Managing Router and Switch Inventories? 35
JabbaTheFart asks: "How does the Slashdot community deal with network equipment inventories. After searching Slashdot and seeing this post, I found a few good projects that work with computers (such as IRM, Request Tracker) but they don't cope with the specifics that you would need to work with routers and switches like: port info, firmware versions, currently running config, and so forth. I have looked into network monitoring projects like NMIS, Orion, and others but I would still need regular management information like serial numbers, contract status, price, etc. A simple database could work, but it would be nice to have web access. What do you use to keep track of all that network equipment that you are in charge of?"
Altiris - Network Management Solution (Score:2, Informative)
Best of Luck.
Re:Altiris - Network Management Solution (Score:1)
Re:suggestion (Score:1)
Altiris (Score:1)
Depends on what hardware you have... (Score:3, Informative)
That being said, our workplace uses Epicenter - Extreme Networks' monitoring software. It does all that you've asked for. As well, we also use SNMP and a common event logger - so that any errors and configurations automagically show up in our centralized network control.
Seriously, if you have a big enough shop, you should probably be centered around one vendor for a solution for switches, and there should be management tools for those. Of course, this tends to work not-so-well for those who have linksys switches all over the place... but then again, you wouldn't need firmware revs etc for dumb switches.....
A wild idea (Score:4, Funny)
Too true. If only there were some sort of file type that could handle arbitrary ASCII data. Then I could store any information that I wanted by just typing it on a keyboard! Of course, there would have to be utilities for searching based on arbitrary text or wildcard text entries. An even more ambitious person might want a file type that could arrange this data into columns and rows that could be easily sorted on their contents. As you can see, this would quickly break down into a monstrously difficult undertaking.
You need RTx::AssetTracker (Score:3, Informative)
You should check out RTx::AssetTracker [chaka.net], an asset management extension to RT [bestpractical.com]. Like RT, you can easily create custom fields to hold your router configs, firmware versions, etc.
Demo here. [chaka.net]
Bzzzzzt. (Score:2)
Sorry, but you are wrong. See the previous comment.
SysAdmin magazine (Score:1)
Cisco & Novell Directory Services (Score:2)
samag has an article in sept 2004's issue called "System Inventory Using LDAP".
Many, many moons ago, Cisco supported Novell Directory Services:
I don't know what became of that project [Cisco subsequently got in bed with Microsoft & Active Directory], but if Cisco were still supporting Novell, then maybe you could tie it all into Zenworks' inventory management system [which can publish to Crystal Reports].
This seems like somethin
InTrac (Score:3, Informative)
I'm one of the programmers at http://www.inline.com/ [inline.com], and we developed an application called InTrac that we sell that does basically this. It's not as full-featured as our internet department (the router dealers-with) would
One big benefit I find when using InTrac (because it's used for all kinds of assets, not just routers - web sites, web hosting, SQL database information, etc.) is that I can oftentimes solve a problem quickly just by looking through the ticket history for the asset. It's obvious, and any ticketing system will allow you to do this, but we had HEAT previously, and that's why we built InTrac (that and a need for centralized asset management...but if HEAT's ticketing had worked as well as it should have, we wouldn't have developed the software most likely)...
Anyway, if anyone's interested in more information they can either contact myself or use the contact information listed on the website.
Well - there are SO many industry standard tools (Score:2)
If you are relatively homogenious - you can use the manufacturers management utilities that will do this. I haven't run across a manufacturer of decent manageable hardware that doesn't ship a management utility that does everything that you want.
If you are in a more hetrogenious environment (or want a better interface) the standards are of course OpenView and Netview (HP, or IBM/Tivolit) that are your standard network management tools.
Don't expect to see them
Re:Well - there are SO many industry standard tool (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Well - there are SO many industry standard tool (Score:1)
Expensive, yes... but so worth it
Use a Wiki (Score:2)
We have a template for adding new hosts and we use the %SEARCH{}% stuff to generate tables of devices. We even use the %CALENDAR{}% plugin to map out when events happen.
Re:Use a Wiki (Score:2)
Not sure such a thing exists (Score:1)
An algorithm, you fill in the details (Score:2)
Heard of Intermapper? (Score:1)
At work I use... (Score:2)
Answer (Score:2)
Excel sheets!
If thats not enough Access.
If thats not enough use something like mysql in the backend. I doubt you'd hit that limit with the number of routers and switches.
Ask Slashdot: How does the slashdot crowd sell hairtonic, to Bald Eagles, in Nebraska?
Dude, research a LITTLE.
RANCID is your friend (Score:2, Informative)
Will store your configs including SW versions in a CVS tree. You could easily parse this stuff and dump it into a DB.
Options (Score:2)
Not just for IT kit (Score:1)
Netdisco. (Score:2, Informative)
Quasi-Suggestions (Score:1)
Kiwi CatTools (Score:1)
Netdisco seems to up to the task (Score:2)
check out: http://netdisco.org/ [netdisco.org]
It also draws a layer 2 map and records device IP, MAC, and switch port locations which can be very handy.