Protocol analyzer

A piece of software dedicated to the task of finding errors and monitoring the state (and traffic) on a digital network. Sometimes the software runs on a dedicated piece of hardware.

You will find it mentioned in the article on NCP, Network Core Protocol.

This article is a stub. Feel free to write more.

I suggest the following sections:

  Definition

  Actual products e.g. Ethereal: http://www.ethereal.com/

  Functions in a protocol analyzer: Capturing packets
     splitting them into envelopes
     following an exchange on a certain "envelope level"
     find inconsistencies

  Related instruments (oscilloscope, fibre analyzers, cable sonar)

  "Sniffing"

  Security issues