Network Documentation - Introduction to Network Mapping

Introduction to Network Mapping

Written by Jack Hughes

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

Beyond a certain size networks become difficult to visualize without graphical aids. There are a number of tools to aid in the production of network maps. This article provides reasons why you should be interested in network mapping, as well as an overview of the available tools.

What is Network Mapping

Networks are complex systems, and they are getting more complex all of the time. The larger the network, the harder it is to understand as a whole. Network maps help to make networks more understandable by breaking them down into more manageable chunks. For instance, a very large network can be broken down into a very broad overview. Only the largest offices need be displayed, with the main backbones between them. The network can then be broken down into smaller chunks, each chunk revealing more detail about the network.

One of the downsides to network mapping is that the maps require an investment of time to create. But, more importantly, once they are created require a much greater effort to maintain.

Network maps are an invaluable tool to help new hires get up to speed quickly. Maps can communicate more in a few minutes than a day's worth of talking about the network.

When contemplating modifications to a network architecture, network maps can be invaluable. Not only will your network maps communicate to you what changes are necessary, but they will also communicate to other people too.

Less technical people also appreciate network maps. Often non-technical managers are the ones who need to sign off on network upgrades. If you have a means to communicate more effectively with them, then that may well ease the process of budget approval.

Network Mapping Tools

Network maps needn't be an onerous burden to the network engineer. There are a variety of tools available that will help automate some aspects of creating network maps. More importantly, the tools will also help with the burden of maintaining the maps.

Open Source

Rather disappointingly, there is no head on competitor to the commercial network mapping tools. Tools do exist, but they are not up to the standards of the commercial tools.

A number of open source network management systems incorporate some network mapping functionality. Unfortunately, in cases like Nagios and OpenNMS, they are quite rudimentary.

There is only one dedicated open source network mapping tool that I am aware of (though, if you know better, please leave some feedback). knetmap is a network mapping tool running on Linux utilizing the KDE desktop environment. It is currently in alpha so a production version is unlikely for some time.

Commercial

SmartDraw™
SmartDraw™ is a straight down the line graphics program. With the addition of a network library it is easy to create network maps of your network. But don't expect any help along the way. SmartDraw™ will not automate any of the process for you by going out and discovering elements of your network for you.

If you just want to create a few simple ad-hoc maps for the lowest cost possible then SmartDraw™ would be a good choice. It is inexpensive and will produce results quickly. It will however impose a significant burden if you wish to keep your diagrams up-to-date.

Visio
Visio is perhaps the best know network mapping tool. Like SmartDraw® it is not a dedicated network mapping tool, but it does include a modest amount of automation in the Pro version. The fact that Visio is now bundled in some versions of Microsoft Office means that it will be available to a lot of network engineers.

netViz™
netViz™ started life as a pure network mapping tool. It has since broadened out to become a more generic enterprise documentation solution. netViz(tm) now includes diagramming functions such as relational databases, workflows and org charts amongst others.

Neon LANsurveyor
Neon LANsurveyor is a sophisticated network mapping tool with a high degree of automation. Neon LANsurveyor also includes an intrusion detection system to help identify rogue network users. LANsurveyor is able to probe your network and discover your network architecture automatically. It can probe your switches to discover which switch port(s) a given network node hangs from. Documenting your switches alone can be a nightmare, so any means to automate this process can be a real time saver.

Conclusion

The tool likely to appeal to you really depends upon how you are likely to use your network maps. If you just want to knock up a quick, disposable diagram to explain to your boss how your network is put together, then both SmartDraw(tm) and Visio will likely suffice.

On the other hand, if you want a means to maintain a high degree of documentation about your network, then I would suggest you look at netViz(tm) and LANSurveyor. Both of these tools will make the process of maintaining your network maps much easier.

About the Author
Jack Hughes possesses extensive experience in the design and implementation of software projects, particularly specialising in network management and communications. In 2003 he founded OPENXTRA together with Denis Laverty using his skills as the technical and programming visionary within the company as its Chief Technical Officer.

http://www.openxtra.co.uk/

Comments (12) >>

5h4rk said:

Do you know any software for Linux?

November 29, 2006

davis said:

Dia is a good Open Source network mapping tool that strongly resembles Visio.

December 01, 2006

Noam Eppel said:

A tool your readers may be interested in is NetWorkView. NetWorkView is an excellent network discovery and management tool which can;

* Discover TCP/IP nodes and routes using DNS, SNMP, Ports, NetBIOS and WMI
* Get MAC addresses and NIC Manufacturer Names,
* Monitor nodes and receive Alerts
* Document with printed Maps and Reports.
* Control and Secure your network with the SNMP MIB Browser, the WMI browser and the Port Scanner.

http://www.networkview.com

Best Regards,

Noam Eppel

Vivica Information Security Inc.
http://www.vivica.ca

February 28, 2007 | url

edw1n said:

For network discovery, the dude is also a nice tool: http://www.mikrotik.com/thedude.php

March 23, 2007

cathy said:

EDraw Network Diagrammer is a professional network diagramming software with rich examples and templates. Easy to draw detailed physical, logical, Cisio and network architecture diagrams, using a comprehensive set of network and computer equipment shapes.

You can review some network diagram examples at http://www.edrawsoft.com/images/interface/network500.png

EDrawSoft
http://www.edrawsoft.com

March 27, 2007 | url

Mike Borek said:

It seems that the best of all worlds is to have up-to-date network drawings when you need them, to be able to interact with the data behind the drawings for faster assimilation of what is going on and of course to be able to produce physically accurate Visio drawings with a single click of a mouse. Net|Depict (www.netquation.com) is a new automated Visio drawing utility from Netquation. Net|Depict was desigend to completely automate the production of "customer-quality", "physically-accurate" fully interactive and functional Visio network drawings. Additionally you can configure Net|Depict to "snapshot" your network in Visio, for client management, compliance or any other network management task.

Visit www.netquation.com/demo.htm to see a registration-free demo and try out a 15 day evaluation copy...

April 18, 2007 | url

TZ said:

I'm surprised nothing has been said about Intermapper which is, in my opinion, the best for network mapping / monitoring. BTW, I'm not involved in any company to say this, which is not the case of the above comments :

http://dartware.com/network_monitoring_products/intermapper/index.html

February 22, 2008

Jack hb said:

we usually use "visualnet" software .It's very good!

March 04, 2008 | url

Zach Loeber said:

There are a few good network mapping tools for Linux. Off the top of my head there is:

Netdisco
Zenoss

Both make network diagrams and look pretty. Netdisco is a bit more based on mapping out your switch ports while zenoss is a bit more based on monitoring. These are just off the top of my head, there are many many more. Bad news is that it usually requires a bit of configuration, but not always. You can get a prepackaged virtual machine of zenoss if you like.

For hand drawn diagrams there is also an online diagram tool called gliffy.com

April 04, 2008 | url

dg said:

There is now a plug-in version of the LANsurveyor product mentioned in this article available for free for any Visio 2007 customer. The promo is being run from Microsoft on the www.visiotoolbox.com website and is available until June 30th.

April 17, 2008 | url

publicrejoicer said:

In the windows world I am a fan of friendly viewer. http://www.kilievich.com/fviewer/

Good article. thanks

January 09, 2009 | url

digitmaster said:

" DIA " IS A FREEWARE FOR LINUX AND WINDOWS:

http://www.gnome.org/projects/dia/

January 21, 2009

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 17 March 2007 )

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