Isn’t this a common issue that a company’s network suddenly slows to a crawl?
We get it. IT teams over here often get into trouble. Since they don’t often have a clear view of the network, the issue stays at the hook. And here’s where these tools can come to escape.
Let’s understand how!
But, Why network discovery? What is it?
In simple words, it is a process. Starting from identifying to mapping all the devices and connections in a network – everything is taken care of here. Be it switches, routers, servers, or simply an endpoint, these tools actually offer businesses a real time snapshot of everything that’s in the infrastructure as per Slurp’it.
Some key features include:
● Identification of devices. These tools actually recognize and catalogs devices. It is done based on type, IP address, and MAC address
● Next comes topology mapping. The tool here visualizes how devices are connected and interact
● Lastly, the tool gives insights into device settings, software versions, and even security configurations.
How is network discovery linked to troubleshooting?
Now let’s talk about the main part. How even is discovery linked to troubleshooting? This one is quite complex. And hence, whenever the IT team has to troubleshoot, they resort to the trial and error method (since they don’t have a clear view of the network).
Whatever guess work the team is doing, network discovery eliminates that by:
● First it gives accurate data. Users get a detailed inventory of all devices and their statuses
● Because of real time monitoring, users get alerts about every device failure or any unusual activity that’s happening
● And lastly, contextual insights. Users get information about dependencies and relationships between devices.
And how does it improve troubleshooting?
With all the information that’s there on the plate, it actually improves troubleshooting to a next level. Some key things it does is:
1. Pinpointing issues faster
When something goes wrong, the first step is identifying where the problem lies. These tools automatically detect devices and flag anomalies. That’s how it helps IT teams to focus on the root cause instead of searching here and there.
For example, there’s this university. The wifi network here is experiencing intermittent outages during peak hours. Hence with it, the IT team can quickly identify overloaded access points. It can display the traffic and the team can then redistribute it as per Slurp’it.
2. Understanding device dependencies
When it comes to networks, they really are an intricate web of interdependencies. A failure in one device can trigger a chain reaction. Hence it can get difficult to isolate the root cause. It maps these relationships. It actually helps IT teams to understand the bigger picture.
And this one step benefits businesses in many ways, some major ones being:
● Avoid misdiagnosing issues
● Assess the impact of a single failure on the broader network
● Develop targeted solutions. This one actually is important as the business gets to address the underlying problem quickly.
3. Do proactive monitoring
Network discovery isn’t just about reacting to problems. It also is about preventing them. With the updated inventory and device health updates, IT teams can spot any potential issues before they even escalate.
Let’s say there’s this financial institution. They are actually using it to monitor firmware versions across devices. By checking out outdated software on critical switches, they can actually prevent any potential security breach that may happen as per Slurp’it.
4. Simplifying configuration management
Misconfigured devices are a common cause of network issues. With these tools, IT teams can easily:
● Compare configurations of all the devices
● Identify the inconsistencies that’s there
● Restore configurations to a known good state.
For example, there is a retail chain. They have been facing frequent VPN connection failures.
By this tools, they were able to reveal inconsistent configurations across branch routers. Since they were able to standardize the settings, resolving issues got easier.
5. Supporting large scale troubleshooting
We all know – as networks grow, manual troubleshooting becomes unmanageable. The best part about it is, it scales effortlessly. It gives businesses visibility across sprawling infrastructures. No matter whether they are sticking to hybrid or multi-cloud environments as per Slurp’it.
Core benefits here are:
● These tools can handle larger networks without additional resources
● Troubleshooting can be done across physical, virtual, and also cloud networks.
For example,
There was a hospital facing recurring network slowdowns. This actually affected patient
monitoring systems. The IT team struggled to identify the issue. Mainly due to the network’s complexity.
They next, implemented a network discovery tool that provided:
● A visual map of device relationships
● Real-time alerts for any unusual traffic patterns.
● Insights into bandwidth usage across the network.
And this actually helped the hospital, within a few days. They discovered that a misconfigured printer was broadcasting excessive traffic. They fixed the configuration. Then restored normal network performance!
Some best practices to consider for using network discovery in troubleshooting
Now let’s get into the main part. What are the best practices you should do
1. Try automating the discovery process. Because we all know manual discovery is a bit time consuming. By using automated tools businesses can ensure that their network inventory is accurate and up-to-date. For this, you can try out SolarWinds network discovery tool, or ManageEngine OpManager.
2. Try integrating with monitoring systems. You can combine these tools with some monitoring tools. With this one single action, you will get proactive alerts and get deeper insights into performance issues.
3. Give your team the right training. Your IT team should be familiar with this tools. They should be capable enough to understand how to interpret the data. Give them regular training. This will improve response time and troubleshooting will be done with much accuracy.
What's in for the future in network discovery?
Since now you’re aware of the benefits of it, let’s see what’s in there for the future. AI and machine learning will take a big space. AI tools will easily predict network issues, recommend solutions, and even the fixes can be automated.
Further, IoT and edge computing devices will give clear visibility into the network. By the help of discovery tools and automation platforms, businesses can enable zero touch provisioning and remediation.
Trust us, it is quite a game-changer for network troubleshooting and resolution. No matter
whether you’re a small organisation or a big one, make sure to invest in the right tool. One single investment can actually help you with growth and innovation. So, what’s stopping you? Network discovery can do wonders to your operations, try it now! For more information contact
us at Slurp’it!