When you’re hired to document a client’s network, there’s really only one way to
go about it. You’ll have to find a reliable network autodiscovery tool to help
you find the needles in the haystack.Although TechRepublic’s senior network engineer, Lori Hyde, tried two tools for autodiscovery, Microsoft Visio's Network AutoDiscovery and Layout and Fluke’s LAN MapShot, she was less than pleased with the results. To help her find a tool that’s within her price range and provides credible, usable results, we turned to our members for their experience with network autodiscovery tools. The nine tools here—with features from the vendors’ Web sites—were recommended by our members (we’ve left the links visible so you can print this out).
Nine tools for network autodiscovery
- 3Com
Network Supervisor
http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?tab=features&pathtype=purchase&sku=3C15100C
Trial version: http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/result.jsp?selected=5&sort=effdt&order=desc&sku=3C15100C
Key features: Discovers and manages up to 1,500 IP devices (up to 2,500 with 3Com Network Supervisor Advanced Package) and 3Com NBX telephones; graphical interface lets you configure discovery boundaries to include specific subnets, enable or disable activity threshold alerts, and generate reports on network topology, device inventory, and port capacity
Price: Free download requires registration beyond the 60-day evaluation period.
Member comments: “Even with the heavy-duty apps out there, I still like this one because of its simplicity, its flexibility, and, mainly, because of its price. It works great on small networks and on those with less than 2,500 nodes. The upgrade costs a little bit and has to be ordered from a 3Com rep on CD, but it would be worth the cost, which is still nominal.” - AdRem
NetCrunch 2.1
http://www.adremsoftware.com/netcrunch/index.php
Trial version: http://www.adremsoftware.com/demo/demo.php
Key features: Network discovery and mapping; device and service discovery and monitoring; performance monitoring; fault management with alerts sent via e-mail, pager, ICQ, etc.; trend analysis and reporting
Price: AdRem NetCrunch 2.1 Standard allows you to monitor an unlimited number of IP devices but is recommended for up to 500 devices per instance. The per-workstation price for the standard version is $795 for one workstation, $755 for two to four workstations, and $716 for five workstations. AdRem NetCrunch 2.1 for Servers is licensed per server, the total number of servers to be monitored, and per administrator workstation, the total number of workstations where you install it. The server version is available for $1,445 for up to five servers, with discounts for larger purchases.
Member comments: “…it’s probably the most friendly and easy to use tool for network discovery and monitoring….” - HP
Toptools
http://www.hp.com/toptools/prodinfo/overview.intro.html
Trial version: http://www.hp.com/toptools/download/download.html
Key features: HP Toptools is a hardware management tool that provides inventory, fault, asset, performance, and security management of HP devices from anywhere on your network using a Web browser.
Price: Provided at no charge for HP customers, or you can order a Toptools 5.6 CD set for $14.95 plus shipping and handling.
Member comments: “Toptools is effective at finding every device on the network. I am able to look at my HP4000 switch and see if any ports have high utilization, then look on a map to see who is connected to that port. The port has an unmanaged hub connected to it, and you can see who is attached to that hub as well.” - Ipswitch
WhatsUp Gold
http://www.whatsupgold.com/Products/WhatsUp/index.html
Trial version: http://www.whatsupgold.com/_download/oneform.asp?product=WG-0000
Key features: It provides an intelligent network mapping feature while providing a robust monitoring system for network service levels and applications.
Price: $2,000 to $5,000 including the service agreement hardware and training costs
Member comments: “It is written in C++ so it is very easy to write add-ins to it if you know a little bit of programming. It also has the built-in function to monitor services that are running and restart them if they go down. It is simple to use and won't cost as much as most discovery/monitoring tools.” - LANguard Network
Security Scanner from GFI
http://www.gfi.com/lannetscan/index.htm
Trial version: http://www.gfi.com/downloads/downloads.asp?pid=8&vid=17&lid=1
Key features: GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner provides information, such as missing security patches, open shares, open ports, key registry entries, and weak passwords. Scan results are outputted to an HTML report, which can be customized and queried.
Price: It is free for noncommercial use. Commercial users, or those who want extra features of the program like reporting, comparison, patch updater, and security alert updates, pay $249 for up to 50 IPs/devices. The price increases with the number of devices.
Member comments: “It doesn't do anything fancy like network drawings, but it will quickly tell you what devices are out there. One feature will tell you what security holes exist on which machines and which Microsoft article number applies. You can even push down fixes/updates to individual machines or [to] your entire network at once.”
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