What is a “Potential Point of Failure” and why should it be considered as part of any network access design that includes taps?
All network hardware, no matter how reliable, must be considered as a device that could – in theory – need to be replaced if it malfunctioned. Network architects will assess the mission critical nature of any given link, what redundant or alternate data paths exist, and how service might be impacted if a service window were required to replace a device in that link. In some cases an in-line device that has multiple links passing through it – e.g. a Datacom Systems Dual Link Aggregation tap – may be an appropriate choice. But a more conservative design might dictate that no in-line device should ever tap more than one link – thereby eliminating the possibility that two links might ever be impacted if such a device had to be replaced. The most conservative or lowest risk designs may even require that the tapping be done by a non-powered Physical Layer device such as a simple fiber tap and the task of aggregating the duplex data streams and making multiple copies for the tools be handled
