Calculate network traffic analysis requirements and compare 10 leading NDR platforms. Get accurate pricing for bandwidth monitoring, packet capture, and network behavior analytics.
Network Detection and Response (NDR) provides visibility into network traffic to detect threats, anomalous behavior, and lateral movement that endpoint tools miss.
Monitor lateral movement and internal network traffic that firewalls and perimeter tools can't see.
AI-powered detection of anomalous network behavior, C2 communication, and data exfiltration patterns.
Continuous network traffic analysis with sub-second detection of active threats and attacker reconnaissance.
Full packet capture and network metadata for post-incident analysis and threat hunting.
What to measure: Peak traffic throughput across all monitored network segments, SPAN/TAP ports, and cloud environments.
Why it matters: NDR pricing is primarily based on Gbps monitored. Underestimating bandwidth leads to dropped packets and missed threats.
Best practice: Measure actual peak usage + 30% headroom. Include cloud egress, VPN tunnels, and inter-datacenter links.
What to measure: SPAN/Mirror ports, network TAPs, virtual taps, cloud VPC flow logs, or host-based sensors.
Why it matters: TAPs provide 100% visibility but cost more. SPAN ports are cheaper but can drop packets under load.
Best practice: Use TAPs for critical segments (datacenter core, DMZ). SPAN for branch offices. Virtual sensors for cloud workloads.
What to measure: Full packet capture (PCAP) vs network metadata/flow logs. PCAP requires 100x more storage.
Why it matters: PCAP enables deep forensics but is expensive at scale. Metadata is sufficient for most detection use cases.
Best practice: Continuous metadata + selective PCAP triggers on alerts. 7-30 days PCAP retention for critical segments only.
What to measure: Days of network metadata and PCAP storage required for compliance and investigation.
Why it matters: Longer retention enables historical threat hunting but scales storage costs linearly.
Best practice: 90 days metadata is standard. 365 days for compliance (HIPAA, PCI-DSS). Tiered storage for cost optimization.
What to measure: Network segments to monitor: internet edge, datacenter core, remote sites, cloud VPCs, OT/ICS networks.
Why it matters: Each network segment requires sensors and bandwidth allocation. More coverage = higher cost but better security.
Best practice: Start with datacenter + internet edge. Expand to branches and cloud. OT networks require specialized NDR tools.
Many organizations size for current bandwidth and forget to plan for growth. Cloud adoption, video conferencing, and SaaS traffic grow 40-60% year-over-year.
Fix: Size for 2-3 year projected bandwidth. Build in 30-50% headroom. Choose vendors with flexible licensing models.
NDR often focuses on datacenter traffic and ignores cloud VPC traffic, container networks, and serverless environments. Modern attacks target cloud workloads.
Fix: Include AWS VPC, Azure vNet, GCP VPC flow logs in bandwidth calculations. Ensure NDR supports cloud-native deployments.
Full packet capture at 10 Gbps generates 100+ TB per day. Many organizations buy massive storage arrays they never fully utilize.
Fix: Use triggered PCAP (capture on alert only). Store metadata continuously, PCAP selectively. Consider cloud storage for long-term archives.
NDR value comes from integration with SIEM, SOAR, firewalls, and endpoint tools. Integration requires staff time, APIs, and sometimes professional services.
Fix: Budget 20-30% of NDR cost for integration and tuning. Choose vendors with pre-built connectors for your security stack.
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