What to do next

Configure the switches to push the flows to the Physical Flow Collector. For more information, see Flow Support for Physical Servers topic.
  • Define the destination (Collector IP address that you added in vRealize Network Insight).
  • Set the port for the flow collector.
  • Assign poll interval.
Note: The procedure to configure the switch depends on the type of switch that you want to configure. For more information, see the respective switch documentation.