These days, all companies need a well-functioning network. Outages, overloads, and bottlenecks can annoy both employees and customers and interfere with their jobs and their usage of products.
Whenever such problems arise, IT managers need to diagnose the situation. One essential tool for that purpose is a network map, which basically gives an overhead view of the relevant infrastructure. (For more information, see The Complete Guide to Application Mapping.)
What is network mapping?
Network mapping is the process of creating a pictorial representation of the connections between devices within an IT environment. Network mapping is used by network administrators and other operations teams to ensure that all network connectivities within the infrastructure are operating smoothly.
(By the way, want to try our new network mapping feature? Just fill out the free demo form to the right!)
What are network mapping tools and software?
Network mapping tools show the connectivities of all local physical devices and collect real-time data from them to create relevant reports. For example, the software can monitor performance, identify inefficiencies, show bottlenecks, and uncover hidden items.
In the past, network administrators would manually draw visual depictions of their networks on one page. Of course, it would take a lot of time – and the IT staff would have to change the chart whenever a new device would be set up or taken down. But today, network mapping software can automatically discover the network topology and all connected devices.
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Tips from the Expert
In my experience, here are tips that can help you better leverage network mapping:
- Incorporate automated alerting Set up automated alerts within your network mapping tools to notify you of potential issues before they escalate. This allows for proactive management and quicker response times.
- Use AI for predictive analysis Leverage artificial intelligence to analyze network data and predict future issues such as potential bottlenecks or points of failure. This can help in preemptively addressing problems.
- Regularly update firmware Ensure all network devices have the latest firmware updates. Network mapping can help you keep track of device versions and automate update schedules to minimize security vulnerabilities and performance issues.
- Segment your network Implement network segmentation to isolate critical systems and reduce the spread of issues. Network mapping tools can help visualize and plan effective segmentation strategies.
- Integrate with SIEM solutions Integrate your network mapping tools with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to enhance security monitoring and correlate network issues with security events.
Why is network mapping important?
Network maps help with network visualization, device monitoring, and network diagnosis. Companies often send large data files from or within their networks and can consume a large amount of bandwidth, which can cause other systems to work slowly or even fail at the worst and cause a complete crash of the system’s servers.
In this example, system administrators can use a network map to find the exact computer that is causing the bandwidth problem. They can also use network maps to find things such as glitches or overload parameters in the backup process.
Second, imagine that a company has installed some new software that then consumes too much data. Perhaps the application has bugs or some other type of errors. Finding that specific software can be done much more quickly and easily with network maps.
Third, say that your network is down and unable to connect to local devices. There are no uploads, backups, or installations occurring on the network at all. The devices might have lost connectivity because of your hardware having some specific problems. Network maps can show you which hardware device is the issue.
In general, network maps can also help to address compliance issues, automate additional IT processes, optimize networks, save time, and see live traffic, top protocols, uptime, downtime, network coverage, and data volume in a single dashboard with associated reports.
Try our new network mapping feature
We at Faddom, a new IT cloud InfraOps startup, have created a new feature for mapping physical network devices such as switches and routers to troubleshoot problems, analyze the impact of changes, generate documentation, and ensure compliance.
(Curious? Just fill out the free demo form on the right!)
