Sorting flow records into analysis buckets

An apparatus to facilitate the sorting of flow information records for further analysis, the apparatus comprising:

• a flow processor having an interface to one or more routers;
• and
• a storage device coupled to the flow processor;
• wherein the flow processor is operative to:
• receive a flow information packet containing one or more information flow records over the router interface;
• parse the flow information packet to identify the identify of the router sending the flow information packet;
• examine the flow information packet to identify an SNMP number associated with the source and/or destination affiliated with the flow information packet;
• based on the SNMP number, identify the interface of the router associated with the datagram;
• and
• place the flow information record into a storage bucket within the storage device based on the identified router interface.