[c-nsp] Re: Netflow traffic study

[Kanagaraj Krishna]

Hi,
   I'm working for a medium size ISP providing transit services to our customers. We are currently in the process of expanding our network
which includes addition to our upstream providers. In the process of identifying where to put our money into, we want to study our customers
traffic pattern (destination, type of traffic, region etc) before deciding on the most suitable  upstream provider that fits the bill
(coverage and quality). One of the option that we are looking into in doing these is the Netflow function on cisco routers. I have a few
questions regarding this issue:

- Any good (free/open source) software that can analyze (stats, graph etc) Netflow data?
- Any comments on the use of Netflow for this purpose?
- Any other suggestions in reaching our objectives (other than Netflow)?

Hope to get input from you guys out there. Thanks.

Regards,
Kanagaraj Krishna