The traffic baseline in traffic analysis serves as a reference point for normal network behavior, helping identify anomalies, optimize performance, and enhance security. Here are its key applications with examples:
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Anomaly Detection:
- A baseline defines expected traffic patterns (e.g., peak hours, protocol distribution). Deviations (e.g., sudden spikes or unusual ports) may indicate attacks or misconfigurations.
- Example: If a server typically handles 100 Mbps during business hours but suddenly receives 1 Gbps of UDP traffic, it could signal a DDoS attack.
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Capacity Planning:
- By analyzing historical baselines, organizations predict future traffic growth and scale resources accordingly.
- Example: A video streaming platform uses baselines to forecast bandwidth needs during holidays, ensuring servers and CDNs (like Tencent Cloud CDN) handle increased loads.
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Security Monitoring:
- Baselines help detect stealthy threats like botnets or data exfiltration by flagging low-and-slow attacks that evade threshold-based alerts.
- Example: Unusual outbound traffic to an unknown IP at 2 AM (outside normal business hours) may suggest compromised credentials.
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Performance Optimization:
- Comparing real-time traffic to baselines identifies inefficiencies (e.g., redundant routes or underutilized links).
- Example: If baseline shows 80% of traffic uses TCP/443 but recent data shifts to TCP/80, it may indicate misconfigured encryption, requiring adjustments to load balancers (e.g., Tencent Cloud CLB).
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Compliance and Reporting:
- Baselines provide evidence of normal operations for audits, proving adherence to policies (e.g., GDPR or HIPAA).
- Example: A healthcare provider uses baselines to document expected data flows, simplifying compliance verification.
For scalable traffic analysis, Tencent Cloud offers services like Tencent Cloud Network Security (DDoS Protection) and Cloud Monitor, which integrate baseline-driven insights for real-time threat detection and resource management.