The embodiments disclosed herein relate to a network diagnostic component or device that is placed in-line between a first and second node. The diagnostic component or device is used to compress pre-specified Dwords of a network data stream. For example, the first node may communicate with the second node using a network data stream that includes a first component and a pre-specified component. In some embodiments, the network data stream may be of the SAS/SATA protocol. The network diagnostic component may receive the network data signal and associate the pre-specified component with an identifier that is represents the pre-specified component. The first component and the identifier representing the pre-specified component may then be recorded in a memory.