WhatsConnected is a layer 2 and layer 3 network discovery and visualization plug-in for WhatsUp Gold that equips you with a comprehensive tool set to accurately depict and visualize device connectivity down to the individual port. Leveraging powerful discovery tools, WhatsConnected locates all devices on the network including critical device connectivity and interdependencies Its unique in-depth technology goes far beyond typical IP discovery and mapping solutions by providing detailed hardware inventory and configuration information.
The Network Manager’s Dilemma
As networks become simpler to create, they have at the same time become significantly more complex to manage and monitor especially without the tools to document and understand the port-to-port connectivity between devices. Why is this important? If you can’t understand how devices in your network are connected, their interdependencies, and their locations; how simple can it be to locate problems and resolve them before the impact of a failure is realized? Establishing that device connectivity is not the source of problems is one of the first priorities when troubleshooting network issues.
WhatsConnected provides the key functions network professionals need in order to discover, map, search, inventory and document their physical topology and VMware® virtualized infrastructures.
As more organizations implement server and application virtualization there is a need to accurately discover, map and document associations between physical and virtualized environments. WhatsConnected provides the essential information to completely understand deployed VMware infrastructure within your datacenter.
Discover
WhatsConnected moves far beyond typical IP discovery tools by assembling information from every device in the network to provide detailed physical connectivity, device type, asset/inventory and configuration information and presenting it in an easy to understand format. In addition to using the standard layer 3 discovery mechanisms, WhatsConnected uses a number of additional technologies, including ARP, LLDP and manufacturer proprietary mechanisms to discover information about devices and their connectivity. WhatsConnected supports both on-demand and scheduled discovery tasks. Each execution of discovery updates the existing file including changes to any device interdependencies.
Map
Gaining insight into and understanding how your network is put together has never been easier. WhatsConnected simplifies this tedious task with auto-generated topology maps with full visibility into both physical and IP connectivity, including VLAN-specific information and VMware. Maps are fully customizable and allow for any number of different views to be specified. Layer 2 maps generated by WhatsConnected can be directly imported into WhatsUp Gold with automated carry-over of device dependency information with a single click.
Search
Quickly search and find out how devices are connected to the network. With detailed device views, you can quickly zero in to find out what’s connected to what. Additionally with built-in tools such as Layer 2 Trace and IP/MAC Finder, WhatsConnected offers a much quicker approach to finding the location and validating connectivity of devices on the network than any other solution.
Document
With highly detailed topology maps now available through WhatsConnected, you also have the option to publish any of these maps through Microsoft® Visio™ with a couple of mouse clicks. Any number of automatically generated maps or custom map views can be exported to provide you with the ability to understand how device additions and design changes have impacted your network over time. Inventory information on devices gathered during the discovery process can be exported in either CSV or Excel formats to external applications.
Understand What’s Connected
Not only do you now know what’s connected to what, but also what type of devices they are. WhatsConnected’s inventory capability provides platform identification and classification for devices from all the most widely deployed network equipment manufacturers including:
The Power of Layer 2 Topology Integrated with WhatsUp Gold Monitoring
WhatsConnected combines the power of layer 2/3 discovery and intuitive topology maps with WhatsUp Gold’s powerful management and monitoring capabilities. As a fully integrated plug-in for all editions of WhatsUp Gold v12.3 and upwards (Standard, Premium, Distributed and MSP Editions), WhatsConnected provides a simple approach for you to understand your network infrastructure to identify and create powerful monitoring strategies.
A simple right-click on any topology map will export device and dependency information from WhatsConnected to WhatsUp Gold and automate the creation of consolidated MapViews along with performance and active monitors for the connected interfaces.
After the topology maps are imported to WhatsUp Gold, WhatsConnected automatically integrates data with WhatsUp Gold data to ensure that no duplicate devices exist. All layer 2 and layer 3 connectivity between devices is automatically validated, mapped and integrated into existing WhatsUp Gold map views and you can choose to create performance or active monitors automatically to immediately start monitoring devices or layer 2 connectivity.