Physical Network Mapping (Labeling the Faceplates and Patch Panel)
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One of the first big projects I'm going to work on in my new position is labeling all of the patch panel and face plates. There are literally zero labels in either of the two buildings I'm covering. Typically I find a cable here or there and just use a cable toner to find out where it leads to but this is extreme. I'm wondering what you guys recommend as far as a device that would save me a lot of time.
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If it is a managed switch, I think you can setup the Fluke LinkSprinter to tell you the port on the switch it is plugged into... then it is just tracing the patch cable back.
http://enterprise.netscout.com/enterprise-network/network-testing/linksprinter
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I guess technically it is NetScout instead of Fluke that has the linksprinter now.
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@brianlittlejohn Thanks for the recommendation.
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Just obligatory that I have never used one, but that is what it advertises... also Netscout has a presence on MangoLassi, but I don't remember who it is.
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We use a NetScout at NTG (a couple of them actually) and they are super nice.
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@scottalanmiller said in Physical Network Mapping (Labeling the Faceplates and Patch Panel):
We use a NetScout at NTG (a couple of them actually) and they are super nice.
The linksprinter specifically?
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@wirestyle22 said in Physical Network Mapping (Labeling the Faceplates and Patch Panel):
@scottalanmiller said in Physical Network Mapping (Labeling the Faceplates and Patch Panel):
We use a NetScout at NTG (a couple of them actually) and they are super nice.
The linksprinter specifically?
Indeed. We have two different models of that one. They are small, affordable and really easy to use. It uploads the data to an online spreadsheet / web page so you can easily go see everything.
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Thanks to Scott and Brian for the kind words about LinkSprinter. Not to pimp my baby but as inventor of LinkSprinter I am happy to answer any NETSCOUT handheld tester questions.
Regarding physical mapping I'll add one other workflow features. If you are at a wall jack and plug the LinkSprinter in, it will immediately post the test results to the Link Live cloud service. By default it will email the test results to you on the fly. Included in the test results is the managed switch information such as switch name. model, VLAN, Voice VLAN and slot/port.
The cool part is you can reply to the test result email with a text comment or even attach a picture of the wall plate, room or even the serial id plate of the device connected (like a VoIP phone). The idea is you end up with a record/mapping between all your switch ports and physically where they come out and what is connected. Then in Link Live you can type in either a switch port or wall plate identifier and immediately pull up the test record to see all the other information. We have a case study where a university used a summer student to go to all the dorm rooms, test the wall jack and attach the dorm room number so now when a student calls in they can immediately know what switch & port they are plugged into. Since we allow multiple replies to a test result they could even include an additional comment like "found bubble gum in the RJ"
http://enterprise.netscout.com/content/valparaiso-university-case-study -
@james said in Physical Network Mapping (Labeling the Faceplates and Patch Panel):
Thanks to Scott and Brian for the kind words about LinkSprinter. Not to pimp my baby but as inventor of LinkSprinter I am happy to answer any NETSCOUT handheld tester questions.
Please do pimp your baby, it's just that we want to know that is what you're doing. Unlike some other companies that call sales people engineers.
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I won one of these in a live Q&A a few months ago. It's definitely a handy little device. The higher model has WiFi too, you can connect your mobile device to it and manage the data on the fly too.
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Thanks for joining up and participating! Awesome to see the people behind the products getting involved!
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On a related note, one of the best tools for cable labeling I've ever used. It has a mode to specifically print labels for cables that you wrap around and it is really slick. Runs on batteries too.
http://www.dymo.com/en-US/rhino-industrial-4200-qwy-label-maker
