Intrusion Detection with Snort

Snort's Specifications

Before getting into the details of how Snort functions as an IDS, it is worth the time to take a good look at the metrics of Snort and see whether it is suitable for your needs.

Requirements

Most high-performance applications require a specific set of supporting hardware and software. Because Snort uses a generic sniffing interface (libpcap) that has been ported to most operating systems, Snort can be run on a multitude of different platforms. Snort does not require expensive unique equipment to do its job; it runs on commercial off-the-shelf hardware. Snort is supported on the following architectures:

• i386

• Sparc

• Motorola 68000/Power PC

• Alpha

Snort is also compatible with almost every imaginable operating system. Some of the ...