> -----Original Message----- > From: Tfbsr Bertrand > Subject: network inventory > > Is there anything out there that would allow to > identify a network device as a (router, switch, > firewall etc)? > The most common way to do this is via SNMP. There are plenty of network management tools out there (I work for a company that makes them) that identify and manage all kinds of network gear using SNMP.
I'm guessing since you asked it here you want to do this with perl. There are a couple of perl SNMP modules - search CPAN for more details. I've used Simon Leinen's SNMP_Session module and found it very easy to use. I also tinkered around with Net::SNMP, and overall it appears to be a more complete and powerful module (no knock on SNMP_Session of course), and also very easy to use. If you really want to identify network devices, most of the effort will really be learning the SNMP side of things, not perl. While there are some standard MIB-2 objects like sysDescr, sysObjectId and sysName that will certainly help, there isn't a single MIB object you can query that will tell you "this is a router" or "this is a Cisco Catalyst 5500", etc. For example I have a Catalyst 5500 and get the following values: sysObjectID.0 (object identifier) wsc5500sysID sysDescr.0 (octet string) Cisco Systems WS-C5500<0A>Cisco Catalyst Operating System Software, Version 6.1(1)<0A>Copyright (c) 1995-2000 by Cisco Systems<0A> It will take a bit of detective work and a good understanding of the gear you're trying to identify, but it's certainly doable. Alternatively, there are several very useful free and low cost tools for various types of network management. If you're interested in something more than the bare minimum it's probably worth looking into something like MRTG, Big Brother/Big Sister, etc. Hope this helps, Barry *********************************************************************************** This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secured or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, received late or incomplete, or could contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any error or omission in the contents of this message, which arises as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required, please request a hard-copy version from the sender. *********************************************************************************** _______________________________________________ ActivePerl mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe: http://listserv.ActiveState.com/mailman/mysubs
