Automatically Mapping Your Network

I used to spend hours mapping networks I was working on until I discovered Visio and it’s auto detection facility. Now, as many of you may have noticed, in the latest version this feature was removed and more than a few people have asked me – Why Oh Why remove something that was REALLY useful!

I found out the answer today…..

What do you think about the idea of mapping your networks through auto discovery (including as a service)…. Add to that linking in the MBSA tool to scan these machines for vulnerabilities and then outputting all this data to Visio…

Now that I have your attention, there is a piece of software produced by Neon Software
The new LANsurveyor for Visio uses Neon Software's network auto-discovery technology to automatically build Visio network diagrams… It uses several methods for discovery / connectivity from SNMP to ICMP echo etc. I for one am very excited to get my hands on this.

And better than that, it comes with the Visio 2003 Resource Kit for IT Professionals! I have ordered a copy and will keep you all informed as to how I get on.

If you know of other tools like this or have used LANSurveyor, let us know!