0. Introductory, or a little offtopicThis article was born only because it is extremely difficult to find comparative characteristics of such software, or even just a list, in one place. We have to shovel a bunch of material to come to at least some kind of conclusion.
In this regard, I decided to save a little time and effort for those who are interested in this issue, and collected in one place the maximum possible, read mastered by me, number of systems for network mapping'a in one place.
Some of the systems described in this article have been tried by me personally. Most likely, these were irrelevant at the moment versions. I see some of the following for the first time, and information on them was collected solely as part of the preparation of this article.
Due to the fact that I touched the systems for a long time, and didn’t touch some of them at all, I didn’t have any screenshots or any examples. So I refreshed my knowledge in Google, wiki, on youtube, developer sites, I dug screenshots there, and as a result I got such an overview.
1. Theory
1.1. What for?
To answer the question "Why?" First you need to understand what a "Network Map" is. Network map - (most often) a logical-graphical-schematic representation of the interaction of network devices and their connection, which describes their most significant parameters and properties. Nowadays, it is often used in conjunction with monitoring the status of devices and an alert system. So: then, in order to have an idea about the location of the network nodes, their interaction and the connections between them. In conjunction with monitoring, we get a working tool for diagnosing the behavior and predicting the behavior of the network.
1.2. L1, L2, L3
They are also Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 in accordance with the OSI model. L1 - physical level (wires and switching), L2 - physical addressing level (mac-addresses), L3 - logical addressing level (IP-addresses).
In fact, there is no point in building an L1 map, it logically follows from the same L2, with the exception, perhaps, of media converters. And then, now there are media converters that can also be tracked.
Logically - L2 builds a network map based on the mac-addresses of the nodes, L3 - on the IP addresses of the nodes.
1.3. What data to display
It depends on the tasks to be solved and wishes. For example, I naturally want to understand whether the piece of iron itself is “alive”, on which port it “hangs” and in what state the port is up or down. It might be L2. And in general, L2 seems to me the most applicable network map topology in the applied sense. But, the taste and color ...
The connection speed on the port is not bad, but not critical if there is an end device there - a PC printer. It would be nice to be able to see the level of processor load, the amount of free RAM and the temperature on the piece of iron. But this is not so easy anymore, here you will need to configure a monitoring system that can read SNMP and display and analyze the received data. More on this later.
Regarding L3, I found this one .
1.4. How?
It can be done manually, it can be done automatically. If by hand, then for a long time and you need to take into account the human factor. If automatically, then you need to take into account that all network devices must be “smart”, be able to use SNMP, and this SNMP must be correctly configured so that the system that will collect data from them can read this data.
It seems not difficult. But there are pitfalls. Starting with the fact that not every system will be able to read all the data that we would like to see from the device, or not all network devices can give this data, and ending with the fact that not every system can build network maps in automatic mode.
The process of automatic map generation is approximately the following:
– the system reads data from network equipment
- based on the data, it forms a table of address matching on ports for each port of the router
- matches addresses and device names
- builds port-portdevice connections
- draws all this in the form of a diagram, "intuitive" for the user
2. Practice
So, let's talk now about what you can use to build a network map. Let's take as a starting point that we want, of course, to automate this process as much as possible. Well, that is, Paint and MS Visio are no longer... though... No, they are.
There is specialized software that solves the problem of building a network map. Some software products can only provide an environment for “manually” adding pictures with properties, drawing links, and launching “monitoring” in an extremely truncated form (whether the node is alive or not responding anymore). Others can not only draw the network diagram on their own, but also read a bunch of parameters from SNMP, notify the user via SMS in case of breakdowns, provide a bunch of information on the ports of the network hardware, and all this is only part of their functionality (the same NetXMS).
2.1. Products
The list is far from complete, since there are a lot of such software. But this is all that Google gives out on the topic (including English-language sites):
Open source projects:
LanTopoLog
Nagios
Icinga
NeDi
Pandora FMS
PRTG
NetXMS
Zabbix
Paid projects:
LanState
Total Network Monitor
Solarwinds Network Topology Mapper
UVexplorer
auvik
AdRem NetCrunch
2.2.1. Free software
2.2.1.1. LanTopoLog
Software developed by Yuri Volokitin. The interface is as simple as it can be. Softina supports, let's say, semi-automatic network building. She needs to “feed” the settings of all routers (IP, SNMP credentials), then everything will happen by itself, namely, connections between devices will be built indicating ports.
