What is packet sniffing?
Packet sniffing is the practice of
gathering, collecting, and logging some or all packets that pass through a
computer network, regardless of how the packet is addressed. In this way, every
packet, or a defined subset of packets, may be gathered for further analysis.
You as a network administrators can use the collected data for a wide variety
of purposes like monitoring bandwidth and traffic.
A packet sniffer, sometimes called a
packet analyzer, is composed of two main parts. First, a network adapter that
connects the sniffer to the existing network. Second, software that provides a
way to log, see, or analyze the data collected by the device.