Comprehensive View and Automated Control of Network Access Switch Ports
As the number of users grow, IT teams have a decision to make—do they add more switch capacity at $150–$400 per port, or can they reclaim ports to meet the growing need? Not knowing what’s best, many IT teams rely on manual processes, including spreadsheets and periodic scanning tools, as labor-intensive ways to find answers. Such outmoded practices produce out-of-date data and limited visibility, which together contributes to wasted assets, increased IT costs, dangerous security risks and inevitably longer troubleshooting time.
Trinzic Switch Port Manager provides comprehensive views and management of multi-vendor switches, incorporating both current and historical views of IP, MAC, port, VLAN mappings and network device topology. The automatic tracking shows you where devices are connected, when they were connected and where they are now, so you can track all authorized devices on an on-going basis and instantly find rogue devices that pop on and off the network. With Trinzic Switch Port Manager, you can tell easily and exactly how much capacity is left, if a free port can be reclaimed or which devices could be impacted by switch maintenance.
- Perform accurate capacity planning by tracking free, used and customer-defined available ports
- Find unplanned or unwanted devices by tracking all end devices connected to the network
- Improve troubleshooting and forensics via current and historical views of which IP addresses are connected to what and where
- Eliminate out-of-date and incomplete network information via up-to-date auto-discovery of network elements and respective connections
- Sync dynamic network component information with Infoblox’s industry-leading IPAM solution within a single interface
- Simplify switch port control and reduce manual process and custom scripts with network automation
Better Switch Port Capacity Planning to Eliminate Asset Waste
Instead of forcing you to guess, Trinzic Switch Port Manager quickly shows you what ports are free, used and available. Trinzic Switch Port Manager highlights the locations of unused ports within a single interface so you can focus attention on where switches are running out of capacity. In addition, you can set customizable reports to define availability requirements before reclaiming a port—such as, “Don’t reclaim a port if it’s been used in the last 45 days.” With Trinzic Switch Port Manager, you need only add capacity where necessary, and can save unused resources for other projects.
Find Unplanned or Unwanted Devices Faster and More Easily
With the proliferation of both personal and professional mobile IP-based devices, the risk of unplanned devices being connected to the network is huge and creates new security concerns.
Trinzic Switch Port Manager automatically detects all end-hosts connected to the network, so IT teams can quickly identify when approved and/or non-approved devices attach to the infrastructure and their locations. Armed with this information, IT experts can decide whether to allow these devices, move them to a quarantined VLAN, or blacklist and remove them from the network. By tracking every end device connected, Trinzic Switch Manager eliminates the risk of not knowing what is connected to the network.
Improved Troubleshooting with Detailed Tracking
For troubleshooting or auditing purposes, answering the simple questions “Who has been connected to which port, for how long, and where have they been?” can be very difficult.
Trinzic Switch Port Manager tracks all current connections constantly, over time, so you can see who is connected to which port and for how long. Additionally, the visibility and reporting also includes all historical connections for forensics and compliance auditing requirements. Details encompass every IP address, MAC, connected switch port, VLAN and DNS name for every end device.
Automated Common Switch Port Tasks
Traditionally, network administrators have employed manual processes using custom scripts or CLI access to execute common tasks, such as turning a port up or down or changing a VLAN. Depending on priorities and availability, such seemingly simple tasks can take hours or even days. Now, by leveraging network automation, users can simplify these common jobs and reduce the time factor down to mere minutes.
By utilizing Trinzic Switch Port Manager with either Trinzic NetMRI or Network Automation, a simple right-click of a mouse and selecting a few parameters will implement changes instantly. Setting port admin status, changing VLAN membership or editing interface descriptions become effortless, and the risk human errors falls to nearly zero. Automating common changes rather than relying on custom scripts empowers more staff by reducing the need for extensive network knowledge. User-based access rights enable greater flexibility among networking staff while maintaining control and security of network devices.
Auto-Discovery and Correlation of End-User and Network Information
History has shown that the majority of mean-time-to-repair (MTTR) is tied to problem isolation, especially with intermittent network problems. When an IT team doesn’t know where to look or when exactly the problem started to occur, that’s when MTTR times can go from hours to days.
Trinzic Switch Port Manager’s historical views afford powerful insight that is invaluable when troubleshooting intermittent problems. By providing both automated Layer 2 and Layer 3 network discovery and end host details, including IP address, MAC, current link status and VLAN, Trinzic Switch Port Manager enables users to find and resolve potential issues much faster.
Sync Network Components with IP Address Management
Trinzic Switch Port Manager includes detailed views into the network and its devices and components. The system provides up-to-date topology maps to visualize complex device relationships, including routes and subnets.
Moreover, with integration into the Infoblox IPAM solution, users have a comprehensive way to manage switch ports, network components and IP addresses within a single platform. Now if a user complains, you have the visibility to see in a matter of seconds where they are connected, where they have been and the network components involved.
Features
- Identify total ports for each switch as well as free, available and percentage-of-available ports
- Set customizable reports to define individual requirements before reclaiming a port
- Enhance switch port control with "right-click" tasks leveraging Trinzic NetMRI or Trinzic Network Automation
- View current and historical connections to see who is connected to which port and for how long
- Identify key parameters, including IP address, MAC, connected switch, port, VLAN and DNS name for every end device
- Automatic network discovery for multi-vendor network devices with multi-perspective topology views
- Tracking for Layer 2 physical information, including device, chassis components, interfaces, OSs, vendor and model type
- Updated Layer 3 logical network summaries, including routes, subnets, VLANs, HSRP/VRRP groups and ports
- Integrated network and IP address visibility and management in a single window
- Combine with asset system to monitor new devices automatically within context requirements
- Customizable report templates and API for enhanced documentation
- Automates analysis of network device vulnerabilities for Cisco devices, including PSIRTs, field notices, end of life milestones, and field notices
Additional Information
Learn more about Trinzic Switch Port Manager through the following resources:
Virtual Appliance Trial Download - Includes DNS, DHCP, and IPAM
Free Trinzic NetMRI Trial - Download now and automate network change and configuration!
IPAM Freeware - Download today and replace your spreadsheet!
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