Network mapping is a process used to discover new devices, interfaces and visualize physical and virtual network connectivity. Network topology mapping provides complete visibility into your IT infrastructure. Network mapping tools aid in simplifying network monitoring by pinpointing network faults.
Why is network mapping important to organizations?
Network mapping outlines your network and any device linked to that network visually. These network maps offer powerful visualizations that are easy to comprehend and demonstrate how devices perform on your network.
Enables full network awareness: A network map gives you visibility into every node, device, and link- whether it's a physical router, a virtual switch, or a cloud instance. This unified view is essential for making informed decisions and avoiding blindspots that can lead to vulnerabilities or failure.
Quicker fault diagnosis and troubleshooting: When a fault occurs, say, a user reports downtime or latency - your network maps help you instantly zero in on the affected segment instantly. This eliminates guesswork and accelerates mean time to repair (MTTR).
Keep constant tabs on security: Network mapping can surface unauthorized or unknown devices that silently connect to your environment- potentially opening backdoors for attackers. Visualizing traffic paths and entry points enables quicker containment, better segmentation, and smarter firewall policies.
Better forecasting and efficient planning: A network map enables planning your network architecture by representing various network components. A dynamic map with up-to-date metrics can help you in making better decisions when planning storage capacity or upgrades and optimizations for an existing network.
What are the challenges faced by organizations without a reliable network mapping tool?
In the absence of a reliable, comprehensive network diagram tool, IT teams find themselves navigating a fragmented and reactive environment. Some practical challenges turn into daily roadblocks without effective network monitoring and mapping:
How do you keep maps updated as the network evolves?: As your network grows and expands, network maps need to be updated with its recent connections and dependencies. Manually performing this every time a device gets added will be a real task for network admins. Network mapping tools keep the network updated by automatically mapping the network and their dependencies in the pre-configured intervals.
Having to switch between tools for different map views: Network admins use different network maps such as physical maps, logical maps, and functional maps to achieve full network coverage. To gather and interpret each map's data, network admins need to switch between multiple tools. Network mapping software such as OpManager helps gain a unified view of all these maps and make network topology mapping easy.
Precious time is wasted correlating monitoring and mapping data: Network maps only contain network components and their interconnections. This requires network admins to correlate data from other monitoring tools to gain insights into networking attributes of mapped devices. A network mapper combines network monitoring and mapping processes to provide a comprehensive view and in-depth visibility into mapped devices.
Streamlining troubleshooting due to collaboration gaps: When a fault is detected, mapping out the affected segment is only half the job. The rest involves communicating that insight to on-field engineers or support teams- often across multiple platforms. Without built-in collaboration features or integrations (e.g., Slack, Teams), critical response time is lost to fragmented task hand-offs.
OpManager's network topology mapping tool has become a must have tool for network admins managing an organization's IT infrastructure. Today, there are large corporate networks which can span across millions of network devices and spread across a wide geographical region. Network diagram tools offer the capacity to monitor and regulate these networks with an understanding of the structure and operation of these networks. With OpManager, you can also map virtual devices like VMware, Hyper-V, Xen, and Nutanix.
Network mapping software offer information such as the list of devices located on the network, the components they directly communicate with, the different methods of communication that are used, and more.
Simplify network monitoring using OpManager's network maps
Know every device's information:
Keep track of your network devices on the go with the device details displayed at the top of each device. The device details include the device name, device type, and device status. To view more details, simply click on a device to bring up the device snapshot page, which displays all the device information in one place.
See how the devices are connected:
OpManager's network map shows the connections to and from the device. Hover over the link to get basic information such as admin status, operational status, speed, in-traffic, out-traffic, and description.
View the alerts directly from network maps:
When you hover over a device, along with the device information, you can also see the details of the most recent alarm triggered based on the configured threshold value. The device's icon will be color-coded to help you identify the criticality of the issue and prioritize critical devices. You can click on the device to learn more about the alert details and expedite troubleshooting.
Layer2 discovery: Automatically discover and map network devices
The IT network is forever dynamic; the static network maps often fail to capture the new changes in the network. When a network fault occurs, it becomes impossible to track the affected device or business service using static network diagrams.
With OpManager’s automated network mapping tool, administrators can:
Visualize their complete IT infrastructure.
Be assured of referring to the most up-to-date network maps with periodic network scanning.
With the network topology mapper tool, construct an easy-to-view network topology map that lets one choose the network’s seed device and preferred network layout type.
Visualize your entire network topology under single window.
Automatically map network devices once discovered.
Create and share network diagrams such as 3D rack, floor views, and custom maps across teams.
Easily locate faulty devices and initiate faster troubleshooting.
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Business-views: Group critical services and create custom network maps
It makes sense to group the devices that need special attention under one consolidated view even when they are spread across subnets. That’s exactly what OpManager’s custom maps or Business views section offers. Moreover, with a reliable network mapping solution such as OpManager coupled with its powerful network automation features, you can map business-critical services and monitor branch offices.
OpManager’s custom network mapper feature lets you group the devices based on the need. Further, one can add any background images, draw a live link between devices, and even create a shortcut for a dependent business view in the parent business view. This helps to
Proactively identify devices or business services that need immediate attention and start resolving the bottlenecks if any.
Organize an enterprise network geographically.
Find out not just the problematic device but also where it is located, visually.
Create and share application or location specific network diagrams.
OpManager's network mapper software reflects the latest device and link status with color coded icons in the network maps, acting like a live Visio diagram that lets administrators:
Spot any network problems at-a-glimpse.
Quickly drill down to the problematic device or to the link from the network maps.
Understand the relationship between the parent and the dependent devices.
See the intensity of the network issue identified by faithfully reproducing the network layout.
Prioritize network faults and start remediation actions.
Download a free, 30-day trial or schedule a demo to learn more about how OpManager's network mapping software helps you visualize your network.
FAQs on Network Mapping Software
What is Network Mapper tool?
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The network mapper tool outlines your network and provides a visual representation of how the devices and interfaces are connected across the network. It provides a topological view of your network that helps correlate the monitored data with the mapped devices. The network mapping tool also helps locate issues easily and initiate faster troubleshooting.
How can I map my network for free?
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You can download the comprehensive network mapping software, OpManager's free trial version, and perform network mapping for free for 30 days.
How to do network mapping?
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Using specialized network mapping software is the most efficient approach to accomplish network mapping. Using a simple drag-and-drop diagram builder, OpManager, a comprehensive yet seamless network mapping tool, allows you to generate network infrastructure and topology diagrams.
How does network mapping work?
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Every device currently connected to your network is visibly depicted on a network map. Most network mapping software generates maps automatically based on frequent scans, ensuring that your network visualization is always up to date.
What is the best network mapping tool?
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The best network mapping tool should have a network scanner and a network mapper. Network scanner detects the devices in the IT infrastructure whereas a network mapper maps all the primary switches to the core router, followed by mapping access switches to the primary switch.
It's an added bonus if the network map software has an automation feature for periodic scanning, such that the network maps get automatically updated, with the increase or decrease in the number of devices from the network.
