US Patent 7995477 Collecting network traffic information

An apparatus and method for collecting network traffic information is arranged to receive network traffic elements including one or more key fields having respective key field values. The apparatus and method further classify received network traffic elements into one of a plurality of flows dependent on the key field value of one or more key fields defined by a flow profile. The method and apparatus are further configurable to vary the flow profile, create a flow record and export the flow record to a collecting node.