Colasoft nChronos FAQ

nChronos is a Network Performance Analysis Solution. It integrates real-time network monitor with long-term network data storage, drilldown and retrieval. nChronos includes nChronos Server and nChronos Console in client/server architecture. nChronos Server is for traffic capture, analysis, statistics and storage, while nChronos Console is for data presentation, analysis and output by accessing data from nChronos Server.

Both Capsa and nChronos are for network analysis and network performance management. Capsa is a portable, real-time network analyzer, while nChronos integrates real-time monitor with long-term network data storage and analysis. nChronos surpasses Capsa with more features and better performance.

HTTP port is for users to access nChronos Server from web browsers to make configurations, while TCP port is for nChronos Consoles to connect to nChronos Server for acquiring data.

Yes, the connections between nChronos server and console are encrypted by private encryption algorithm, which secures data transmissions and minimizes the length of data.

nChronos Server is based on Linux CentOS from v6.0, and nChronos Console is based on Windows.

Based on nChronos architecture, nChronos Server should have at least two network adapters, one for capturing traffic and the other for communicating with nChronos Console.

Yes, nChronos Server can be accessed from web browsers for configurations.

Yes. nChronos can simultaneously monitor the traffic from multiple network adapters as one traffic source and/or as multiple traffic sources. To monitor as one traffic source, set up one network link and the traffic will be analyzed aggregately. To monitor as separate traffic sources, set up a network link for each capture interfaces and the traffic would be analyzed separately.

No. Once nChronos Server is installed, the related services start automatically when Server starts. Users can start, stop and restart the server in Server Managerment on the web management interface of nChronos Server.

Yes. One nChronos Server can be accessed by multiple nChronos Consoles and one nChronos Console can connect multiple nChronos Servers simultaneously. Users can create multiple accounts for one nChronos Server with different privileges.

Since nChronos Server requires lots of system resource to capture, analyze, and store large amount of network traffic, it is not recommended to install nChronos Server on a virtual machine.

According to our license policy, one license can only be activated on one machine or one OS. If you want to reinstall nChronos on a new machine or on the same machine which is reinstalled with a new OS, there will be a notice: You have reached your installation limits. You should completely uninstall nChronos previously installed and then install it on a new machine or new OS, or you can just contact us for help.

First you need to make sure the server is up and running, and then check if you use the same communication port number as specified on the server (by default port # 3,000). Then you need to check your account and password.

You need to click-n-drag on the trend chart to select a time slice. When a time span specified, the views will show data among that time period only.

To drill down, just double-click the item you are interested in. The drill-down function is available for the Application view, the Physical Address view, the Network Segment view, the IP Address view, and the IP Conversation view.

After configuring SMTP settings, please click Test to check if the settings are correct.

In any view, check the items that you want to download the packets of them, right-click and choose Download Packets from the context menu. Then specify a local folder and file name to save the packets, and then click Download button. Note that you are not suggested to check too many items and download packets from a remote server because they may take a large volume of traffic and take a long time.

Yes. nChronos provides capture filter capability. Users can define any capture filters to just capture and analyze interested traffic. Besides, nChronos provides display filter capability. User can search and view interested items.

Yes. nChronos provides real-time alarms. All the alarms can be defined by users according to actual network status. When alarms are triggered, the alarm logs can be sent to specified email addresses.

Yes. nChronos provides some default reports and users can add new reports according to need. Furthermore, users can schedule daily reports, weekly reports, and monthly reports. All reports can be sent to specified email addresses.

When trend charts display with traffic, but no packets can be downloaded, please check if the trend charts display with red scales. The red scales indicate that the packets are discarded due to the circulation of storage space.

Yes. nChronos can replay packets file of following formats: Colasoft Packet File (*.cscpkt, *.rawpkt. *.cscproj), Accellent 5Views Packet File (*.5vw), EtherPeek Packet File (V9) (*.pkt), HP Unix Nettl Packet File (*.TRC0; TRC1), libpcap (Wireshark, Ethereal, Tcpdump, etc.) (*.cap; pcap), Microsoft Network Monitor 1.x, 2.x (*.cap), Novell LANalyzer (*.tr1), NetXRay2.0, and Windows Sniffer (*.cap), Sun_Snoop (*.Snoop), and Visual Network Traffic Capture (*.cap).

Yes. nChronos can analyze the traffic down to protocol field level. Click the button “Analyze Packets” to launch the Expert Analyzer which is a built-in component, and then you can go to the Packet view to view packet decoding information.

Yes. When upgraded from nChronos 5.X, nChronos 5.6 can inherit the configurations and the historically captured data.

When forget the password, you can reset the password as the default. You should access the Linux system by SSH tool and do the command, 1. cd /usr/local/bin/csrass/tools, 2. ./assist -U username

This error sometimes happens upon upgrading. Please re-active your nChronos and the license will work fine. For information on how to re-active nChronos, please refer to nChronos Activation.

Yes, you can enable this feature in Name Table Options.

Yes, nChronos is capable of monitoring and analyzing VLAN traffic, you can check the information of VLAN traffic in the VLAN tab in Link Analysis.

Yes, you can customize applications in nChronos as needed, including standard application, web application and signature application.