Mapping and Modeling

Like all successful management processes, netSENTINEL begins by developing an accurate map of the components in your environment and their relationships. netSENTINEL can employ powerful network scanning tools and processes to discover the devices in your network at a detail level, or alternately our deployment engineers work with you to develop this information from your documentation. Network connection information for all significant devices in your infrastructure is documented in the netSENTINEL link table and devices are analyzed according to their type, manufacturer, hardware and software assets.

The next step is to model the infrastructure according to your view of your business. User defined groups can be created to identify the significant similarities and differences in your infrastructure or your business. For example, devices can be grouped by type, like servers or switches, devices may be grouped by location or by the business processes they support. Devices can be members of multiple groups. The value of a precise, living, infrastructure map is to provide the basis for measuring the infrastructure at various levels and to quickly understand issues, their impact, and their root cause when they occur.

The figure below illustrates a logical infrastructure map of a larger facility. In this example the map has been developed around the concept of device location and the manufacturing processes that the devices in each group support.