There are paid and free versions of the product.
2.2.1.2.Nagios
Open Source software has been around since 1999. The system is designed for network monitoring, that is, it can read data via SNMP and automatically build a network map, but since this is not its main function, it does this in a very ... strange way ... NagVis is used to build maps.
2.2.1.3. Icinga
Icinga is an Open Source system, which at one time spun off from Nagios. The system allows you to automatically build network maps. The only problem is that it builds maps using the NagVis addon, which was developed under Nagios, so we will assume that these two systems are identical in terms of building a network map.
2.2.1.4. NeDi
Able to automatically detect nodes in the network, and based on this data, build a network map. The interface is quite simple, there is status monitoring via SNMP.
There are free and paid versions of the product.
2.2.1.5. Pandora FMS
Able in auto-discovery, auto-building a network, SNMP. Nice interface.
There are free and paid versions of the product.
2.2.1.6. PRTG
The software does not know how to automatically build a network map, only manually dragging and dropping pictures. But at the same time, it can monitor the status of devices via SNMP. The interface leaves much to be desired, in my subjective opinion.
30 days - full functionality, then - "free version".
2.2.1.7. NetXMS
NetMXS is primarily an Open Source monitoring system, building a network map is a side function. But it is implemented quite neatly. Automatic building based on auto-discovery, node monitoring via SNMP, able to track the status of router ports and other statistics.
2.2.1.8. Zabbix
Zabbix is also an Open Source monitoring system, more flexible and powerful than NetXMS, but it can only build network maps in manual mode, but it can monitor almost any router parameters, the collection of which can only be configured.
2.2.2. Paid software
2.2.2..1 Lan State
Paid software that allows you to automatically scan the network topology and build a network map based on the detected equipment. Allows you to monitor the status of detected devices only by updown of the node itself.
2.2.2.2. Total Network Monitor
Paid software that does not automatically build a network map. Doesn't even know how to automatically detect nodes. In fact, this is the same Visio, only focused on network topology. Allows you to monitor the status of detected devices only by updown of the node itself.
Crap! I wrote above that we are refusing Paint and Visio ... Okay, let it be.
I didn’t find a video manual, and I don’t need it ... The program is so-so.
2.2.2.3. Solarwinds Network Topology Mapper
Paid software, there is a trial period. It can automatically scan the network and create a map on its own according to the specified parameters. The interface is quite simple and pleasant.
2.2.2.4. UVexplorer
Paid software, 15-day trial. It can auto-detect and automatically draw a map, monitor devices only by up / down state, that is, through device ping.
2.2.2.5. Auvik
Pretty nice paid program that can auto-detect and monitor network devices.
2.2.2.6. AdRem NetCrunch
Paid software with a 14-day trial. Able to autodetect and autobuild the network. The interface did not cause enthusiasm. Can also monitor in SNMP.
3. Comparison plate
As it turned out, it’s quite difficult to come up with relevant and important parameters for comparing systems and at the same time fit them into one small plate. This is what I got:
*The "User Friendly" setting is highly subjective and I understand that. But how else to describe the "clumsiness and unreadability" I did not come up with.
**“Monitoring not only the network” implies the operation of the system as a “monitoring system” in the usual sense of this term, that is, the ability to read metrics from the OS, virtualization hosts, receive data from applications in guest OSes, etc.
4. Personal opinion
From personal experience, I don’t see the point in using the software separately for network monitoring. I am more impressed with the idea of using a monitoring system for everything and everyone with the ability to build a network map. Zabbix has a hard time with this. Nagios and Icinga too. And only NetXSM pleased in this regard. Although, if you get confused and make a map in Zabbix, then it looks even more promising than NetXMS. There is also Pandora FMS, PRTG, Solarwinds NTM, AdRem NetCrunch, and most likely a bunch of other things that are not included in this article, but I only saw them in pictures and videos, so I can’t say anything about them.
About NetXMS was written with a small overview of the system's capabilities and a small how to.
PS:
If I made a mistake somewhere, and I most likely made a mistake, please, correct it in the comments, I will correct the article so that those who find this information useful do not have to double-check everything from their own experience.
Thank you.
Source: habr.com