Introduction

Network specifications are as vast and varied as the organizations deploying them. Some networks may be in an extremely remote environment or require the infrastructure to occupy a very small physical space. These are some examples, but there are a host of reasons why a physical appliance may not be the best network monitoring approach for your environment. To support diverse requirements, we offer a virtual appliance that is flexible enough to meet almost any network requirement.

This article covers the following topics:

• Choosing Between a Physical or Virtual Appliance
  • Virtual Appliance Requirements
• Requesting a Virtual Appliance

Choosing Between a Physical or Virtual Appliance

Our virtual appliance is the digital equivalent of our physical appliance; the underlying operating system, configuration options, and monitoring capabilities are the same throughout. The choice simply comes down to what aligns best with your specific network(s) ad requirements.

Virtual appliances are best suited for: 

• Extremely remote locations where shipping and maintenance may be an issue.

• Environments that are already virtualized. 

• Environments that may not be virtualized but have in-house virtualization expertise and resources.

Virtual Appliance Requirements

The following table provides the minimum system requirements for our primary and secondary virtual appliances. Primary appliances are responsible for receiving and analyzing all traffic from the network is it deployed in, along with traffic being sent from secondary appliances and endpoint agents. For more on this, see How Field Effect Works.

Requesting a Virtual Appliance

If you are direct client, you will have the opportunity to make this selection while our Sales team scopes your organization's requirements. If you are a partner, you will be able to scope the end client's appliance requirements while onboarding them.

When your organization fills out the Tech Intake form, you’ll have the opportunity to request a virtual appliance. 

You have the option of either hosting the deployment yourself, having it be hosted by Field Effect in a certified SOC, PCI and DSS compliant data center, or having a third part host the deployment.

Based on your needs, we’ll deliver the appropriate assets including welcome content and deployment guides for your virtual application.