# What if our production switch has no SPAN port?

Then use a network TAP, or add a managed switch where you need visibility. Unmanaged switches, common in machine cabinets, cannot mirror traffic. A TAP is a small box placed in one cable, for example the link between the line switch and the plant core, that copies the traffic in both directions to a monitoring port without appearing on the network. Many are built to keep the link up if they lose power; check that for the model you buy. Choose the link that carries the traffic you care about most: between office and production, or between the SCADA servers and the controllers. Traffic between two devices on the same unmanaged switch never crosses that link and stays out of view. NetSenX works from either a SPAN port or a TAP; one agent on it counts as one device, and the OT protocols are read from the Pro plan.

FAQ: [OT and IoT](https://netsenx.com/en/faq/ot) · https://netsenx.com/en/faq/what-if-the-production-switch-has-no-span-port

## Read next

- https://netsenx.com/en/ot-network-monitoring
- https://netsenx.com/en/compare

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