ProfiShark 1G TAP Adapter
ProfiShark 1G TAP Adapter
A portable industrial network TAP adapter designed for monitoring traffic on 10/100/1000M Ethernet networks. An invaluable tool for short-term and long-term monitoring, troubleshooting as well as traffic event logging on Ethernet, PROFINET, EtherCat and many other networks. More
Manufacturer: Profitap HQ B.V. Code: C1AP-1G
A portable industrial network TAP adapter designed for monitoring traffic on 10/100/1000M Ethernet networks. An invaluable tool for short-term and long-term monitoring, troubleshooting as well as traffic event logging on Ethernet, PROFINET, EtherCat and many other networks. More
Manufacturer: Profitap HQ B.V. Code: C1AP-1G
With a 100% success rate, the ProfiShark 1G captures all traffic on 10/100/1000M Ethernet networks. While this TAP adapter features drivers that offer a whole range of filters and tools for setting the traffic capture, the rest of the settings can be can adjusted via software packet analysers, for example the Wireshark. The ProfiShark 1G connects to your computer via and is powered by USB 3.0 cable.
Why Do You Need a TAP Adapter?
To be able to perform diagnostics of communication on an Ethernet/PROFINET network, you have to connect to this network using a computer with the right software (e.g. Wireshark, PNT – PROFINET Tool, Colapsa CAPSA, etc.). Unless you are using the fastest type of communication, PROFINET IRT (Isochronous Real-Time), you can connect your computer to the Ethernet/PROFINET network via a mirror port on a managed switch.
For you to be able to set up a mirror port, you need a switch that supports this functionality and a free port on that switch. In the switch settings, choose the port to be monitored or mirrored (i.e. typically the port that the processor is connected to) and then the port that all incoming and outgoing messages are to be forwarded to. After that, connect your computer to this second port.
Disadvantages to Mirror Port Analysis
For basic packet analysis, measurement via port mirroring is sufficient. Nevertheless, it is not 100% accurate; the data provided is only about 80% accurate. There are several reasons for that. First, one of the factors is the manufacturer and the type of the switch. Second, a mirror port does not usually forward all messages. Third, the laptop that is connected to the port may not capture all the messages forwarded (i.e. these messages are then usually discarded, which we do not want to happen). Finally, the laptop's Ethernet card is usually unable to assign a timestamp to every packet. Having a timestamp for every packet is very important in that this enables you to measure jitter (the delay between when a signal is transmitted and when it is received) and other network parameters. To avoid the above-mentioned problems and to be able to perform reliable diagnostics of Ethernet/PROFINET networks, you should use the ProfiShark TAP adapter for message capturing.
How to Connect the ProfiShark 1G to an Ethernet Station?
The ProfiShark 1G is a pocket-size device that features two RJ45 connectors on one side and a USB 3.0 port on the other (plus a connector for an optional external power supply of 5 V DC).
Place the ProfiShark 1G in front of the station where you want monitor traffic (e.g. a PLC's Ethernet port, a CPU's Ethernet module, a computer, a server, etc.). Disconnect the Ethernet cable from the station and connect it to one of the TAP adapter's Ethernet ports. Then, use the Ethernet cable that comes with the adapter to connect the adapter's other Ethernet port to the station. With the ProfiShark 1G now in the line of the packets that you want to analyse, all traffic passes through this TAP adapter.
ProfiShark 1G Requires Uninterrupted Power Supply!
IMPORTANT: The ProfiShark 1G requires constant, uninterrupted power supply either via USB cable or the optional external 5 V DC power supply. If the power supply fails, the ProfiShark disconnects the connected Ethernet cables for about 1–2 seconds. When using the ProfiShark 1G for diagnostics, you should keep this in mind to avoid any problems. While all ProfiShark 1G TAP adapters exhibit this behaviour, ProfiShark 100M TAP adapters let all traffic pass through them (via the RJ45 connectors) even if the USB cable has been disconnected or the power supply has failed.
How to Connect the ProfiShark 1G to a Computer?
Install ProfiShark 1G drivers (supported operating systems include Windows, Linux and macOS). When you have connected the adapter's USB cable to the computer, a virtual network card will be created. This card represents the network traffic of the Ethernet cables connected to the ProfiShark 1G. Any program that you will use for traffic analysis, for example the Wireshark, will communicate with this card. In addition, the ProfiShark 1G protects the monitored network by not allowing the connected computer to send any messages to the network. This could threaten the operation of the network or its security or distort the traffic capture.
Features
- 10/100/1000M monitoring on USB 3.0
- USB 3.0 powered, plus an optional external 5 V DC power supply
- Safe monitoring supporting only read operations
- Hardware aggregation
- 8 ns hardware timestamping for accurate latency testing
- Real-time statistics
- Capture of all packets for any kind of analysis
- Direct capture to disk
- ProfiShark is invisible to the network
- Supports Windows 7/8/10 (32/64-bit), Linux and macOS
- Dimensions: 69 × 124 × 24 mm
Using the ProfiShark 1G, you can connect to the network via the following software:
- Wireshark
- OmniPeek
- Packetyzer
- OptiView
- NetSpector
- NetDecoder
- Ethertest
- Colapsa Capsa
- And other software
- 2 x RJ45 8 pins
- 1 x USB 3.0
- 1 x 5 VDC optional input
- 1.8 m USB 3.0 cable
- RJ45 cable
- Pouch
- USB key
- 69 x 124 x 24 mm
- 2.72 x 4.88 x 0.94 in
- Dual Core Processor
- 4 GB memory
- USB 3.0 port
- Windows 7/8/10/11
- Linux
- macOS
Highlighted items are mandatory.
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