Methods, systems, and computer readable media for automatic configuration and control of remote inline network monitoring probe

A system for automatic configuration and control of a remote inline network monitoring probe, the system comprising:

• an inline network monitoring probe including:
• a central processing unit (CPU);
• a first network port for receiving packets from a router or firewall associated with a network being monitored by the inline network monitoring probe;
• a second port for connecting to a modem or access point;
• and
• an auto-configuration module for extracting, from a first packet of the packets received from the router or firewall, a source medium access control (MAC) address and a source Internet protocol (IP) address, storing the source IP address and the source MAC address in memory of the inline network monitoring probe, changing a MAC address of the inline network monitoring probe to the source MAC address, and assigning the source IP address to the inline network monitoring probe,
• wherein the inline network monitoring probe uses the source MAC address and the source IP address to communicate with a remote network monitoring control center,
• wherein the inline network monitoring probe is configured to recognize at least one trusted IP address as being associated with the remote monitoring control center, and
• wherein the inline network monitoring probe uses the source IP address and the source MAC address to communicate with the remote monitoring control center by:
• receiving a second packet over the second port;
• identifying a destination MAC address in the second packet as being the source MAC address extracted from the first packet;
• identifying a destination IP address in the second packet as being the source IP address extracted from the first packet, and, in response, examining a source IP address in the second packet;
• and
• determining that the source IP address in the second packet is the at least one trusted IP address, and, in response, identifying the second packet as being a control packet from the remote monitoring control center.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps comprising:

• at an inline network monitoring probe:
• receiving packets from a router or firewall associated with a network being monitored by the inline network monitoring probe;
• extracting, from a first packet received from the router or firewall, a source medium access control (MAC) address and a source Internet protocol (IP) address;
• storing the source IP address and the source MAC address in memory of the inline network monitoring probe;
• changing a MAC address of the inline network monitoring probe to the source MAC address;
• assigning the source IP address to the inline network monitoring probe;
• and
• using the source MAC address and the source IP address to communicate with a remote network monitoring control center,
• wherein the inline network monitoring probe includes a first port for connecting to a router or firewall and a second port for connecting to a modem or access point, wherein the inline network monitoring probe is configured to recognize at least one trusted IP address as being associated with the remote monitoring control center wherein using the source IP address and the source MAC address to communicate with the remote monitoring control center includes:
• receiving a second packet over the second port;
• identifying a destination MAC address in the second packet as being the source MAC address extracted from the first packet;
• identifying a destination IP address in the second packet as being the source IP address extracted from the first packet, and, in response, examining a source IP address in the second packet;
• and
• determining that the source IP address in the second packet is the at least one trusted IP address, and, in response, identifying the second packet as being a control packet from the remote monitoring control center.