Statistical Traffic Analysis Kit

Statistical Traffic Analysis Kit (STAK) is a command-line traffic analysis tool that is designed for network administrators. One significant advantage of the STAK set compared to tcpdump (1) is that it uses statistical and stream-oriented methods, which can provide a more manageable output without sacrificing data interpretation quality.

The STAK set comprises five different utilities that can perform various tasks. One is estimating overall traffic rates (stakrate), which helps network administrators monitor the network's traffic volume. Another utility in the set, stakhosts, determines network nodes that generate the highest traffic, which is helpful in identifying nodes that require more attention in terms of performance optimization.

Another useful utility, stakasta, monitors the amount of traffic exchanged with specific autonomous systems, while stakextract extracts strings from packets which is critical in analyzing message traffic. Lastly, stakstreams (experimental) determines connections and flows that generate the highest traffic, which can pinpoint connection and flow issues that arise in high-traffic networks.

Overall, the Statistical Traffic Analysis Kit is a powerful tool for network administrators, providing them with valuable data, and helping them make informed decisions about network performance and security.