Network Topology Mapper
SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper (NTM) shows nodes on your network, indicating and updating status both for the nodes and the network connections between them, in interrelated, scalable maps with customizable icons.NTM’s topological overview complements your primary network monitoring system (SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM), powerfully enhancing event triage by quickly showing how an issue with a particular node impacts larger aspects your network. While NPM lists alerts in order or urgency, NTM by distributing alerts on a map that clearly indicates, for example, that a particular switch sits in the path of all other alerting nodes.
The greater advantage of such visualized information is in facilitating planning. Policy adjustments, configuration changes, and capacity planning all depend on the metrics against which your monitoring systems generate its graphical information.Every IT team scales its organization and practices to fit an evolving set of interrelated business, network, user, and security requirements. Any sized team must have tools that facilitate the basic work of deploying network devices (switches, routers, physical and virtual servers, desktop and laptop computers, IP and smartphones) and managing all of those devices as well as the users who depend of the network for the work they do for their business.Monitoring nodes, users, applications, and the different kinds of network traffic, and addressing issues that impact performance and security are twin daily challenges. And a good alerting system is the key to efficiently relating monitoring to management.
The Power of Visualized Information
Trends in graphs and percentages in charts effectively tell the story of what’s happening with the different aspects of your network at the interface, node, and traffic level. Send the results of your measures to reports and your team gets a snapshot of daily, weekly, and monthly behavior. Without these statistics an IT team’s anticipation and planning would be trapped on the edge of impending crisis; planning would be through the guesses occasioned by crises.
Among the requirements for a mapping tool that integrates with the other pieces of your monitoring system should be these:
> Provides accurate, deep, and maintainable network discovery, using multiple discovery methods (SNMP, ICMP, WMI, CDP, VMWare) to map all types of devices (switches, routers, servers, VMs, unmanaged nodes, desktop computers, peripheral devices) and their interconnections; and using scheduled rediscovery to regularly reconfirm topology details.
> Enhances node management (by integrating with the primary node monitoring system), creating a visual analogue for all nodes being monitored; showing node details (including load stats) with rollover graphics down to the interface level; and capable of generating reports on switch ports, VLANs, subnets, and device inventory.
> Facilitates IT monitoring, planning, trouble-shooting workflows by being able to export maps to multiple formats (for example, Visio, PNG, PDF & NTM Map format).
Benefits of Network Topology Mapper
Consider the following benefits of SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper (NTM):
Defining and Reusing Credentials
Scheduling Device and Topology Discovery
Mapping Virtual Device Connectivity
Strategically Managing Maps
Sharing and Printing Maps
Encrypting Maps
Reporting
Defining and Reusing Credentials
NTM allows you to define and store credentials for re-use and allows you to order an active set of credentials according to how you want NTM to use them during discovery.
Scheduling Device and Topology Discovery
NTM uses multiple discovery methods (SNMP, ICMP, WMI, CDP, VMWare) to map all types of devices and their interconnections—switches, routers, servers, VMs, unmanaged nodes, desktop computers, peripheral devices. In scanning a network, you can exclude devices and network segments from discovery scans and also track changes in network topology through scheduled updates. Since NTM discovers multiple links for devices and maps Layer 2 (port level) and Layer 3 (logical) connectivity, as well as Etherchannel relationships, you can see and more easily understand physical and logical relationships between devices. NTM lets you view each layer separately or combined them in one map. With a single discovery scan NTM allows you to create multiple maps and shows detailed system information for discovered devices, including load statistics, with rollover graphics down to the interface level.
Mapping Virtual Device Connectivity
By providing both switch and VLAN details (in connection rollovers for HP/3Com and Juniper Switches, and mapping virtual servers to host machines, NTM provides a clear picture of the connectivity of virtual devices to your physical network.
Strategically Managing Maps
In working with the maps based on a discovery scan, you can choose to display or hide various details about the mapped nodes and the connections between them. You can arrange nodes according to predefined layouts or by manually dragging them. As needed, you can select an area of the larger map and copy it into a separate map.
Sharing and Printing Maps
NTM facilitates IT monitoring, planning, trouble-shooting workflows by being able to export maps to multiple formats (Visio, PNG, Orion Network Atlas, PDF & NTM Map format)
Encrypting Maps
Enables stored and exported maps to be encryption protected with a password. This secures detailed network information contained in maps from being used by unauthorized persons. NTM uses FIPS-compliant encryption to secure map data in native NTM map files.
Notes:
> You can use maps from earlier versions of NTM but you will be prompted to change all SNMP v3 credentials which are not using FIPS compliant algorithms.
> “Proxy maps” created in previous versions of NTM and Network Atlas are not compatible with new version of NTM running in FIPS mode. If you need to use such older maps, you must disable the FIPS requirement on the operating system.
> If you change the FIPS requirement in your operating system, either by disabling or enabling FIPS, you must restart NTM if it is running at the time.
Reporting
NTM can generate reports on switch ports, VLANs, subnets, and device inventory.
How NTM Works?
Using the standard protocols listed below, NTM discovers network nodes and the connectivity between them:
> Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
> Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
> Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP)
> Cisco Discovery Protocol
> VMware Management
> Internetwork Control Message Protocol (ICMP ping)
SNMP interrogates several device MIBs, including:
> MIB2:sysInfo
> IF MIB
> Cisco MIB