Looking for a network resource management program

[u/skywatcher2022]

 I am the primary network infrastructure consultant for a company that has outsourced almost everything to an MSP. the MSP has asked me to provide them a detailed network map that includes everything from Patch panels to switches to routers in one package so that they can "do there jobs" in diagnosing network issues. They eventually want to install solar winds or PRTG, but i know that this is a long and involved process and wont happen quicky. Good news for me is that the MSP (located out of Orlando, but really out of Mumbai) has retained my services for all the remote hands services, so i am safe for now. With that said they want me to map all the switches, routers, and devices per patch panel and destination port into device port. we have about 5000 ethernet patch panel ports, and about 1400 Patched devices. We have over the three campuses approx. 3000 switch ports of 50ish devices available of which maybe 1500 are in use.

So, given the basic criteria what i am looking for is software capable of taking this picture

Jigamabob 43 >>>>> patch B2B-A16/4 >>patch B1B-R1/4 >> Cisco 4300-gi2/22

Yes i am aware i can do this on a device by device basis in excel or i can do it all in PRTG or Solar Winds (i think) but if anyone knows a database program that can handle this kind of a task please let me know. In the end if it spits our a network connections map that's even better still. Free is always good, but a reasonable cost i am sure they will agree to. And yes this is going to take 2 of my techs weeks to go through. just trying to make it easier without writing my own database

Any ideas are welcomed

[u/CharlesHNetEng]

Netbox

[u/Think_Lingonberry455 → u/CharlesHNetEng]

Netbox is exactly where my brain went too before I even opened the thread, it's basically built for this kind of documentation slog

The custom fields and cable tracing alone will save your techs from losing their minds tracing that jigamabob 43 mess

[u/moratnz → u/CharlesHNetEng]

Yeah - OP, netbox is purpose built for managing this information (and more).

Plus it is the sweet spot of open source but with mature SAAS / support options available.

[u/krugferd → u/CharlesHNetEng]

ditto that!

That type of information is literally what netbox was built for.

[u/hip-disguise]

check their contract and see if they have any language about discovery. imo they should come out and do that discovery themselves. I hate it when you hire someone and they immediately try to assign you work. I say F that noise.

[u/skywatcher2022 → u/hip-disguise]

i have been working on this site for 4 years now doing all the infrastructure work so they couldn't have hired a better company. I know where most of the bodies are buried. Digging them up will be interesting

[u/skywatcher2022 → u/skywatcher2022]

they just took over in august

[u/DenDanskeMine]

Danbyte or Netbox is your tool of choice here :)

[u/skywatcher2022 → u/DenDanskeMine]

looks very promising, now just need to install the docker and see how it looks running. My tonight time project

[u/WeirdLilMidgt → u/skywatcher2022]

Here is the demo instance of Netbox that you're allowed to play around in: https://demo.netbox.dev/

Login: admin/admin

[u/skywatcher2022 → u/WeirdLilMidgt]

Thx

[u/Ok-Stretch2495]

We use Patchmanager for this

[u/Eigthy-Six]

Netbox is that what you are looking for :-)

You can map every device and port eachother with very much details if you want (type, length, colors.. what ever..)

[u/kwiltse123]

MSP should be doing this. Maybe not the patch panel part, but seriously we do this for almost every customer we have.

[u/martijn_gr]

Next to Netbox you can compare Nautobot. Since a spin off, now quite rewritten a lot and definitely worth to review.

Have over 60 sites in our Nautobot instance. Complete rack layouts, patch details and even power distribution is documented.

Wrote even custom scripts to collect details like vrf, l3 interfaces, vlans and so on .

Much easier these days with AI.

[u/Orihime1st]

Netbox or racktables(pretty old)

[u/tunakaybucket]

You're going to want to use Netbox. It can do this and visual racks as well.

[u/RetiredSeb]

Nautobot is another alternative for NetBox

[u/carpeinferi]

Netbox or Nautobot, netdisco can also be helpful for discovering end devices.

[u/vectron_dev]

What you are describing is a classic DCIM/cabling management model rather than a standard monitoring tool like PRTG or SolarWinds. Look into NetBox or Nautobot. Both have built-in support for complete cable path tracing, letting you map Device A -> Patch Panel Port -> Inter-building Tie -> Switch Port seamlessly.

NetBox is open source, runs cleanly in Docker, and supports bulk CSV imports, which will save your techs hundreds of hours given that scale (5,000 patch ports and ~1,500 active drops). There are also visual plugins available (like netbox-topology-views) if management insists on graphical topology exports.

[u/skywatcher2022 → u/vectron_dev]

Thx that makes total sense to me. I knew there was a reason to ask reddit. I had never heard of netbox before today. I will load up the docker tonight and see how it plays

[u/vectron_dev → u/skywatcher2022]

Haha glad it helped. Just do yourself a favor and test a tiny CSV with 5-10 ports first to see how it structures cables. Trying to bulk import the whole campus on the first run is a rite of passage you want to avoid.

[u/Due_Management3241]

Your the cable jockey for the cable jockeys lol.

Did you know they can map all this out then selfs. Anyone experienced can domit 10x faster. Via remote inspection then physical mapping it out. Companies are paying someone off shore to onshrore it to the less experienced.

What a shit show.

[u/GullibleDetective]

Redseal

[u/tonymurray]

Netbox + LibreNMS

[u/RoyalSeal9734]

For the patch-panel-to-switch links, I’d call out what we know vs what we’re guessing. A tidy map can still point you the wrong way.

[u/usmcjohn]

Who the hell needs a cable map for everything connected to the access tier? This is a complete waste of time. They should focus on solarwinds or some other management tool that can include mapping endpoints to switchports.

[u/skywatcher2022 → u/usmcjohn]

I couldn't agree more but that's what they want and I'm paid by the hour to do it

[u/hvcool123 → u/usmcjohn]

If its remote MSP .. I have seen them use documentation when there is an issue or troubleshooting an issue they can pinpoint to the exact closet, panel and ethernet port like if its an xconnect or this panel feeds another closet blah blah..basically maps out the physical.... But yea its a task especially if they dont align exactly to switch port, module etc ...like if they moved cables around l.