Network Diagram Software

A network diagram is a feature used by network mapping devices to visualize all the connected nodes in a network. These nodes can include network device hardware, network servers, printers, routers, and workstations.

A network diagram connects nodes with a line-mapping display to visualize information like internet connectivity and device relationships across OSI layers, which can be used by organizations to depict both local-area and wide-area network map topologies.

A network diagram can be constructed using software designed to scan the devices in your network and provide a visual display, using various icons to signify different types of nodes.

Creating a network diagram is an important step to help organizations understand device relationships, demonstrate industry network compliance standards, and keep track of what’s happening on a network.

Network security is also a major function of network mapping, as these diagrams can help organizations more easily detect new and unknown devices in the network and monitor how they interact with other devices. Using a network diagram, security threats and unusual activity can also be more readily detected.

For many industries, network management standards are set by a centralized enforcement committee establishing compliance protocol. For companies operating within these guidelines, it can be crucial to have a network diagram solution to document the network topology with accuracy and speed. PCI and similar regulations also require companies to maintain an up-to-date network diagram to demonstrate compliance.

While admins can create network diagrams manually, mapping WANs and LANs can be time-consuming, inefficient, require continual updates, and prone to human errors. An automated network mapping software can quickly create network diagrams by automatically discovering network devices, which enables admins to more easily create, adjust, and use visual displays of interconnected network components and their status.

A network mapping software works by scanning a network to discover the devices. Once the nodes are detected during scanning, the mapping device collects polling data to survey the function of each of the network nodes. This process can use various discovery methods like CDP, SNMP, ICMP, and others. The network diagram itself is compiled once the network has been fully detected and mapped. In some cases, the network diagram can be automatically updated to reflect changing node status.

Network Topology Mapper is a network mapping software designed to feature a sophisticated network diagram solution to analyze and document any updates to network device activity. NTM offers a wide range of automated capabilities for each step of the network mapping process. To support your network security efforts, SolarWinds NTM is built to be compliant with a range of industry regulation standards including PCI compliance and FIP 140-2.

The network diagram software in NTM is also designed to create multiple maps from a single scan, supporting multiple discovery methods including SNMP v1-v3, ICMP, LLDP, WMI, CDP, VMware, Hyper-V, and more. Once devices are discovered and a diagram is created, another useful NTM network diagram feature is it allows for highly customizable, manual adjustment of its network maps with various custom icons to signify different node functions—because SolarWinds knows the visual interface should ultimately be in the hands of the IT pro.

SolarWinds NTM offers a quick, easy, and accurate way to generate the automatic network maps you need for optimal visibility.

NTM is built to make it easier to create highly detailed network diagrams of your Layer-2/Layer-3 network. The tool’s auto-discovery feature can detect any device on your network, including routers, switches, VoIP phones, desktops, printers, servers, and wireless access points. NTM’s Network Discovery Scan Wizard lets you scan IP address ranges or define a seed device (typically a core network switch) and discover your network using industry-standard methods such as ICMP, SNMP v1-v3, WMI, CDP, VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, and more.

The Network Discovery Scan Wizard also helps you to set the parameters of your map. You can limit your diagram to specific regions, like VMware, or you can map the entire network. Once your Discovery Wizard has completed its scan, you can save all your related maps in scan files.

When using NTM to create network diagrams, you can leverage the following capabilities for more control over the map-making process:

• Specify discovery credentials. NTM is FIPS-compliant to ensure a secure approach to mapping.
• Define IP addresses for discovery. Specify subnets, an IP address range, or use Freeform device info. It’s also possible to exclude devices from a scan.
• Name the scan and adjust the scope. It’s simple to adjust the number of hops, ignore certain nodes, or eliminate bridge tables.
• Schedule a discovery. You can set NTM to schedule a topology scan once or repeatedly.
• Rescan a network. You can easily rediscover a network as needed.

The result is a scalable map of selected network nodes designed to visualize their current statuses and display connections between interrelated components. You can also customize icons and other visual elements as needed. NTM is designed to make it simple to share and print maps in multiple formats and even encrypt maps with a password.