Some network traffic are more important than others, and the NTA offers to record network traffic in two storage partitions. Each partition has its own recording loop, and is holding only the types of traffic assigned for that partition. It is like have two systems in one, with two individual retention times, but with a search engine that can span both. The size of the partitions can be chosen as a fraction of the total storage capacity, and can even be modified on-the-fly.