Network taps are hardware devices that help in accessing the data flow across a computer network. It is also desirable for a third party to monitor the traffic between two points in the network. The network tap has (at least) three ports, an a port, a b port, and a monitor port. Network taps are generally used for network intrusion detection systems, voip recording, network probes, rmon probes, packet sniffers, and other monitoring and collection devices and software that require access to a network segment.