Myricom: Extreme Performance Ethernet

Introduction

The Myricom Sniffer10G 2.0 software uses Myri-10G programmable Network Adapters, a firmware extension, and a user-level library to enable sustained capture of 10-Gigabit Ethernet traffic. It also provides high-rate packet injection functionality. Small-packet coalescing and an efficient zero-copy path to host memory allow Sniffer10G to capture streams at line rate for all Ethernet packet sizes. Optionally, Sniffer10G can enable multiple independent processes or threads to concurrently analyze the incoming traffic from one or more network adapter ports.

The Sniffer10G software distribution is controlled by a dual-mode driver that operates as a regular 10G Ethernet driver until the device is enabled for packet capture. For packet capture, the library and driver instruct the firmware to divert incoming packets to library-managed user-level receive rings instead of the regular Ethernet driver. All the while, the Ethernet driver remains available to send raw Ethernet packets.

Sniffer10G's packet capture capabilities can be leveraged through the popular Libpcap library or directly through the SNF API, available as a set of C programming language functions. Using a Sniffer-aware Libpcap, users reference a Myri-10G network adapter through its Ethernet interface name and can run existing Libpcap-dependent applications and continue to rely on Libpcap's portable interface. For more advanced usage, the SNF API can be targeted directly. In both cases, going through the SNF interface instead of the kernel ensures a tighter level of integration with the Myri-10G network adapter by leveraging user-level receive mechanisms.

Documentation

Myricom Sniffer10G™

The Sniffer10G API documentation is available in HTML format in the software distribution.

The Sniffer10G Installation and User Guide is available below in the Download section of this page.

Both documents are only available to Sniffer10G license holders.

In addition, the Sniffer10G FAQ may be found here: Sniffer10G in the Documentation Knowledge Base

Supported Hardware

Myri-10G 8A network adapters are NOT supported by the Sniffer10G™ software.

Myri-10G 8B or 8C network adapters are required for the Sniffer10G™ software installation.

Download

Access to the Sniffer10G software is limited to license holders.

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If you have purchased a Sniffer10G license in the past, contact Myricom Technical Support ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) to receive a login and software licenses.

30-day evaluation licenses are available for Sniffer10G. Send a request to Myricom Technical Support ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

To purchase a permanent software license, please contact the vendor from which you purchased your network adapters, or the Myricom Sales team at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .