A network TAP (Test Access Point), whether optical or electrical, is the foundation for providing network visibility, and it is vital that it is highly reliable. A TAP is a hardware device, often passive, that creates a copy of network traffic for monitoring and analysis purposes. These network tools are installed into a live link in order to gain insight into the traffic moving across that link. Cubro has a wide range of fiber (optical) TAP and copper (electrical) TAP.
Cubro’s Optical TAPs
The Cubro Optical TAPs maintain a permanent, entirely passive, connection for monitoring purposes and avoid introducing a potential point of failure or disturbing other network connections. Cubro passive optical TAPs deliver full-duplex monitoring with zero impact on the network.
These TAPs provide a simple but powerful way to conduct in-service monitoring of high-speed optical networks such as SDH/SONET/OTN and Ethernet up to 100 Gbit. Our optical TAPs are completely transparent and offer 100% throughput. Cubro optical TAPs can, therefore, be used for any optical network application, regardless of the bitrate.
Whether the task is the monitoring of STM-64, STM-256, 10G Ethernet or OTN signals, Cubro is the right choice. The network links can be multimode (850/1300 nm) or single mode (1310/1550 nm). The TAPs can be used for short-haul as well as long-haul applications.
Cubro’s Electrical TAPs
Cubro offers copper TAPs in 10/100/1000 models as well as passive 10/100 models. The advanced Cubro 10/100/1000 Copper Network TAP is an all-new development based on the latest PHY chips. These devices are PoE transparent across the link ports. The new “B” version of the 10/100/1000 features a USB interface that the user can connect to and retrieve detailed information about every port on the TAP as well as the TAP status itself.
The new “B” version is also able to gather information about the live link connection as well as about the configuration of the link partners (e.g., duplex, mismatch issues, M/S conflicts…). This information can also be retrieved via the USB interface, allowing the Cubro TAP to assist the user in finding mistakes in the configuration of the link partners. Finally, depending on the PHY chips used in the tapped nodes the new Cubro 10/100/1000(B) TAP is attached to, the TAP can switch states without dropping the live link at all. This helps in mitigating the issue of link renegotiation of the tapped nodes that can occur with copper TAPs in a fail open scenario.
