A method for use to configure a network switch device to implement a traffic flow configuration, the network switch device having a plurality of network ports and a plurality of instrument ports, the method includes: receiving instrument port information that identifies one or more of the instrument ports for the traffic flow configuration, wherein the instrument port information is received by a processing unit; receiving network port information that identifies one or more of the network ports for the traffic flow configuration; receiving traffic information that identifies one or more network traffic for the traffic flow configuration, wherein the traffic information is received after the instrument port information is received or after the network port information is received; and storing the instrument port information, the traffic information, and the network port information in association with each other to implement the traffic flow configuration.