Netflow v5 vs v9
With today’s network professionals needing deeper forensic details such as mac address, VLAN, etc., it is even easier to understand that the NetFlow protocol needed to evolve. As NetFlow matured, the need for a dynamic flow technology capable of exporting anything began to become more evident
Netflow V5 vs V9
This document explains what you get with NetFlow v5 and the enhancements brought about with NetFlow v9 which is the basis for the proposed standard called IPFIX. For several reasons explained below, NetFlow v9 is the export of choice. The biggest reason is templates and the ability to work with them makes for the best NetFlow solutions.
Netflow v 5 vs v9
Below table illustrates the major differences between Netflow v5 and v9 :
PARAMETER | NETFLOW V5 | NETFLOW V9 |
| Information Captured | ·Source/Dest. Port ·Packet counts ·Byte counts ·Flow duration ·I/O interfaces
| Includes Netflow 5 captures and below additional – ·Numerous tcp flags/counters ·Flow direction ·Fragmentation flags ·ICMP and IGMP info ·Header stats ·TTL ·DSCP/TOS info ·Dest. Routing info |
| Data Structure format | Fixed | Dynamic |
| Templates | Hard coded – format of what can be exported is hard coded. | Definable templates – Definable templates give hardware vendors and sometimes the end users the ability to decide what they want to export |
| Filed Type | Following major field types amongst others not present – ·Packet Section ·TTL ·Fragmentation Flag ·TCP Flag: SYN | Following major field types amongst others are present – ·Packet Section ·TTL ·Fragmentation Flag ·TCP Flag: SYN |
| Multicast, IPsec and MPLS support | No enhancements to support Multicast, IPsec and MPLS technologies. | It was an enhancement to support different technologies such as Multi-cast, IPsec, and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) |
| Cisco IOS support | 11.1 and above | 12.4 and above |
| Egress Flow export | Not available | Available |
 | ||
Download the comparison table here.
Related- SNMP vs Netflow
Related- Netflow vs Sflow
Related- IPfix vs Netflow
Related- Openflow vs Netflow
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am here to share my knowledge and experience in the field of networking with the goal being – “The more you share, the more you learn.”
I am a biotechnologist by qualification and a Network Enthusiast by interest. I developed interest in networking being in the company of a passionate Network Professional, my husband.
I am a strong believer of the fact that “learning is a constant process of discovering yourself.”
– Rashmi Bhardwaj (Author/Editor)
