CORRECTION OF PACKETS HAVING INCORRECT MAC ADDRESS VALUES
Network traffic may be logged and analyzed to perform accounting on amount of a chargeable network resource that is consumed fulfilling requests for different clients or for different servers. A network device may report network traffic to a server through NetFlow data records. The NetFlow data records may then be analyzed to remove or correct packets containing an incorrect physical address, such as when the logged packets have a recorded physical address equal to the physical address of the network device logging the traffic.
1 . A method, comprising:
identifying a physical address of an interface of a network device;
receiving information for a first packet of network traffic;
determining, for the first packet of the network traffic, when a physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address; and
assigning, when the physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address, a different physical address to the first packet.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a computer name corresponding to the different physical address; and
assigning the first packet to the computer name for charging.
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising summarizing the network traffic assigned to the computer name.
4 . The method of claim 1 , in which the first packet is an Internet Protocol (IP) packet and the physical address is a Media Access Control (MAC) address.
5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
storing, for a second packet of the network traffic, a combination of a physical address and a logical address in the second packet in an address table; and
assigning, when the physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address, the different physical address to the first packet based on the address table.
6 . The method of claim 5 , in which the different physical address is selected from the address table based on a logical address of the first packet.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
Identifying a physical address for a second interface of the network device;
determining, for a second packet of network traffic, when the physical address of the second packet is the second interface physical address; and
assigning, when the physical address of the second packet is the second interface physical address, a different physical address to the second packet.
8 . A computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising:
code to identify a physical address of an interface of a network device;
code to receive information for a first packet of network traffic;
code to determine, for the first packet of the network traffic, when a physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address; and
code to assign, when the physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address, a different physical address to the first packet.
9 . The computer program product of claim 8 , in which the medium further comprises:
code to identify a computer name corresponding to the different physical address; and
code to assign the first packet to the computer name for charging.
10 . The computer program product of claim 9 , in which the medium further comprises code to summarize the network traffic assigned to the computer name.
11 . The computer program product of claim 8 , in which the first packet is an Internet Protocol (IP) packet and the physical address is a Media Access Control (MAC) address.
12 . The computer program product of claim 11 , in which the medium further comprises
code to store, for a second packet of the network traffic, a combination of a physical address and a logical address in the second packet in an address table; and
code to assign, when the physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address, the different physical address to the first packet based on the address table.
13 . The computer program product of claim 12 , in which the different physical address is selected from the address table based on a logical address of the first packet.
14 . An apparatus, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory, in which the processor is configured:
to identify a physical address of an interface of a network device;
to receive information for a first packet of network traffic;
to determine, for a first packet of the network traffic, when a physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address; and
to assign, when the physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address, a different physical address to the first packet.
15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , in which the processor is further configured:
to identify a computer name corresponding to the different physical address; and
to assign the first packet to the computer name for charging.
16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , in which the processor is further configured to summarize the network traffic assigned to the computer name.
17 . The apparatus of claim 14 , in which the first packet is an Internet Protocol (IP) packet and the physical address is a Media Access Control (MAC) address.
18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , in which the processor is further configured:
to store, for a second packet of the network traffic, a combination of a physical address and a logical address in the second packet in an address table; and
to assign, when the physical address of the first packet is the interface physical address, the different physical address to the first packet based on the address table.
19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , in which the different physical address is selected from the address table based on a logical address of the first packet.
20 . The apparatus of claim 13 , in which the network device is a border router.