Automated Network Diagram Creator – Create Network Maps | SolarWinds

What is an automated network diagram creator?

An automated network diagram creator, also called a network map creator or network map maker, is a tool designed to discover your network devices before engaging in network drawing to help you create network maps, which serve as a visual representation of your network.

These network maps (also called network diagrams or network drawings) are visual representations of the nodes on your network and how they’re connected. These nodes are usually the various devices on your network, including servers, routers, desktops, and more. With a network diagram maker, you can go deeper into the connections between these devices across OSI layers. This can help you gain greater network visibility and aid in troubleshooting if issues arise.

How do I create a network diagram?

An easy way to create a network diagram is to use an automated network diagram builder, although the following steps can also apply to the manual and slower method of creating a network diagram by hand.

Your first step is to identify the devices on your network. Automated software can automatically discover devices, typically using methods like ICMP or SNMP to capture information for a range of devices. If you’re creating a network diagram manually, you have to perform this device discovery yourself.

Next, you’ll want to customize the map using information from this discovery process. Automated software can show the nodes and connections between devices. In a manual network diagram creation process, however, you’ll need to identify and draw these device connections yourself.

In both processes, you may also want to customize your view by using specific lines, arrows, symbols, and shapes to represent the different features of your network. You should also be sure to label the map so others can refer to the diagram.

Once you have your initial diagram, you’ll need to keep it up to date as devices are added and removed. An automated network map creator can automatically update the map at specific intervals, allowing it to continue providing insight into the current status of your network’s nodes and aid in real-time troubleshooting.

What does an automated network diagram creator do?

An automated network diagram creator is built to automatically discover the devices on your network (including routers, firewalls, servers, desktops, and more) and can create a network diagram you can adjust to create useful visual displays of the interconnected components, including device status.

An automated network diagram creator works by scanning your network to discover the devices on it. It then collects polling data to identify the function of each of these nodes using a variety of discovery methods. Once the entire network has been discovered, the tool can create a network diagram to visually represent the devices and their connections. The best network diagram creators automatically update the diagram to reflect status changes.

Why is an automated network diagram creator important?

An automated network diagram creator can save you time and energy when it comes to creating and keeping network diagrams updated. No matter the size of your network, manual network drawing is often a time-consuming process. By automatically discovering your network and updating diagrams as node statuses change, network diagram creators leave you free to put your energy elsewhere while still providing the many benefits of diagramming your network. These benefits include helping you keep track of network activity across devices, aiding with problem resolution, and informing network security efforts. 

How does the network diagram creator work in NTM?

The automated network diagram creator is one of the core elements of SolarWinds® Network Topology Mapper (NTM). The software is designed to simplify the network drawing process by automatically scanning networks to create network diagrams capable of being updated whenever there are status changes to nodes. This includes automatically updating network diagrams when new devices are added or when older devices are removed.

With the network diagram creator in NTM, you can create multiple maps from a single scan and customize them to include the details you want to be visible. You can even create custom icons to stand in for different node functions. The tool can automatically create maps reflecting multiple layers, which can help you gain deeper visibility into your network topology and help with troubleshooting.

Network Topology Mapper is built to support a wide range of network discovery methods, including SNMP v1-v3, ICMP, CDP, WMI, Microsoft Hyper-V, and VMware.