GL Communications Advances 400Gb Packet Capture and Real-Time Analysis

GL Communications Inc., provider in telecom testing solutions, addressed the industry regarding their Duplex Wirespeed Packet Capture solution, designed for data centers and high-speed network environments.

This cutting-edge solution supports Ethernet speeds up to 400Gb, delivering unmatched performance and reliability for the most demanding network monitoring needs.

Ethernet traffic continues to surge, driven by high-bandwidth workloads such as AI. To keep pace, network engineers require diagnostic solutions that can interface with 400Gb ultra-high-speed links, capture traffic without loss, and provide real-time analysis within a single integrated platform.

Vijay Kulkarni, CEO, GL Communications, states “GL’s FastRecorder is an all-in-one hardware platform for lossless high-speed Ethernet traffic capture across multiple ports. The system is available in both rack-mount and portable form factors. Both platforms are designed for continuous packet capture and real-time analysis in labs, data centers, and field environments.”

The rack-mount version features dual processors and supports multiple 400Gb ports, achieving an aggregate capture rate of over 800Gb with up to 600TB of NVMe storage. The portable version includes a single processor and multiple 400Gb ports, delivering an aggregate capture rate of more than 400Gb.

FastRecorder provides a secure Linux-based web interface for remote, multi-user access, along with automation support via Python and REST APIs. Users gain full visibility into performance through detailed capture metrics, including duration, data rates, frame statistics, dropped packets, total recorded bytes, link status, bandwidth usage, error counters, and frame length distribution.

Remote Packet Capture and Analysis

Captured traffic can be processed using extractor module (PacketExtractor) to isolate specific streams, headers, or time windows. Output is available in PCAP/PCAPNG formats with extraction metrics such as frame count, data volume, extraction rate, and processing time. The extracted files can then be analyzed with GL’s PacketScan software.

Other Key Features:

• Nanosecond timestamping
• Duplex 400Gb capture (400Gb East + 400Gb West) for up to 800Gb total to SSDs, recording up to 6TB/minute
• Apply hardware filters (MAC, 802.1Q VLAN, IPv4, IPv6, Tunnel traffic (GRE, GTP, and VXLAN), TCP, UDP, SCTP) to capture traffic of interest
• Real-time port insights including status, received frames, link utilization, capture rates, error counts, and frame length distribution
• Real-time graphs for each port to analyze capture rates and detect issues such as segment drops, Multi-Packet Receive Queue (MPRQ) buffer overflows, missed packets, and discarded packets