Network Topology

Overview

The network topology page in Motadata AIOps provides a comprehensive visual representation of your network infrastructure, enabling you to understand the interconnections and interdependencies between network devices. By displaying the relationships between switches, routers, firewalls, and other network components, the topology map helps you identify issues and quickly resolve them.

Pre-requisites for a Network Device to be Detected in a Topology Map

• The device should be discovered and configured as a monitor in the system.

• All the devices need to be configured to be able to communicate with either an L2 (CDP, LLDP, SPM) or an L3 (OSPF, BGP, ISIS) protocol.

Protocols Supported for Topology Creation

The protocols supported for creating a topology map of a network device are:

• Layer 2 protocols

  • Cisco Discovery protocol
  • Link Layer Discovery protocol
  • Switch Port Mapping protocol

• Layer 3 protocols

  • Open Shortest Path First protocol
  • Border Gateway protocol
  • Intermediate System to Intermediate System protocol

Creating Network Topology in Motadata AIOps

The creation of a topology map for network devices in Motadata AIOps starts with the execution of a Topology Scan scheduler. This process begins from a seed point device, which is provided by the user in the scheduler. Once the scheduler starts executing the topology creation job in the background, Motadata AIOps uses the appropriate neighbor discovery protocols on the starting point device to find the peer nodes, identify the interface connection between the two devices and build the Topology map.

The creation of a Topology Map for network devices starts with the execution of a Topology Scan scheduler. The Topology creation starts from one node and moves on to find the peer nodes and the process goes on till the map is created.

Let us see in detail how this process works.

1. User creates a topology scan scheduler and specifies the entry point or the seed device around which they want to create the topology.

2. The Topology creation job is executed in the back end as per the schedule. AIOps uses the appropriate neighbor discovery protocol on the seed device to find the peer(s) connected to it.

3. The interface connection between the seed device and the peer device is identified and this relation is then stored in a file known as ‘Dependency Map’ in the back end. These relations could be seen at the UI level at Settings > AIOps > Parent Child Dependency Mapper

4. AIOps then uses the neighbor discovery protocols recursively to create the topology map

5. The navigation panel is created based on the seed device selected for creating the Topology. i.e., the seed devices are present on the navigation panel to view the Topology created for that device.

Now, let us see how to schedule a topology scan in the next section.

Navigation

Go to Menu, Select Settings . After that, Go to Monitoring Settings . Select Topology Scanner. The page to configure the topology scan scheduler is now displayed.

Select to start creating a scheduler for network topology. A pop-up asking for scheduler details is displayed.

Topology Scan Scheduler

Enter the details in the pop-up to create the scheduler as follows:

Field	Description
Entry point	Select the entry point around which you want to build the topology. The topology scan runs with this point as a starting point, querying this device, subsequently drawing the links from this device to other connected devices, and showing the connectivity of all the devices on your infrastructure.
Scheduler Type	Select the frequency (Once, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly) at which you want the Topology scan to run.
Start Date	Select the date on which the topology scan should start.
Hours	Select the time at which the topology scan should start.
Days	Select the days on which the topology scan should run. This parameter is available only when you select the Scheduler Type as Weekly.
Months	Select the months in which the topology scan should run. This parameter is available only when you select the Scheduler Type as Monthly.
Dates	Select the dates on which the topology scan should run. This parameter is available only when you select the Scheduler Type as Monthly.
Exclude	- Select IP if you wish to exclude a specific IP from the topology scan. - Select IP Range if you wish to exclude a range of IPs from the topology scan.
Enter one or more IPs	Kindly enter the IP or a range of IPs based on your selection in the Exclude field.
Link Layer	Select the layer (L2 or L3) at which you want the topology map to be built.
Protocol	The Protocol will be auto-selected based on the Link Layer you have selected in the previous option. You can change the selected protocols once you have specified the Link Layer.
Notify via Email	Enter the email addresses that should receive a notification when the topology scan starts.
Notify via SMS	Enter the contact number(s) that should receive a notification when the topology scan starts.

Select the Create Scheduler button to create the scheduler with the values entered.

Select the Reset button to erase all the current field values, if required.

Once the topology scan runs on the scheduled time and is executed successfully, the topology map will be created and available to view on the topology screen.

You can also run a scheduler instantaneously from the Topology Scanner screen by clicking on for the scheduler you want to run.

Creating a network topology map helps you visualize complex networks in a comprehensive manner and better understand the hierarchy of your infrastructure components. It enables you to view the complete IT infrastructure, monitor the status of network components, and identify network elements causing any issue. In addition, topology maps are dynamic and updated when actual components in your infrastructure change, making it easier to find and resolve issues in your infrastructure.