Network Scanner

OpUtils’ network scanner scans your network to identify and retrieve detailed insights on active hosts and network resources using network scanning tools. This advanced network scanner combines IP scanner, port scanner, and device scanning capabilities and enables you to manage your computing environment along with its active devices, current users, network health, and related metrics. With networks scaling continually, it becomes a hassle to manually keep track of IPs, switch ports, and network devices using conventional network scanning solutions. By giving you automated, real-time insights into your network environment, OpUtils’ advanced network scanner software enables you to perform these tasks by scanning networks and carry out more effective network reconnaissance. With a code-free intuitive UI, granular reporting, threshold-based alerts, scheduled scans, IPv4 and IPv6 support, graphical network widgets, and 30+ network tools, this network scanner makes network scanning enterprise networks practical and efficient.

On this page, we will take a look at:

Pain points of manual network scanning and management

With dynamic networks requires effective network scanners since, IP requests and status changes happen at all times. Not deploying a network scanner software may have adverse effects on your network, such as having absolutely no visibility into IP subnet hierarchies, IP utilization, and DHCP server configurations. Manually managing your network can be a costly and inefficient process. Additional disadvantages of manual network management include:

1. Data prone to human error: Manually keeping track of network events may prove inefficient, as using means like spreadsheets can result in inconsistencies and errors, like IP address conflicts and switch port flapping. These errors, however minor at first, may lead to costly network downtime if left unresolved.
2. Lack of real-time insights: Manual methods of network management are incapable of providing the real-time status of network resources, such as port availability and IP utilization. Also, tracking the entire network address space and switch ports in real time becomes difficult and time-consuming in networks with subnet-based hierarchies and dynamic IP allocations.
3. Distributed management: Manual methods of network management are incapable of providing the real-time status of network resources, such as port availability and IP utilization. Also, tracking the entire network address space and switch ports in real time becomes difficult and time-consuming in networks with subnet-based hierarchies and dynamic IP allocations.
4. Unrestricted user access: When multiple users manage the network with spreadsheets, there is not much visibility into who made what changes in the data and when.

OpUtils—An advanced network scanner for enterprise networks

ManageEngine OpUtils is a powerful network scanner that enables you to gain real-time insights into network events and resources. With OpUtils network scanning software, there’s no need to use a complex command line interface, as the solution provides a code-free, intuitive UI for network scanning. Combined with its IP Address Manager and Switch Port Mapper features, OpUtils’ network scanner also provides advanced features such as Rogue Detection. OpUtils network scanning tool enables you to perform hassle-free network scanning and monitoring. You can use OpUtils Network Scanner tool for a quick overview of your network, or use all of the OpUtils features combined to perform advanced network scanning.

Network scanning features

Automate network IP address scanning

OpUtils’ network scanner enables you to conduct real-time IP scans to get the current status of each IP address. Network IP Scanner can perform both IPv4 and IPv6 scanning and discovery. With advanced IP scanning capabilities, OpUtils’ network scanner helps you detect internal and external IP addresses, associated hardware MAC addresses, OS type, ping status, response time, and DNS status. These details are retrieved by network IP scanning and are consolidated in your advanced network scanner console.

Manage subnets with subnetwork scanning

OpUtils’ network scanner enables you to create and manage multiple IP subnets and agile subnet-based network hierarchies. You can scan and navigate between different IP subnets without having to switch tabs. By scheduling network scans for a particular subnet or IP range, you can analyze subnet-specific metrics such as the subnet’s size, usage, status, and the IPs pertaining to it with network IP scanner.

Scan end-to-end network device connectivity

Using ICMP ping sweeps and SNMP scans, OpUtils’ network scanner provides visibility into your network switch ports and device connectivity. It offers port scanning, which enable you to find, track, and map devices to ports and ports to switches. With multi-vendor switch support, including support for devices from Cisco, Nortel, 3Com, and HP, the network port scanner automatically retrieves the VLAN details and virtual IP addresses of the device and maps all the devices that are connected to the switch port.

Streamline network scanning to detect rogue devices and enhance network security

Enterprise-level networks often encounter a diverse range of devices trying to access their resources. Periodically scanning and monitoring these access points and other devices is required to secure your network from unauthorized access. OpUtils’ network scanner enables you to schedule regular network scans that can detect devices that pose a security threat. This IP network scanner also alerts you on the discovery of rogue access points, which can be bots or sniffers, thereby enabling you to secure your network from unauthorized access.

Set role-based access management

On using OpUtils’ network scanner, you can exercise more control over your network management by creating users with Administrator and Technician roles. Role-based User Management helps you secure your network by granting access to advanced network scanner only to authorized personnel. While users with the Administrator role will have complete control over your network, users with the Technician role will have restricted or read-only access to network management tools.

What is Network Scanner?

Network scanner simply scans your entire network infrastructure to fetch and log, availability, performance, and utilization metrics of your network resources. It performs Ping sweeps and SNMP scans to identify live hosts and services running in your network. Network scanner can perform network scanning to display details like, users logged on a computer currently, the OS type running on a device, the NIC card used by a machine, active hosts, open ports, the services running on them, and more. It can track MACs and IPs across routers by network scanning and  maintains historical operational logs of IP and switch port allocations in the network scanner console which can be downloaded as PDF files for future reference. 

How does the network scanner work?

The network scanner uses a number of different network scanner tools and network protocols, such as Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), depending on the target network. These enable the advance network scanner identify a range of active hosts in the network and help determine the network device connectivity and topology.

ICMP pings: These ping sweeps (also known as ICMP sweeps) map IP addresses to live hosts by sending requests to hosts and waiting for an echo to check if the system is active.

SNMP scans: SNMP performs network device scans with the help of an MIB, use OIDs to identify and map different devices and their status in the network.

Network scanning tools techniques

Network scanning solutions perform three common types of network scanning:

IP scanning: An IP scanner is used to discover IP addresses, subnets, IP allocation conflicts, and more.

Port scanning: A port scanner identifies and lists network ports, the services running on them, connected switches, and more.

Vulnerability/security scanning: This technique uses network device scanner to discover unknown vulnerabilities in the network, such as rogue devices.

Getting started with OpUtils Network Scanner software

If you are new to OpUtils’ unified IP Address Manager and Switch Port Mapper, you can schedule a live demo with a product expert. We would be pleased to uncover all the network scanner tools, advanced IP and switch port management features OpUtils has to offer, as well as answer your questions. You can also take a feature tour and explore how you can master the management of complex networks with OpUtils.

Interested in seeing how OpUtils can work for your network? Download a 30-day free trial and get started with OpUtils in as little as an hour! OpUtils seamlessly integrates into your existing network environment without you having to make many changes to your network infrastructure.