Lansweeper – The Lansweeper package is focused on network inventory and provides a number of different functionalities that make the management of all network elements across the network much easier, including support for everything from printers to servers.
Standard and professional editions are available with the professional edition going for $295 per license (250 switchports and IP addresses) and an Annual Maintenance license is also available for a yearly fee of $59.
While the OpUtils interface is cleaner and more graphical than the previous two options, it also is lacking in its full support of CDP and LLDP, both which can provide network discovery enhancement.Ī free version of OpUtils exists with some limited functionality. It provides a number of different features that can help with the management of a network, including IP address management, switch port management (SNMP), device configuration management, and bandwidth monitoring, as well as several networking tools that can be used to monitor and troubleshoot the network. OpUtils – ManageEngine’s OpUtils is not specific to switchport management. NetDB, along with the Management Switch Port Mapping Tool, are the only two packages that were stand-alone and specific to switchport mapping. Most of the information that is base information that can be retrieved is similar to that of the Management Switch Port Mapping Tool mentioned above but in a less easy-to-look-at format. Unlike all of the other tools mentioned in this article, NetDB does not use SNMP as its query mechanism instead using device CLI logging capabilities. While this tool does require some amount of Linux CLI knowledge, it is free and, as it is open source, it can be modified to meet the exact needs of the user.
Network Tracking Database (NetDB) – The Network Tracking Database tool is an open-source Linux-based tool that can be used along with a web server engine to scan the switches on a network and record information into a database. Management Switch Port Mapping Tool, along with NetDB (mentioned next), are the only two packages that were stand-alone and specific to switch port mapping. The Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool by Northwest Performance SoftwareĪ standalone copy costs $199, and it can be bundled with the companion NetScanTools package, which offers a number of different network mapping and scanning tools for various device types.
With minimal SNMP access (Read-Only), this software provides an easy-to-read sheet that includes interface type, name, speed, duplex, Virtual LAN (VLAN), switchport status, MAC address, MAC addresses of those devices which are connected off of each switch port, Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) information for supporting connected devices, Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) (802.1AB) information for supporting connected devices among other customizable queried information. Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool – Of the available switchport mapping tools that were found, the most comprehensive and easy to use was the Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool by Northwest Performance Software. Here are some of the most noteworthy products. Most of these programs take advantage of the Simple Network Management Protocol ( SNMP) and its query mechanisms and some even provide the ability to alter switchport status and configuration if needed. Sometimes this information is limited to MAC address(es) only, and sometimes it can be very detailed depending on the specific configuration of the connected device. There are a number of different products that exist which provide an accurate mapping of the devices that connect to each switch port. When used, the likelihood of error on documentation can be reduced, and switchport connections can be easily verified dynamically whenever the engineers have a need for the information.īut what happens if you are in one of those organizations that are not very, well… organized? Or what if you are a consultant who has been brought in to fix a problem in one of these types of organizations? Today I’ll review the available switch port mapping software options and the available alternatives that exist on Cisco equipment when these software options are not in place. There are a number of different software options that help in the process of mapping these various devices to switch ports. In a well-organized networking department, documentation should exist to allow any network engineer to quickly look up those devices that are connected to each switch port throughout the organization.