hi perl monks, i'm new to perl and have written code to capture packets on the network. i'm storing the packets in a text file. (using linux red hatand perl5.6)

firstly does anyone know what code i can use to let the code run for say 5 mins, and have an option for running for 10mins, thenafter this time it stops, clears the logfile,then starts again after some time.

secondly, since there is a limitation to the file size, as i, for instance, get the packetsizes which i'll use to graph the data in real-time and show batch statistics, how can i get rid of data i've already used?

graphs i'd like to implement are really very simple, one is a linegraph which will show the average number of packets over perhaps 5mins and 10mins.and the other is a bar graph that will show the 5 hoststhat sent the most traffic in the time interval specified.
any ideas on how todo this in the quickest time??

In reply to real-time packet capture by PEACHHORSE

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