Configures the router or switch to make a copy of every packet that the device processes.

• A. SPAN or Mirrored Port
• B. Local Traffic Mirroring
• C. Traffic Mirroring
• D. Remote Traffic Mirroring

Answer: (A)

Port mirroring is the process of duplicating network traffic so a monitor can inspect it without affecting the live flow. When you configure this on a switch or router, you designate a source of traffic (the ports or VLANs you want to watch) and a destination port where a packet analyzer, like Wireshark, is attached. The device then sends a copy of every packet from the source to the destination, allowing full visibility into all traffic passing through the device.

This exact capability is commonly referred to as SPAN (Switch Port Analyzer) or a Mirrored Port. It’s the standard term for capturing a copy of all the relevant traffic for monitoring or forensic analysis. There are related variations, such as Local SPAN (where the destination is on the same device) and Remote SPAN (RSPAN, where the mirrored traffic is sent to a monitor on a different switch), but the fundamental idea and purpose remain the same: provide a copied stream of packets to a analyzer for inspection.

Other terms like local traffic mirroring or generic traffic mirroring describe similar concepts but aren’t as precise or universally used as SPAN, which is why the option reflecting SPAN or Mirrored Port is the best choice.