[c-nsp] Slightly OT: Network Mapping Tools

[Jeremy Bresley]

On 7/21/2010 9:27 AM, John Neiberger wrote:
> I used to used HP Network Node Manager at a previous employer and
> thought it did a really good job of automatically mapping the network,
> especially since it handled L3 and L2 discovery well after a bit of
> tweaking. I'm at a new place now and I'm wondering if there are any
> good automated mapping tools out there. I want to focus on Cisco
> routers and switches. I don't need something to map every other device
> on the network, so I'd need to have a good way to filter out
> extraneous stuff.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks!
> John
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http://netdisco.org/

Netdisco will discover the devices, and put together a rudimentary map 
of the connections.  Be warned, if you have a large network (>500 
devices), the map may not be very usable and will take a while to 
generate.  The main uses for Netdisco are inventory/discovery rather 
than mapping.  It does support CDP/FDP/LLDP discovery, as well as being 
able to manually add devices via SNMP polling.  It also queries the 
routers and switches for their MAC and ARP tables, making it very easy 
to find where a particular IP or MAC address lives from a quick search.  
And the price tag is right whether it does everything you need or not.  
(Free!)

Jeremy