NSM relies on various data sources to provide a comprehensive view of your network activity, such as network packets, flows, and logs. Network packets are the raw data that travel across your network, containing detailed information about the source, destination, protocol, and content of each communication. Network flows are aggregated records of network packets with common attributes like IP addresses, ports, and timestamps. They provide a summary of traffic volume and patterns. Network logs record events and actions that occur on network devices like routers, firewalls, servers, and applications. They provide contextual information about the status, performance, and configuration of your network components. To use these data sources for NSM, you need packet capture tools for network packets, flow analysis tools for network flows, and log management tools for network logs.