McAfee M-1250 IPS Configuration Guide - Page 146

Determining average alert rate-weekly, Database sizing requirements, View All Alerts

Page 146 highlights

McAfee® Network Security Platform 5.1 Managing IPS settings • Alert with packet log = 650 bytes (average) Space for packet logs must also be allocated in your database. The frequency of generated logs is typically less than that of alerts, but a packet log is generally larger in size than an alert. The average size of a packet log is approximately 450 bytes (based on 30,000,000 logs). Determining average alert rate-weekly A good reference point for determining your required database capacity based on the volume of alerts and packet logs is to find the average alert rate for a week, then multiply by a longer time frame such as 12 weeks, one year (52 weeks), and so forth. To do this, generate an Executive Summary Report using a one-week time horizon. 1 Click Reports from the Manager Home page. 2 Select Executive Summary Report. 3 Fill in the following fields to determine the average weekly alert rate: Admin Domain: select the root admin domain (default). Sensor: select ALL SENSORS (default if you have more than one Sensor). Alert Severity: make sure all three severities (Low, Medium, High) are checked. When all three are selected, Informational alerts are also included. Alert State: select View All Alerts. Both acknowledged and unacknowledged alerts are included for the specified time frame. Time Range: Choose Select alerts in the past: 1 Week(s). You do not need to adjust the "Ending" time fields. Get summary of: You do not have to adjust this field. Report Format: select a view of the report information from the following: HTML, PDF and Save as CSV. 4 Click Run Report once all of the above fields are set. This report displays your alert data in a presentation-style format (that is, tables and colored pie charts). The first pie chart details the "Total Alerts Per Sensor." Simply add the totals from each Sensor to determine the amount for one week. Database sizing requirements Based on the average size of an alert without packet, the following graph and table are provided to help you determine the database size required to store alert data for one year based on the number of alerts generated by your Network Security Sensors over a one week period. Note 1: For comparison, generation of 10,000 alerts per week is low, while 1,000,000 alerts per week is high. If you are generating 1,000,000 alerts per week, it is recommended that you check your applied Network Security Platform policies to determine if you are applying a policy that is an "exact" match for your protected network environment. 138

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McAfee® Network Security Platform 5.1
Managing IPS settings
138
Alert with packet log = 650 bytes (average)
Space for packet logs must also be allocated in your database. The frequency of
generated logs is typically less than that of alerts, but a packet log is generally larger in
size than an alert. The average size of a packet log is approximately 450 bytes (based on
30,000,000 logs).
Determining average alert rate-weekly
A good reference point for determining your required database capacity based on the
volume of alerts and packet logs is to find the average alert rate for a week, then multiply
by a longer time frame such as 12 weeks, one year (52 weeks), and so forth. To do this,
generate an Executive Summary Report using a one-week time horizon.
1
Click
Reports
from the Manager Home page.
2
Select
Executive Summary Report
.
3
Fill in the following fields to determine the average weekly alert rate:
±
Admin Domain
: select the root admin domain (default).
±
Sensor
: select ALL SENSORS (default if you have more than one Sensor).
±
Alert Severity
: make sure all three severities (
Low
,
Medium
,
High
) are checked. When
all three are selected, Informational alerts are also included.
±
Alert State
: select
View All Alerts
. Both acknowledged and unacknowledged alerts are
included for the specified time frame.
±
Time Range
: Choose
Select alerts in the past: 1 Week(s)
. You do not need to adjust the
“Ending” time fields.
±
Get summary of
: You do not have to adjust this field.
±
Report Format
: select a view of the report information from the following:
HTML
,
PDF
and
Save as CSV
.
4
Click
Run Report
once all of the above fields are set. This report displays your alert data
in a presentation-style format (that is, tables and colored pie charts). The first pie chart
details the “Total Alerts Per Sensor.” Simply add the totals from each Sensor to
determine the amount for one week.
Database sizing requirements
Based on the average size of an alert without packet, the following graph and table are
provided to help you determine the database size required to store alert data for one year
based on the number of alerts generated by your Network Security Sensors over a one
week period.
Note 1:
For comparison, generation of 10,000 alerts per week is low, while
1,000,000 alerts per week is high. If you are generating 1,000,000 alerts per week, it
is recommended that you check your applied Network Security Platform policies to
determine if you are applying a policy that is an “exact” match for your protected
network environment.