The Network Analysis Module (NAM) (WS-X6380-NAM) monitors and analyzes network traffic for the Catalyst 6000 family switches using Remote Monitoring (RMON), RMON2, and other MIBs. The RMON support that the NAM provides for Ethernet VLANs is an extension of the RMON support provided by the Catalyst 6000 family supervisor engine. The switched port analyzer (SPAN) selects network traffic and directs it to the NAM. TrafficDirector, or any other IETF-compliant RMON application, can analyze link characteristics, packet layers for capacity planning or departmental accounting, differentiated service deployment and policies, and filter/capture packets for debugging.