Speaker
Description
In a large Data Center, such as a LHC Tier-1, where the structure of the Local Area Network and Cloud Computing Systems varies on a daily basis, network management has become more and more complex.
In order to improve the operational management of the network, this article presents a real-time network topology auto-discovery tool named Netfinder.
The information required for effective network management varies according to the
task of the moment: it can be the map of the entire physical network, the maps of the overlay networks at VLAN level, i.e. a different map for each VLAN ID, or a "Routing Map" that shows the IP logical connectivity, such as which devices operate as a router and for which IP networks.
The system can operate as a real-time host localization tool: given an hostname or a MAC or an IP address, it is able to to find and map where it is plugged in at the moment a query is made, specifically on which physical port of which switch, as well as the VLAN-ID and the IP Network it belongs to and the physical device that acts as its default gateway.
These informations are completely auto-discovered leveraging the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) and the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). In particular the discovery algorithm is based on standard SNMP MIB-II and ICMP commands, in order to be exploitable in a multi-vendor environment.
This paper will describe both the software architecture and the algorithm used to achieve rapid network topology discovery and real-time host localization, as well as its web interface that allows system and network admins to make queries and visualize the results.
| Primary Keyword (Mandatory) | Network systems and solutions |
|---|---|
| Secondary Keyword (Optional) | Monitoring |
| Tertiary Keyword (Optional) | Visualization |
