A Protocol Analyzer is a tool used to monitor and analyze network traffic. It captures data packets transmitted over a network and decodes them to provide insights into the communication protocols being used. This helps network administrators troubleshoot issues, optimize performance, and ensure security by identifying unusual patterns or unauthorized access. These analyzers can be hardware devices or software applications, such as Wireshark or tcpdump. They support various protocols, including TCP/IP, HTTP, and FTP, allowing users to view detailed information about each packet, such as source and destination addresses, payload data, and protocol-specific details.