Frequently Asked Questions

We have compiled a list of some of the questions that we receive about Critical TAPs. If your question is not answered here please contact us.

Q. Which Fibre Split do I need?
A. In order to determine the correct fibre split (70:30, 60:40 etc.) for your solution, you will need to first of all determine your light budget calculations i.e. understand how much light (dB) loss there is across the component parts of your solution. One of the simplest methods of understanding these figures is to use a light meter reader.

Q. Which is the most popular fibre split?
A. There is no such thing as the “most popular” fibre split, as every deployment of Fibre TAPs is unique to the environment it is being deployed in. The correct choice of split ratio (70:30, 60:40 etc.) is determined by a number of factors including cable length, device (NIC) launch values, number of devices in the chain (including the CriticalTAP) etc. as all of these will have a varying level of dB loss, which can affect the overall light budget and thus the performance of the solution.

Q. What is the difference between Active & Passive TAPs?
A. A "passive TAP" has no affect at all on the network after it is installed, it is completely invisible to any other device and traffic. An "active Tap" is also completely invisible to the actual network, however the active Tap allows the IDS or network monitoring solution to inject TCP reset packets back onto the live network.

Q. Which IDS Vendors recommend the Network Critical TAPs?
A. Network Critical TAPs have been tested and subsequently recommended by I.S.S., Enterasys, Symantec and Computer Associates. In many cases the Critical TAPs have also been selected for use in-house by these leading security vendors.

Q. Which Solutions can the TAPs be implemented with?
A. Network Critical have a range of TAPs that fully support deployments with IDS, IPS, network monitoring (analysers, probes, sniffers etc), QoS and VoIP applications, content filtering, .

Q. Do the Network Critical TAPs Fail Open or Closed?
A. Network Critical TAPs fail to “safe” (open). If in the very unlikely event of a failure with a Critical TAP, the failsafe nature of our products means the traffic will pass through uninterrupted.

Q. How many TAPs can I fit into a 19" Rack Mount Chassis?
A. Network Critical offer a wide choice of products housed in a robust 1U (19”) chassis, ranging from a single TAP up to 20 TAPs. Depending on what your requirements are for 10/100/1000, Optical etc, will determine the minimum and maximum numbers of TAPs you can have in the chassis. Network Critical can also offer bespoke TAP solutions in this form factor if required. If this is of interest please contact us at sales@networkcritical.com

Q. What is the Network Critical TAP Warranty?
A. The standard warranty on Network Critical TAPs is one year 'back-to-base'. In addition to this, we also offer extended warranty on all our products in one year increments.

Q. How much do Critical TAPs cost?
A. Network Critical have a wide variety of products for various deployment scenarios, so please call our sales team for details of one of our recommended Critical TAP channel partners, who in turn will provide you with a quotation.

Q. What is the typical lead time for a Critical TAP?
A. Typically, most of our products are supplied from stock, which means we can ship to you via next-day courier service.

Q. What type of cables, straight or cross over, do I use to deploy a Critical TAP?
A. The cabling of a Critical TAP is one of the most important parts of the deployment, and it is vital to get it correct so that the fail-safe feature of the device actually works. Cabling is different for each model and cable guides are inlcuded in the Useer Guide for each TAP, but the general rules for cabling are firstly to make sure the TAP is not powered up, then connect cables to each side of the TAP and to the end devices. When both end devices are showing the link is up, then you can power up the TAP and check the link status again. If the link is still up then the cabling is correct.

Q. Can two network devices e.g. a switch and a router communicate on a gigabit copper segment with a Critical TAP deployed in between?
A. Yes, all Critical TAPs are designed to be non-intrusive and fail-to-safe, this means that when a gigabit copper TAP is deployed into a gigabit copper link there is no impact on the communication between the end devices.

Q. How do you set the heartbeat packet on the VLine TAP?
A. Changing the default heartbeat configuration requires connecting to the TAP via the serial port, instructions for this can be found in the user guide.

Q. How do you configure the 1 x 4 Critical TAP so it allows up to 4 monitoring devices to monitor the same segment?
A. By default the CC2100 copies the live network traffic to all monitor ports simultaneously. All you have to do is connect your network tools to the monitor ports.

Q. Can Critical TAPs be used to deploy VoIP recording solutions?
A. Yes. TAP deployments in this market are on the increase and as a result we have worked with numerous expert partners in this area. To learn more please contact a member of our VoIP sales team at sales@networkcritical.com

Q. Do the Critical TAPs have an IP or MAC address?
A. No. Critical TAPs are a layer 1 network device.

Q. I have inserted one of Network Critical Optical TAPs into our network we are having problems with the end device not launching.
A. Care must be taken to select the appropriate split ratio to match the light budget for any particular link. There are various methods to achieve this please refer to calculating light budget in the support area of this site.

Q. What length cable runs are safe with Critical 10/100 TAPS?
A. We recommend not exceeding 90 metres with the TAP in the middle of any circuit.

Q. When I deploy Critical Connex CC1100 or CC1220 do I use crossover cables or straight through?
A. Please refer to wiring guide for the above products which explain all permutations of cabling and types.

Q. Can I configure the ConneX range in-situ?
A. The answer is yes, all the ConneX programable range can be configured in situ once in configuration mode any parameter can be changed.

Q. Can any of the ConneX modules be placed within the same chassis?
A. Yes any module can be placed within the chassis the modules are as follows CC1000, CC1200, CC1205, CC1210, CC1220, CC1225, CC1230 to find further information please follow http://www.criticalTAP.com/groupDisplay.asp?nGroupId=36