What connects a monitoring device to a local port and receives a copy of traffic going into or out of a network device?

The correct answer is Local Traffic Mirroring. This practice involves connecting a monitoring device to a local port of a network switch or other network device, allowing the copying of traffic that is entering or leaving that specific device. This is particularly useful for network analysis, troubleshooting, and security monitoring because it provides a direct view of the traffic without affecting the performance of the network.

Local Traffic Mirroring operates at a close range to the monitored device, ensuring that real-time traffic data can be analyzed without the additional latency that might occur if the monitoring was done from a further location. This method is a crucial aspect of network diagnostics and security, facilitating the collection of detailed traffic information for various monitoring tools, such as intrusion detection systems and network analyzers.

In contrast, Traffic Mirroring in a more general sense may not specify the proximity to the device and might include both local and remote scenarios, while Remote Traffic Mirroring explicitly involves traffic being mirrored from a distance, which is not as direct as local mirroring. Virtual Network Computing (VNC), on the other hand, is a remote desktop sharing system and does not pertain to copying network traffic.