Network Mapping

[enjay]

Does anyone have any recommendations for network mapping software which will pick up switches and identify exactly which port a PC is on? I tried TheDude but it only found the PCs which doesn't help much.

[OutToLunch]

Silly question, but you do have intelligent switches/snmp etc? The Dude won't find 'dumb' switches/hubs...

[enjay]

No mapping software will find unmanaged switches, but yes, some of ours are managed (it could be its not enabled, of course...)

[FN-GM]

did you find any software?

[Nij.UK]

We currently use NetDISCO

Found at NetDISCO

No idea if its free of it costs.... but i know its very powerful!

[Geoff]

No mapping software will find unmanaged switches, but yes, some of ours are managed (it could be its not enabled, of course...)

The 3com tool can 'sort of' work it out. Basically you end up with Ethernet 'clouds' between the manage switches that represents one or more unmanaged switches.

[plexer]

Netdisco is an Open Source web-based network management tool.

Ben

[Nij.UK]

Netdisco is an Open Source web-based network management tool.

Ben

that would be free then

[enjay]

I didn't find anything, but then I've not really looked again since asking the question. I have spent a bit of time enabling the management on the switches though, so that might help.

I'll definitely give NetDisco a look though.

Disco, Dude - why all the "funky" names for these things?!

[Ric_]

Don't know how I missed this earlier... as Geoff rightly says, the 3COM Network Supervisor (free download if you have a managed 3COM switch) will do exactly this for most big makes of managed switch and anything hublike or unmanaged will appear as a cloud but will show the endpoints coming off that cloud.

[enjay]

The only 3COM we have here is unmanaged :-(

[Ric_]

The only 3COM we have here is unmanaged :-(

I'm saying that it is only the managed ones but it may be worth checking... there's a slim chance that there might be a trial version too.

[Geoff]

You can get a free 60 day trial of 3com network director here:

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/3nd_trial.html

[Ravening_Wolf]

We have some 3Com managed switches given to us by our LEA. Connect to the internal management console however and they automatically reboot. Making them unmanageable managed switches. Nice.

[enjay]

I've just tried that download of 3Com Network Director and, while it found all our PCs, it only picked up their IP numbers not the device names (although it got all the print servers), and missed a few of our managed switches. Is there any way to get it to interrogate the machine name of the PCs?