Documenting Switch and Patch Panel Setup
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How do you guys recommend documentation of a an entire data rack, with the physical switch to patch panel ports?
Is it a wasted effort to bother with this?
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I tried doing this when i started here to get things more organized. I even logged in the switches and labelled switch ports from teh web interface with the device or patch panel location it went to in the server closet.
That info went in a spreadsheetSwitch Port -------------------- Patch panel port
g1/35 ---------------------------------- 20-04
Hmm how do you do tabs?Turns out the labels on the patch panel in the server room rarely went to the same place as the labels on the wall panels in user workstations. So a huge wasted effort for me. If the people who ran cables in your workplace did a competent job then it may be worth it, at least until you forget to update the spreadsheet.
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I like it. Just a spreadsheet.
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We have vendors stealing ports we don't even really have consistently so this wouldn't help me
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So how about a visio (libre draw) of P1 - P48 for each switch and panel, and then drawn lines to each?
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@wirestyle22 said in Documenting Switch and Patch Panel Setup:
We have vendors stealing ports we don't even really have consistently so this wouldn't help me
Where do they take them?
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@scottalanmiller said in Documenting Switch and Patch Panel Setup:
@wirestyle22 said in Documenting Switch and Patch Panel Setup:
We have vendors stealing ports we don't even really have consistently so this wouldn't help me
Where do they take them?
Narnia
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@wirestyle22 said in Documenting Switch and Patch Panel Setup:
@scottalanmiller said in Documenting Switch and Patch Panel Setup:
@wirestyle22 said in Documenting Switch and Patch Panel Setup:
We have vendors stealing ports we don't even really have consistently so this wouldn't help me
Where do they take them?
Narnia
Or Planet Spaceballs.
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I bought different colored cables for the different VLANs.
For the documentation I used Dia to do a diagram. It only maps where the trunks are. I never got in to the weeds mapping patch panel jacks to switch ports.
Each site usually also has a floor plan showing jack locations.
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I do them with RackTables. With it, you can document your rack, servers, networks and other devices. You'll have to configure it manually though, but I know with your skills that you'll be able configure it better than mine.
With one look, you'll get a view of what resides in your rack, a deeper inspection will reveal what is connected to what, it's up to you on how detailed you wanted to be. However, I have to be creative on the patchpanel side, I had to double the ports, one in front and one at the back.
You can also configure what details to show to other users. I have my 2 colleagues have access but can not view some server details like usernames and passwords which I made (similar to normal fields). Going this route, you have to ensure that you have a good grip on your database as it stores them as regular text.
Also check OpenDCIM and RackMonkey.
