Packet Analysis archives - IT Trenches

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packet analysis

Oct 15 2009   6:44PM GMT

Free Training - Laura Chappell presents: Wireshark 201 Jumpstart - Filtering on the Good, the Bad, the Ugly



Posted by: Troy Tate
network analysis, protocol analysis, packet analysis, packet capture, training, education, wireshark, ethereal, tcp/ip, trace files, Networking, tools, Monitoring, reporting, IT education, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, howto, Metrics, analysis, Laura Chappell

Laura Chappel, the BitGirl, is at it again with another in her series of Wireshark Jumpstart webinars. The next one is called Wireshark Jumpstart 201: Filtering on the Good, the Bad, the Ugly. It will be held on October 27 - 10:00am-11:00am PDT (GMT-7). If you manage networks or want to manage a network, a good understanding of protocol and packet analysis will help you immensely with your career.

Some things you will learn in this webinar:

  • Using the Default Capture and Display Filters
  • Creating a Few Hot Capture Filters
  • Filtering Tips and Tricks for Troubleshooting
  • Filtering Tips and Tricks for Security

Even if you are very familiar with Wireshark or other packet capture and protocol decode tools, Laura’s seminars are well worth attending. You might even find out a little tidbit here or there because Repetition is one of the keys of learning. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this webinar since I will be on a golf vacation in North Carolina. So, if you attend this event, please come back and share with me and other IT Trenches readers what you learned and how valuable the webinar was for you.

Thanks for reading and let’s continue to be good network citizens!

Jul 24 2009   6:03PM GMT

Using Wireshark to analyze a bot infected host



Posted by: Troy Tate
wireshark, ethereal, network analysis, bot, data capture, tutorial, education, Laura Chappell, information security, packet analysis, packet capture, network security, Security

My favorite Bitgirl (Laura Chappell) is at it again in this 15 minute presentation. She came across a host on a network that appears to be infected with some bot application. Take a few minutes and watch and learn! Maybe you will see something you can use or better understand some odd behavior on your local network.

Analyze a BOT infected host using Wireshark Tutorial

Beware - there is a trick question in the presentation. Think hard… you probably know the right answer!

Thanks for reading & let’s continue to be good network citizens.


Jul 20 2009   6:36PM GMT

Wireshark quickstart tutorial - learn to capture network traffic



Posted by: Troy Tate
network analysis, protocol analysis, packet analysis, packet capture, training, education, wireshark, ethereal, tcp/ip, trace files, Networking, tools, Monitoring, reporting, IT education, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, howto, Metrics, analysis, Laura Chappell

There are more upcoming sessions in the Laura Chappell seminar series called Wireshark 101Jumpstart tutorials. Check out the schedule at Chappell University website. Some of the things you will learn include:

  • Wireshark elements and capabilities
  • Tapping into the wired or wireless network
  • Capturing and filtering basics
  • Graphing basics

If you cannot attend the seminar, you can still register and download the seminar notes and gain access to the trace files used in the session. If you manage a network, you should learn this stuff! Be sure to register and attend early. The sessions are limited to 1000 viewers and these fill up FAST!

See my entry

Repetition is one of the keys of learning

for a how attending one of these seminars helped address an issue I was having with using Wireshark.

Thanks for reading and lets continue to be good network citizens!


May 26 2009   7:34PM GMT

Repetition is one of the keys of learning



Posted by: Troy Tate
network analysis, protocol analysis, packet analysis, packet capture, training, education, wireshark, ethereal, tcp/ip, trace files, Networking, tools, Monitoring, reporting, IT education, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, howto, Metrics, analysis, Laura Chappell

I recently posted an update about Laura Chappell’s Chappell University Online seminars. I attended one of these seminars today. What a great experience! I always try to attend Laura’s events and always pickup a tidbit that makes my life as a network manager easier. She gives you information about tools you can use to fight the battle of “the network is down”. Most of the time the network is behaving as designed. It’s poorly written applications or too high user expectations that create issues. So, if you want be the expert on fighting the network is “bad” syndrome - check out Laura’s presentations - I did and I learned something new… Continued »


May 21 2009   12:57PM GMT

Master key tasks for network troubleshooting - Chappell University Online Seminars



Posted by: Troy Tate
network analysis, protocol analysis, packet analysis, packet capture, training, education, wireshark, ethereal, tcp/ip, trace files, Networking, tools, Monitoring, reporting, IT education, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, howto, Metrics, analysis

I’m a huge fan of Laura Chappell. She has a great sense of humor and is a great educator about all things packet oriented. Previous posts about Laura have included:

Is protocol analysis or network management your thing?

