I use Visio to map all of the networks I use, (our internal one(s) and the client networks as well). I start with a basic map of Everything I can find and then keep overlaying things on top of that. Eventually you get something that looks very convoluted, but since it's in layers you can pull any of them when you need it.
It doesn't take very long if you do it in steps like I do, and the layers also make changes a lot simpler. There are some other products that are more drawing oriented, and they make the process even easier, but I've been using Visio too long to change now. When I get to a specific area (like a NetAPP node or even a DASD controller), I then break out all of the devices. I have some software I wrote that keeps things like DASD and TAPE statistics and names up to date on a daily or weekly basis, but I only use that for client sites where something like that actually matters. Internally we do way too much development to try to keep close tabs on things. We probably create (and delete) 10 to 15 LPARs a week, some for testing and some for clients, on our internal system, things are very short lived. The network changes all the time to fit new projects, but without some solid basis for what is there, you can't really even take full advantage of what you have available. Brian ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
