Real-time bandwidth visualization and traffic shaping from the dashboard
Most administrators have no idea what’s actually happening on their network until something breaks. Flow Control gives you a live, per-port, per-application view of every byte crossing your virtual infrastructure — and the ability to shape it on the fly without touching a config file.
Tophan collects NetFlow and sFlow data from every virtual switch port continuously. This data feeds into a real-time visualization layer in Dragon’s Eye that shows bandwidth consumption by VM, by application protocol, by VLAN, or by conversation pair. You can drill from a cluster-wide overview down to a single TCP stream between two VMs.
The QoS engine sits on top of this visibility. When you see a backup job saturating your storage network, you can throttle it from the dashboard — set a bandwidth ceiling, apply a priority class, or schedule it for off-hours. QoS policies can be permanent or temporary, applied to individual VMs or entire port groups.
Traffic classes follow the DiffServ model. You define classes (real-time, business-critical, bulk, scavenger) and assign them to applications or port groups. The scheduler enforces priority during congestion while guaranteeing minimum bandwidth for each class. During normal operation, unused bandwidth is shared fairly.
Historical data is retained for capacity planning. See trends over days, weeks, or months. Identify which VMs are growing, which networks are approaching saturation, and plan upgrades before users notice.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| NetFlow/sFlow | Continuous flow collection from every virtual port |
| Live Dashboard | Real-time per-VM, per-app, per-VLAN bandwidth visualization |
| Traffic Shaping | Set bandwidth ceilings and floors per VM or port group |
| DiffServ QoS | Priority classes with guaranteed minimums and weighted sharing |
| Conversation Drill-Down | Trace bandwidth to individual TCP/UDP streams |
| Scheduled Policies | Time-based QoS rules for batch jobs and maintenance |
| Historical Trending | Retention for capacity planning with growth projections |
| Top Talkers | Instant identification of highest-bandwidth consumers |
| Alert Thresholds | Notify when bandwidth exceeds defined limits |
| Export | Raw flow data export for external analysis tools |