Fortunately, several tools now have layer 2 switch port mapping capabilities. I recently watched a demonstration of Solarwinds and dopplerVUE’s layer 2 switch port mapping capabilities and found them to be quite different despite the same name. The Solarwinds toolset provides very basic functionality. It identifies the switch port a device is connected to and it’s up/down status.
In a nutshell, here are four reasons to consider dopplerVUE over Solarwinds.
dopplerVUE’s layer 2 switch port mapping delivers:
- the same and added functionality vs Solarwinds
- complete mapping in 4 steps vs the 7 steps required by Solarwinds. That’s half the work and time.
- a simpler process - there is no need to memorize the switch/router and community strings
- a view of what is connected with how it is performing in a single dashboard (screenshot below)
I’ve provided a comparison of the steps and process to use each product below. Feel free to check out the steps for yourself by downloading a free trial of dopplerVUE.
Great post! There is some great information here regarding layer 2 switch port mapping. I wasn’t sure if you had the chance to check out WhatsUp Gold WhatsConnected, as this is yet another mapping and discovery tool that discovers networks down to the individual port. On top of that, it provides connectivity information as well as device dependencies.
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It is quite difficult to develop solid and accurate automated Layer 2 mapping technology and products. Kudos to the vendors who get it right. Many of the Layer 2 mapping solutions result in incomplete maps. In addition to the folks listed above, you may want to also take a look at Solana Networks who have great technology in this space:
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