If a security analyst has limited storage, which type of data is the best for traffic analysis?

When dealing with limited storage for traffic analysis, NetFlow is the most advantageous choice. NetFlow data captures summarized traffic information rather than the entirety of packet data. This allows for the collection of essential network traffic statistics, such as the volume, source, and destination of packets, without needing to store the full payload of each packet. As a result, it is significantly more efficient in terms of storage consumption.

In contrast, packet captures encode every single packet transmitted over the network, which can consume substantial storage space quickly, making it impractical when storage is limited. System logs, while useful for monitoring and alerting on system behaviors, may not provide the specific traffic analysis insights that NetFlow does. SOAP, which is a protocol for exchanging structured information in web services, does not relate directly to the analysis of network traffic in a way that helps in traffic volume or flow analysis. Therefore, when considering limited storage, NetFlow stands out as the preferred option for efficiently monitoring and analyzing network traffic.