An IPFIX exporting process observes traffic at an observation point, creates flow records, and sends those records to an IPFIX collecting process. Templates describe the fields contained in the exported records, allowing the collector to interpret information such as source and destination addresses, transport ports, protocol identifiers, counters, and timestamps. The collector can store and analyze these records for traffic visibility, capacity planning, troubleshooting, accounting, or security analysis. IPFIX does not permanently store all collected information on the exporting network device. A passive optical splitter cannot inspect or export traffic because it has no active processing functions. An 802.1X supplicant participates in access authentication, while a SIP registrar maintains information used to locate SIP users or endpoints.

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