Mirrored frames can be copied and sent to a specific local destination or service on the router (local mirroring) or copies can be encapsulated and sent to a different router (remote mirroring). This functionality allows network operators to centralize not only network analyzer (sniffer) resources, but also the technical staff who operate them.
The router allows multiple concurrent mirroring sessions so traffic from more than one ingress mirror source can be mirrored to the same or different egress mirror destinations.
Remote mirroring uses an SDP which acts as a logical way of directing traffic from one router to another through a unidirectional service tunnel. The SDP terminates at the far-end router which directs packets to the correct destination on that device.
The SDP configuration from the mirrored device to a far-end router requires a return path SDP from the far-end router back to the mirrored router. Each device must have an SDP defined for every remote router to which it wants to provide mirroring services. SDPs must be created first, before services can be configured.