ARP as a network auditing tool

Did you see this? - Latest Laura Chappell Newsletter

Did you see this? - the viral bitgirl

She has now started a new online seminar series. Some of the presentation are free and others are accessible for a fee of $99. If you cannot get away for education, then this is an excellent alternative and you can gain a great amount of knowledge from this packet analysis expert. I recommend that you visit Chappell Online University and sign up for the free Wireshark Jumpstart: Master Key Tasks for Network Troubleshooting seminar to get a feel for the seminars.

Thanks for reading and let’s continue to be good network citizens!


Apr 29 2009   12:11PM GMT

Doing Microsoft packet analysis? - Microsoft releases Network Monitor 3.3



Posted by: Troy Tate
packet analysis, packet capture, protocol analysis, tools, analysis, analysis tools, Microsoft, network analysis, network, tcp, udp, network monitor

If you do packet capture or analysis in a Microsoft environment, then you are probably already familiar with Microsoft Network Monitor. If not, please read my real-world use of it for PROTOCOL analysis vs protocol analysis (with a small p). Microsoft has updated Network Monitor to v3.3. The announcement of its release can be found on the Technet blog. Some of the new features listed are:

· Ability to capture WWAN (mobile broadband) and Tunnel traffic on Windows 7.

· Full Hyper-V support on Windows Server 2008

· Right-click-add-to-alias: Right-click a frame in the Frame Summary window with an IPv4, IPv6 or MAC address to add that address as a new alias. This is one of those little things that simplifies your work-flow.

· Right-click-go-to-definition: Have you ever wondered where and how the protocols fields you see in the Frame Details are defined in our in-built parsers? Wonder no more. Introducing right-click-go-to-definition: right-click a field in the Frame Details window and select Go To Data Field Definition or Go To Data Type Definition to see where the field is defined in the NPL parsers.

· Autoscroll: Another one of those little, but priceless things … auto-scroll. See the most recent traffic as it comes in. In a live capture, click the AutoScroll button on the main toolbar to have the Frame Summary window automatically scroll down to display the most recent frames as they come in. Click Autoscroll again to freeze the view in its present location.

Several other new features are described in the Technet blog. If you capture packets on a Microsoft network, then you should get this upgraded version to add to your toolbox.

Thanks for reading and let’s continue to be good network citizens.


Feb 19 2009   1:47PM GMT

Is protocol analysis or network management your thing?



Posted by: Troy Tate
network analysis, protocol analysis, packet analysis, packet capture, training, education, wireshark, ethereal, tcp/ip, trace files

Laura Chappell (the Viral Bitgirl) has announced that Sharkfest 09 registration is open and all registered attendees get a FREE AIRPCAP ADAPTER (US $198)! Sharkfest is the Developer/User Conference for Wireshark and it is sponsored by CACE Technologies and Wireshark University. Laura will be there with new, hot (or cool, if you prefer) topics, trace files, case studies and hands-on labs. Register today at Sharkfest.09 to get your free AirPcap adapter. [Dates: June 16-18, 2009-registration and BBQ on June 15th]

Laura has also announced that Chappell University is open for registration. Subscription-level service will be open soon. Chappell University is an affordable, on-demand, online training system to maintain and enhance IT skills in the area of analysis, troubleshooting and security. Some of the content includes two lab workbooks with over 100 lab exercises using Wireshark to spot network problems, security breaches, and analyze normal and abnormal TCP/IP communications. There are video answers to all the lab exercises. In addition, there’s an extensive trace file respository and additional WLAN, VoIP, bot-infections, application, etc., trace files will be added each quarter. Check out the new YouTube Channel for Chappell University and the video “Ethical Hacking with NetScanTools Pro: Tutorial on ARP Scanning to Discover All Local Hosts” (even those hidden behind firewall applications).

If you have never experienced training presented by Laura, this is your chance to get very in-depth, easy to understand technical training. Sure, some of the stuff may cost a little, but she has tons of free stuff out there also. The paid content is definitely worth it. I have her Master Library (pre-dates the new Chappell University) and I still refer to the content occasionally to refresh my skills in network analysis.

Thanks for reading and let’s continue to be good network citizens!