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Topology

Network Map

Drawn from what the devices themselves report, not by hand.

Topology is derived from LLDP and CDP neighbour data: which device sits on which port of which switch. Because the data comes from the devices, the map does not depend on someone remembering to update a Visio file. Links from discovery and links you verified by hand are stored apart, so you always know how much to trust a given line. The map opens per customer: devices outside the site you picked never bleed into the view.

From the PolariStar panel, with demo data.

The devices draw it

LLDP and CDP neighbour tables are read and rendered as device-port adjacency. Nobody picks up a pen; the map shows what is actually in the rack.

Discovery and manual edits stay apart

A discovered link and a link you verified by hand are never thrown into the same bucket. Every line has a known origin, which ends the “who drew this, is it real” argument. That separation is what makes the map auditable.

Add what discovery cannot see

An unmanaged switch that speaks no LLDP, a media converter, a run through a wall socket — none of it shows up in discovery. Add link lets you draw it, and the record stays marked as manually added.

LLDP / CDP discovery and credential order

The discovery panel is where SNMP credential profiles and their try order are set. When a site mixes communities or vendors, profiles are attempted in turn until one answers.

Find broken links in one click

Find broken surfaces links that are missing or dangling at one end. You do not have to hunt for them by eye across a hundred nodes.

Location areas are drawable

Building, floor and room logic can be drawn onto the map as areas. Which cabinet a device lives in is readable from the picture, so the field engineer does not have to phone anyone for an address.

The layout is yours

Place devices where you want them, or go back to the standard arrangement with Auto arrange. Nodes you removed come back with Restore removed, and your arrangement is also kept in the browser.

Four counters at the top

Visible devices, reachable, links and locations sit in the header. The gap between visible and reachable is the first clue to where discovery is stuck.

Export a PNG for the handover

Download PNG turns the map into an image that drops straight into the infrastructure document you hand the customer, a handover file or a quote attachment. Full-screen mode is for projecting it in a meeting.

How PolariStar is deployedA three-layer flow diagram. Devices at the customer site, plus a thin local collector, push data outbound only into the customer's own workspace. Inventory and the local network stay there. The service provider, PolariStar Op, sees only the records the customer chose to send and Op accepted. The flow runs one way.Deployment model — where the data rests, which way it flowsSITECustomer siteNetwork gear, servers, PCs and a thin local collector.The collector scans read-only and pushes into its own tenant.CUSTOMERThe customer's workspace (tenant)Inventory and the local network stay here, separated by tenant scope.The customer sees their own devices, requests and reports here.SERVICE PROVIDERPolariStar OpOp sees only records picked for sending, after an approval queue.End users never see this sharing menu.One direction: outbound connections onlyNo inbound port is opened to the site; the collector dials out.Only what has been accepted is shared1 pick a type → 2 add devices or text → 3 Op accepts.Customers do not get a full install: a tenant is opened from the Oppanel, and a thin collector goes on site only when local networkvisibility is needed. A fully offline package applies only if a customer wants the whole product on their own server.

Mapping a site you have just taken over

  1. 1Pick the customerThe map opens with a customer scope. You select the site you inherited, and only that customer’s devices and links are on screen.
  2. 2Order the credential profilesIn the LLDP / CDP discovery panel you set the SNMP credential profiles and the order they are tried in. The community left over from the previous provider can be tried alongside your own standard profile.
  3. 3Run discoveryDiscovery reads the neighbour tables off the devices. The result lands on the map as which device is on which port of which switch.
  4. 4Filter the gapsFind broken collects the links that dangle at one end. These are usually the spots where a device does not speak LLDP.
  5. 5Close the gaps by handYou look at the cabinet, then draw the remaining runs with Add link. Those lines stand as manually verified and do not overwrite discovery.
  6. 6Settle locations and layoutDraw the building, floor and room areas and place the devices. The arrangement is kept, so you are not dragging everything again next time.
  7. 7Export and hand it overDownload the map as a PNG and attach it to the handover document. The customer sees their own network on one page, often for the first time.

Frequently asked

Do I have to draw the map by hand

No. The base drawing comes out of LLDP and CDP neighbour data. Manual editing exists to complete the runs discovery cannot see, not to do the whole job.

Does discovery need an agent on the devices

Not on network gear: neighbour data is read over read-only SNMP. In a cloud deployment, a collector placed inside the customer network runs that scan locally.

Will the next discovery wipe out the link I added

Manual links are not kept in the same place as discovered ones, so they do not collide. That is the whole point of the separation: which line came from a machine and which from a person stays knowable afterwards.

Does an unknown device found by discovery go into inventory

It does not. The product rule is explicit: a discovered device is not taken into inventory without customer or organisation approval. Discovery and inventory run separately, and Go to inventory is the bridge between the two screens.

Is this module finished, where is it weak

Location, link handling and scaling have been worked on and the map is usable. That said, link speed showing the wrong colour or style, label legibility, and pan/zoom behaviour are all on the open defect list. The module is tracked as “partial”.

Can two customers’ maps get mixed up

No. The map is scoped to one customer; devices outside the selected one are not rendered. In organisation mode the same logic applies with department scope.

Who it helps

Network administrators, teams doing site installs and handovers, and MSPs who hand infrastructure documentation to their customers.

Related modules

Infrastructure Monitoring and Alerts Inventory Local Collector

See it on your own operation

Let us open a workspace for you and try it with your own customers and devices. We will guide you through setup and data migration.

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