4 Use Cases: Logical Network Diagrams
Logical network diagrams can take many forms: they can be as simple as post-it notes on your desk, Visio diagrams, or up-to-date and pixel-perfect diagrams that describe your network in real-time (like the ones netTerrain automatically makes of your network).
What are the benefits of logical diagrams? Why do organizations spend money on network visualization and documentation software?
We’ll look at four examples of how logical network diagrams pay off in the following sections:
- Manage Your Inventory & Assets
The out-of-control growth of network assets and inventories is a very prevalent challenge that most networks face. How can you lasso your expenses if you don’t know what you have to begin with?
At Graphical Networks, we have a saying: “you can’t manage what you don’t know.” Logical network diagrams aid inventory and asset management. How? You may receive a list of all of your discovery assets (or manually drawn) by manually inserting the IT equipment in the diagrams or through SNMP network discovery, like what netTerrain does, and with dashboard asset reports, you can simply get a list of your inventory to give to management
You can even manage your equipment’s maintenance and warranty expiration dates, as well as add additional data fields to any asset, such as cost.
Software Like netTerrain Makes it Easy to Manage Your Assets
- Gain Compliance & Keep Things Secure
Do you need to pass your IT network audit in order to comply with HIPAA and PCI compliance rules at your company? Up-to-date network diagrams are one of the requirements in many of these rules. Network diagrams provide a high-level overview of what you have: having a visual grasp of what’s in your network and where it’s located is critical for keeping things compliant and secure.
Ensure that your infrastructure’s data flow conforms with your security requirements. Logical diagrams can help you figure out which IT assets are supposed to be on the network, as well as which ones aren’t.
- Network Maintenance
As you are well aware, the performance of your network is critical to the enterprise it serves. Changes can result in headaches.
Logical network diagrams provide a much-needed visual picture of your infrastructure, allowing you to see which devices are down (and up), do device inventory, and more. When you can do all of this, you’ll have a better idea of how network changes may affect performance.
- Troubleshooting
Network issues occur frequently: have you ever felt like you’re looking for a needle in a haystack? Views of your network provide you with the tools you need to address problems quickly. Logical network diagrams demonstrate how devices are connected to one another, as well as how other devices and apps are running and how an outage might affect your business. With tools like netTerrain Logical, you can easily search for a device, IP Address, or MAC Address to rapidly discover the problem and the downed equipment, as well as see what else is impacted, reducing your troubleshooting time.
Troubleshooting is Easier with Software Like netTerrain
Are you tired of working with Visio and spreadsheets? or just a lack of documentation in general? To discover more about how netTerrain Logical may assist you in resolving your IT issues.
Please contact Trinity IT Consulting for further information or Sign up for free 14 Day Trial.